Cultural Resources Survey for the Proposed MUD 121 Brazos River Levee Protection Project in Fort Bend County, Texas

This report summarizes the results of a cultural resources survey by Gray & Pape, Inc. of an approximately 14.8-hectare (36.6-acre) property in Fort Bend County, Texas, planned for a bank stabilization project on behalf of their client, Berg-Oliver Associates, Inc. The goals of the survey were to determine if the proposed project would affect any previously identified archaeological sites as defined by Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended (36 CFR 800), and to establish whether or not previously unidentified buried archaeological resources were located within the project’s Area of Potential Effect. Portions of the project are on property owned by Fort Bend County Municipal Utility District Number 121, political subdivisions of the state, as such, a Texas Antiquities Permit (Permit Number 8734) was required prior to the commencement of fieldwork. All fieldwork and reporting activities were completed with reference to state (the Antiquities Code of Texas) and federal guidelines. Prior to fieldwork mobilization, a background literature and site file search were conducted to identify the presence of recorded sites and previous cultural resource surveys within or near the project area. The search indicated that no previously identified archaeological sites, cemeteries, historic markers, or National Register properties are located within the project area. The same research identified that eight previous cultural resource surveys had been conducted within the study radius of the project area, one of which overlapped with the current project area. In addition, 14 previously recorded archaeological sites are located within the study radius, none of which are located within or immediately adjacent to the current project area. Field investigations were carried out in two mobilizations in January and December 2019 and consisted of a combination of pedestrian survey and subsurface testing, resulting in the excavation of 32 shovel tests. Five planned tests were left unexcavated due to inundation, and eight planned tests were left unexcavated due to significant surface disturbance. All shovel tests were negative for cultural resource material and no historic-age resources were identified during survey. After a revised scope of work was submitted to the Texas Historical Commission, investigation of deeply buried soils took place tandem with construction by regular monitoring of construction excavation. When the construction schedule allowed, traditional deep testing, by means of mechanical excavation, was carried out in five of six areas anticipated to have deep impacts from the proposed bank stabilization project. A total of 22 trenches were excavated. No buried features or deeply buried paleosols were encountered. Gray & Pape, Inc. archaeologists are of the opinion that the shovel test survey and deep testing completed within the Area of Potential Effects has adequately assessed the potential for surface and near surface intact, significant cultural resources, as well as determining the potential for deeply buried resources or paleosols. No artifacts or cultural features were encountered during the course of the survey, and no new archaeological sites were identified. No negative impacts on any previously identified sites are anticipated from the proposed project. Based on these results, Gray & Pape, Inc. recommends that no further cultural work be required and that the project be cleared to proceed as planned. As required under the provisions of Texas Antiquities Code Permit 8734, all project records are housed at the Center for Archaeological Studies at Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas.

Collections of Historical Markers and Signage and Public Programming Online at Public History Institutions Such as Museums and Archives

Historical designations are communicated to audiences through interpretive signage. Historic markers as signage for outdoor interpretation constitute a body of managed outdoor collections. Implications for museum and archive professionals to represent and manage these collections, in addition to applying practices for acclimatized collections, are incorporated in this article. Beyond its location at a particular geographic location, a marker's information may be disseminated through websites of public history institutions that aim to share information about the historical markers through digitizing records and mapping these through geospatial information systems. This article examines the historical marker applications and databases of public history institutions, many of which are associated with museums and archives, in the United States as a place-based collection, where suggestions by museums and archives professionals can also take part in the committees and applications. Attention is also paid to meeting the needs of diverse audiences through reinterpretation by museums and archives professionals.

Report From the Field: Not the Same Old Freedom Trail——A View from the Paul Revere House

One of the key public history venues in the country is Boston's Freedom Trail. The Trail is a wonderfully confusing collection of public buildings, churches, museums, and historic markers. The manner in which the sites along Boston's Freedom Trail interpret history is a function of many factors, including the impact of evolving scholarship, how the sites are governed, and audience expectations. Over the years, how the story of the American Revolution is related has changed. The Paul Revere House provides an informative example of one site's response to changing times and heightened expectations.

Examination of Metal Threads From Some Xv/Xvi Century Italian Textiles by Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometry

ABSTRACTScanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry (SEM-EDS) has been employed along with the light microscope to describe some metal threads taken from some late Medieval and Renaissance textiles attributed to Italy in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Comparisons are made within the group studied and to those descriptions of metal threads found in recent literature. The results are discussed in terms of geographic and historic markers of the metal thread technology employed.