Date :
20 & 21 April
Location:
Nashville, Tennessee
Organisers :
- Douglas D. Scott
- Charles Haecker
- Dr. Larry Babits
Hosted by :
Sheraton Hotel Downtown Nashville
In association with :
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Sponsers :
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Website :
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Proceedings :
Publisher :
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Date :
UNKNOWN
Edition :
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ISBN :
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Speakers & Abstracts :
| M. Pratt – Heidelberg College | Detecting the Battlefield : Mapping and Interpreting Artifact Patterns on Early Battlefield Sites |
| Multifaceted remote sensing and mapping projects resulted in identification of the location, extent, and archaeological potential of battlefield sites in the Great Lakes area. Surveys at the Fallen Timbers (1794), Mackinac Island (1814), and Buffington Island (1863) demonstrate that a combination of techniques and careful analysis of the results can bring to light recorded and unrecorded battlefield events as well as present significant evidence to confirm or modify the interpretation of battle sites. In all these surveys, volunteer metal detector operators were used in a controlled and supervised situation and contributed significantly to the archaeological research. The paper presents techniques for recovery and analysis of shot and discusses the potential for locating battlefield casuality or graves sites. It is intended for professional archaeologists as well as battlefield property owners. | |
| J. & P. Carman – University of Cambridge | Mustering Landscapes : Building a ‘Topology’ of Historic Battlefields |
| The Bloody Meadows Project takes an expressly comparative approach to the study of the places where battles where fought in the past. Our concern is with the kinds of places these are and what this tells us about the attitudes towards and expectations of people in the past to landscape and to war. Methodologically we seek to identify in the battlefield space those objects and features which create the landscape of battle, and especially those present and used as part of the battlefield action and those also present but not so used. In doing so, we compare such spaces on the basis of whether they are urban or rural space, open or closed, visible from settlements or invisible, high ground or low. By comparing a number of sites from one period of history with those from other periods, it becomes possible to identify the preferences of different people for different types of battlefield landscape. Drawing upon the work of the Project since 1988 and covering battlefields in Europe from Classical Greece to the Napoleonic Wars, this paper will develop an approach to identifying a ‘typology’ of battlefields. | |
| G. Foard – Battlefields Trust | English Battlefields 991 – 1685 |
| Based on a revew of the 43 sites on the England’s Battlefields Register, this paper characterizes the resource, from the earliest supposedly securly located site (Maldon,991) to the last battle on English soil (Sedgemoor, 1685)/ Through representative examples it considers how accurately they are located, how well understood is the historic terrain over which they were fought and what are the major limitations in our knowledge of the battles. The physical evidence known or likely to survive on the battlefields is reviewed and the contribution that its investigation, as part of an integrated study with the documentary record, might make to the understanding of the battles and of the warfare of their period is assessed. A research framework is required if the potential of battlefield archaeology in England is to be realized and the resource effectively conserved and interpreted. Taking into account the wider national strategic military context of the historic landscape, its garrisons and sieges, principles are proposed which might underpin preparation of a research agenda for English battlefields. Because good interpretation demands effective conservation and both require a secure understanding of the events, the principles outlined here should be relevant to all those working on historic battlefields. |
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| S. Wilbers-Rost – Museum und Park Kalkriese | The Battle of Varus (9 AD) – Archaeological Remains |
| Astonishing finds and structures have been discovered since the location of the “Battle of Varus” (9 AD) was found fifteen years ago by archaeological survey and excavations. New applications of science are now being used to get more details of the events on the battlefield. Some of the results were unexpected: the finds were distributed in a large area of more than 50 square kilometers, but there is a large concentration on one field. Here a wall was found which had been planned and built by the germans as an ambush. A kind of “mass grave” marks the place where hundreds of people died. Together with specialists of natural sciences, archaeologists are able to interpret finds and structures to reconstruct what happened during and after the battle. It should be interesting especially for historians and archaeologists who work on ancient battlefields to hear about the comparison of written historical sources and results of archaeological research. During the excavations we had to learn that the weapons themselves were less significant that the small pieces, nails, and fragments. To look for them and interpret the distribution even of small finds can help to find other battlefields where the location is uncertain. | |
