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Cultural Resource Management on campus land
Cultural Resource Management on campus land
Source: CRM report from Historical Research Associates inc. for the construction of the Life Sciences Building (2016)
In 2009, a projectile point was located by a UW greenhouse volunteer digging soil in preparation for planting. Burke Museum archaeology staff were contacted about the artifact, and after digging three test pits in the vicinity they located two more points.
This led to the location of the test pits being determined as an archaeological site, known as site #45-KI-957. Later in 2013 (green), and again in 2014 (white), test probes dug close by reported ground disturbances in the area, likely due to the development of the UW campus and the Railway located south of the site. These artifacts prompted an archaeological investigation, and it was concluded that the projectile points were imported in the fill used during the construction of the UW Life Sciences building, rendering the site as insignificant. As seen in the following picture, the placement of the test probes surround the site, but were not in close vicinity to the site. The projectile points now reside on the top floor of the Burke museum, and the construction of the Life Science building proceeded with little protest from the Historical Research Associates (HRA), ensuring effective CRM protocol.
We sat down with Nigel Lawrence to learn more about canoe journeys, from history to current processes and significance. We would like to thank Nigel immensely for sharing his time and knowledge with us, and for the phenomenal work he is doing to assist the UW Canoe Family.
Since UW is a federal institution, the university is held to strict standards regarding the use of cultural resources management on university grounds. However, UW has taken a stance that as a state institution, campus grounds may not be subject to CRM regulations of the city of Seattle or King county. Whilst researching UW CRM protocol, it was difficult to find public information of the building of UW sites and how the university conducts archaeological investigation before building.
We interviewed Bob Kopperl, a senior archaeologist and director in the field of Cultural Resources Management, as well as a part-time lecturer at UW, he stated that finding public knowledge of possible site for campus building are not easily accessible. Kopperl also mentioned that finding a potential site, and continuing to build would only be permitted should the site be an isolate (the finding of one artifact). This led our team to question why construction resumed, despite three projectile points being found.
Cultural Resources Management is one of the few methods we can use to learn about the Indigenous peoples that inhabited this land before us. If we cannot ensure the protection of these artifacts to learn about their history, the information will be lost. Any site found holds significance to this land, and should be protected to celebrate Indigenous heritage.
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