| A. Rost – Museum und Park Kalkriese | Battle of Varus (9 AD) – Methodological Ideas for the Interpretation of Ancient Battlefields |
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One of the main questions is: Does the distribution of military equipment reflect the activities of the battle itself or the phenomenon of plundering? This paper wants to inform archaeologists who work at ancient or medieval battlefields. The special case of the battlefield in Kalkriese shows us the conditions for identifying remains from ancient battlefields by archaeological means. Activities after the end of the battle – plundering, burying the dead persons, rescue of the wounded soldiers – will be discussed. Plundering causes processes of selection which form the present distribution of artifacts. Especially for the interpretation of ancient battlefields, we have to analyze these processes before we are able to get information about the military conflict. In Kalkriese numerous fragments of military equipment were found. The reason might be that bodies were plundered while they will still lying on the battlefield. During these actions, many small pieces and fragments must have been lost in the grass. If the dead soldiers had been carried away, their personal equipment would also have been removed nearly completely. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why it is so difficult to discover the places of ancient battlefields. |
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| T. Sutherland & S. Richardson – University of Bradford | Arrows Point to Mass Graves : The Location of the Dead from the Battle of Towton AD 1461 |
| Archaeological fieldwork at the Towton battlefield, York, England (1461), has shown that by recording the more easily recognised evidence of the non-ferrous and non-military artifacts across the landscape, discrete areas within the battlefield could be highlighted in order to concentrate the search using a multi-disciplinary array of more intensive methods of archaeological prospection, such 540 year old ferrous arrowheads that have almost disintegrated, can be located if their archaeological signature can be previously determined. All types of archaeological features recorded during geophysical surveys should also be inspected via excavation, if vital evidence, such as the location of grave pits, is not to be overlooked. This multidisciplinary archaeological survey, the first of its type in Britain, will be used to highlight the fact that as the battlefield contains all the elements of an important archaeological site, it should be legally protected. | |
| C. Haecker, E. Oster, & A. Medrano Enriquez – National Park Service | Archaeological Investigations of the AD 1541 Battlefield of Penol de Nochistlan : An Examplar of Indigenous Resistance |
| When the Spanish conquistadors entered the Sierra Madre Occidental of Jalisco and Zacatecas, Mexico, in the 1530s, they encountered a bellicose people, the Caxcans, who were organized into sophisticated city-states. In 1541, the Caxcan leaders organized a major uprising, termed the Mixton War. The Spanish ultimately prevailed; however, to this day the Mixton War is celebrated in ritual dance by Mexico’s indigenous peoples. In spite of the national importance of this war, the precise locations of its major battlefields have yet to be determed. The investigators combine academic approaches with local folk traditions toward locating the battlefield of Penol de Nochistlan, the first battle of this war wherein the Caxcans soundly defeated the Spanish and their Tlaxcaltecan allies. A battlefield investigation includes identifying artifact patterns that resulted from the native employment of obsidian-edged and (possibly) bronze weaponry, in opposition to the Spanish mode of warface that employed steel armor and steel weaponry, gunpowder, and war horses. | |
| A. Mandzy – Morehead State University | Challenging National Myth : Revolutionary Armies from the Battle of Zboriv |
| The 1649 Battle of Zvoriv, which brought about the establishment of Ukrainian autonomy, ranks as one of the more important events in East Central Europe. During a survey of this battlefield material remains from two separate engagements, one from the seventeenth and another from the beginning of the twentieth centiry, were encountered. While the quantity of ordinance from the 1919 battle was significantly greater than from the 1649 battle, both collections include advanced military hardware. An analysis of these weapon systems clearly indicates that in 1649 and 1919 the recently raised revolutionary and citizen armies integrated the newest of military innovations and had the logistics to maintain these weapon systems in the field. Since the use of such technology challenges the sterotype image of poorly and primitively armed revolutionary troops, we are forced to rethink our conception of the forces engaged in the struggle for soverignty in East Central Europe. | |
| D. Klinge – Hartgen Archaeological Consultants, Inc. | Resource Identification and Preservation, Planning on Rogers’ Island, New York |
| In October of 2003, Hartgen Archeological Associates, Inc., conducted a field reconnaissance of a previously uninvestigated portion of Rogers’ Island. The island was the French and Indian War base of Robert Rogers and his rangers and is a small portion of the comtemporary British encampment at Fort Edwards. Previous investigations have shown that significant remnants of the ranger’s occupation survive on other parts of the island and this latest survey detected at least three new post-in-ground structures, two unidentified shaft features, and a large roasting platform/communal kitchen area. The field investigation was undertaken as the first step in creating a cultural resource management plan (CRMP) for the island, which is privately held and has never been protected by state or federal historic preservation law. Currently, the landowner wishes to convert the island to publicly accessible green space with a small interpretive park, presenting several challenges in preparing the CRMP. These challenges Frinclude two and a half centuries of disturbance by avocational archeologists and looters, the presence of up to twelve feet of river dredge across much of the site, and resistance from some members of the archeological community who feel that the participation of CRM professionals in a private development project will serve to endorse impacts to other privately held archeologial sites. This paper will examine these issues to open a dialogue concerning the treatment of threatened sites not protected by historic preservation laws. | |
| D. Sivilich – Battlefield Research and Archaeological Volunteer Organization | Revolutionary War Musket Ball Typology – An Analysis of Lead Artifacts Excavated at Monmouth Battlefield State Park |
| If it is a lead sphere and excavated at a military site, is it a musket ball? Most likely it is. Its diameter can be measured and it can be catalogued appropriately. But what if a piece of deformed lead is excavated? Was it once a musket ball and if so, what was its function, and how and why was it deformed? The purpose of this paper is to identify how to distinguish between different size muskey balls, rifle balls, buck shot, and artillery canister shot, as well as identifying other uses for lead shot. This paper is directed at anyone involved in excavating, analyzing, or interpreting military sistes on with 18th-century (or earlier) show might be found. Monmouth Battlefield State Park and the surrounding lands in New Jersey have been under excavation sinze 1987. On June 28, 1778, this was the site of one of the largest land battles of the American Revolution. Both sides expended much lead ordnance from a variety of different weapons. Besides fired shot, numerous types of lead shot have been found and identified such as chewed, mutilated, surgically extracted, etc. | |
| S. Smith & J. Legg – South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology | Archaeological and Historical Assessment of the Camden Revolutionary War Battlefield |
| A consortium of public and private individuals is working diligently to save the Revolutionary War Camden battlefield in South Carolina. A critical componennt has been establishing the battlefield’s boundaries and the locations of the various battle events. This effort has been hampered by the 30-year history of relic collecting by individuals using metal detectors. Our solution is the Camden Battlefield Collector Survey, an effort to record as much data as possible from these private collectors. It should be of interest to battlefield preservationists as a successful example of the gains that can be made when professional and private interests work together toward common preservation goals. It is also an example of how even generalized artifact distribution data can be used to build a battlefield interpretation. The work to date has provided new insights; most interestingly, the synthesis of archaeological and historical data suggests two very different battle scenarios. This paper describes both the coperative effort to preserve the site and the research effort to accurately interpret the evidence. | |
| D. Scott – National Park Service | “Listen to the Minie Balls:” Using Firearms Identification Techniques in Battlefield Archaeology |
| Fireamrs Identification, often erroneously called Criminal Ballistics, is a field of law enforcement that allows investigators to identify firearms crime scene evidence with particular guns and the manner in which they were used in a crime. These techniques have been exported to the archeological study of battlefields. Techniques of analysis will be introduced and examples of findings presented to illustrate the value of the techniques in archeological context. Forensic firearms identification provides a means to effectively study armament data and extract valuable information about logistics, tactics, and forepower employed in battle. | |
| J. Balicki – John Milner Associates, Inc. | The Confederate Cantonment at Evansport, Virginia : Winter Quarters Supporting the Potomac River Blockade |
| Battlefields are not the only part of a confict – other factors are equally important. Camp locations, the positioning of troops, strategic goals, and political concerns are essential to understanding strategy, and how responses to hostile fire were formulatede. Beginning in October 1861 and continuing until 9 March 1862, Confederates manned batteries along the Potomac River. The majority of artillery was in the vicinity of Evansport (Marine Base Quantico), Virginia. Supporting the batteries were approximately 3,500 Confederate troops. Federal troops countered by erecting batteries on the Maryland shore, and by using balloons ascensions spied on the Confederates. The result was a prolonged six-month artillery dual. The Confederates used the landscape to conceal and protect their camps, which were located just out of range of Federal artillery. Archaeological investigations found a well-preserved Civil War landscape that included 697 habitation features, clustered into four camps, an artillery magazine, target range, picket posts, an earthwork, and road traces. Military doctrine dictated camp layout, but topography, troop preference, and hostile fire were influential. In general, archeologists have not addressed camps, and their relation within the landscape of conflict. This paper provides a framework for addressing the spatial issues presented by these site types. | |
| D. Campana, D. Orr, & J. Steele – National Park Service | The Siege’s Unseen Resources : Finding Fort Morton, Petersburg National Battlefield, Virginia |
| The paper is a presentation of the archaeology of fortifications and other earthworks within Petersburg National Battlefield. Our discussion focuses on recent use of remote sensing techniques at Union Fort Morton. This method, verified by archeological testing, relocated major features of the siege and associated battles around Petersburg, Virginia, in 1864-64. The surface indiciations of the fort had been obliterated by post war activities. This project allowed the partk to recover a wealth of subsurface data to better understand and interpret the battlefield. The archaeology of early modern trench warfare as related to picket lines, forts and other well-preserved earthworks at Petersburg will also be discussed. We will emphasize the valuable contribution of these data to our sometimes unseen and unheralded resource. The parks’ on-the-ground use of archaeolofically-derived information will be illustrated. Archaeologists, other cultural resource professionals, managers, and those interested in the American Civil War will take away knowledge of how remote sensing working in tandem with standard archaeological techniques can amplify and expand knowledge gained from documentary sources, landscape studies, and walkover surveys. Finally, we will demonstrate how archaeological data can be employed to interpret sometimes masked events and resources to the public. | |
| C. Kuttruff – Louisiana State University | Excavations Along the Confederate Forward Line, Battle of Nashville, Tennessee |
| This paper presents the results of archaeological excavations along an approximate 1,200 foot (365 meter) portion of the entrenchment of the Confederate forward line of the December 1864 Battle of Nashville. A brief overview of the Battle of Nashville provides a background context for this part of the Confederate entrenchment in that engagement. The historical maps and documentation, and the field methodology used for locating the entrenchment and for the excavations are described. The findings of the excavations are presented, and comparisons of the archaeological features that were located are made with similar features from other excavated sites, and with those illustrated in Civil War photographs. The paper concludes with a discussion of the potential for recovering archaeological military battlefield information from such urban areas and the potential of archaeological research for corroborating and enhancing the historical record. The intended audience would be an interested in Civil War archeology, particularly in urban settings. The audience will gain an overview of the Battle of Nashville and see some of the archaeological features from that battle. | |
| C. Adams – Lincoln National Forest | Late 19th Century Mescalero Apache Indian Battle Sites and Skirmishes in Southeastern New Mexico |
| The Lincoln National Forest Heritage Program has been conducting archaeological investigations at several Mescalero Apache battle sites and skirmishes that are dated to the latter half of the 19th century in southern New Mexico. Over the last seven years, the Lincoln National Forest Heritage Program in conjunction with an interagency team of government archaeologists have been conducting metal detector reconnaissance surveys on Federal Lands in search of Mescalero Apache battle sites, rancherias (camp sites), and skirmishes associated with various military campaigns. The investigations have revealed a pattern of strategic pre-reservation Apache rancheria placement, and more importantly, an inventory of diagnostic Apache artifacts. When we compare and analyze the Apache battle sites, rancheria sites and associated artifacts, it provides some insight of Mescalero Apache life-ways and traditions. This paper will focus on the archaeological battle site investigations conducted through 1997-2003 in Last Chance Canyon, Dark Canyon, and Dog Canyon. | |
| M. Meyer – Flemish Heritage Institute | Scars of “The Great War.” New Applications of Battlefield Archaeology in the Ypres Salient, The A19 Project (Western Flanders, Belgium) |
| The German-Allied frontline which crossed Belgium in Western Flanders during World War I was one of the most important sectors along the Western Front. By order of Flemish minister Paul van Grembergen the IAP (Institute for the Archaeological Heritage of the Flemish Community) was placed in charge of researching the archaeological value of the area to be affected by a proposed extension of the A19 highway in the northern half of the Ypres Salient. Several sources of information, such as trench maps, aerial photographs, and archival documents, were utilized for historical background. The use of a GIS (Geographical Information System) has been crucial in researching the value of the area and for planning and carrying out excavations. Several other techniques are also used, such as field walking and resistivity surveys. It is very complex research, given the continuous change of structures (e.g. trenches) on the battlefield during the way. The first results of the excavations look very promising, uncovering well-preserved trenches, a wide range of stratigraphic features, artifacts, and human remains. The A19 Project is the first large-scale battlefield archaeology project ever undertaken in Belguim, and oen of the largest ever in Europe. The area has an international importance, since not only British and German forces, but also Belgian, French, Canadian, Australian, Indian, American, Scottish, Irish, and other soldiers lost their lives in ‘Flanders Fields’. A specialized battlefield archaeology unti was established by the IAP in November 2003 and it is to be hoped that its work will be important not only for the stuy of the First World War, but also for the development of new archaeological techniques that might be helpful for colleagues engaged in research at other battlefield sites. | |
| R. Burt – Texas A&M University | The Survey and Documentation of Pointe-du-Hoc Historic Battlefield, Normandy, France |
| Pointe-du-Hoc historic site in Normandy, France is the most iconic of the D-Day Battlefields that still retains many of the cultural resources from the day of the battle. The site is under the perpetual care and maintenance of the American Battle Monuments Commission. This presentation shows how the Historic Resources Imaging Laboratory at Texas A&M University is attempting to survey and document the battlefield using topographic survey data, aerial reconnaissance photographs and other documentary evidence. The presentation addresses the following topics: the significance of the battlefield, the results of a reconnaissance visit in September 2003 to identify cultural resources and evaluate scope of the project, the availability of supporting documentary evidence such as bombing reports and aerial reconnaissance photographs to support development of the site plan, and the efforts of the project team to obtain funding for the project. The presentation is of interest to those attendees interested in surveying and documenting battlefields. It will be of particular interest to attendees seeking to protect battlefields that are significant to Americans but are not on US soil. Attendees will learn and take away from the session the importance of surveying and documenting battlefields for the purposes of site interpretation and preservation. | |
| P. Doyle, L. Babits, & J. Pringle – East Carolina Unversity | “For You the War is Over” but … The Archaeological Record of Stalag Luft III Escape Attempts |
| Stalag Luft III was a German POW camp for Allied aviators during WWII. Situated at Zagan, Silesia, Poland, in what was then eastern Germany, the site is famous for repeated escape attempts made by prisoners, particularly the mass escape of 76 POWs in 1944. Made famous by the film, “The Great Escape”, little attention has focused on the site, in particular upon the escape tunnels. Three tunnels were dug, two (Tom and Harry) were discovered by the Germans; the third (Dick) was never found. This paper reports on a one-week investigation of Dick, its entrance shaft and the present conditions of Hut 122. The work conducted in September 2003 was supported by Windfall films, a production company that made a documentary about the site and the archaeological work. Fieldwork consisted of a basic site survey, geophysical and geological investigations, surface collection, inspection of shower room sumps in Huts 122 and 123, an excavation to reach Dick, and a limited inspection of the vertical entrance shaft. Significant in situ finds associated with prisoner activity give valuable insights into POW efforts to continue the war, even after being captured. |
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| J. Silverstein – Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) | Hill 209, The Last Stand of Operation Mancu |
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On 31 August 1850, a US force on the Pusan Perimeter in South Korea prepared to launch Operation Mancu, a reconnaissance-in-force against North Koreans on the est side of the Naktong River. This force was surprised by an all-out North Korean offensive. Operation Manchu hastily retreated to Hill 209, where five officers and 60-75 men held out until the night of 4 September when the survivors, two officers and 27 enlisted soldiers, escaped. Hill 209 presents two archaeological issues. First is the humanitarian mission of recovering and accounting for all of the hillop defenders. This includes an analysis of the methods and problems faced by the 1950s military recovery effort versus modern archaeological methods. Second is the documentation of the defensive geography of the hill, which would complete the historic record and complement the nearby monument to the defense of the Naktong Bulge. A comprehensive program of survey, witness interviews, and virtual modeling will be used to search for remains and to map the site. Because many battlefields lie in remote corners of the world, virtual modeling offers a means for creating a record accessible to the historian and other researchers who might otherwise be unable to visit sites. |
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| T. Pollard – Glasgow Unversity | Seven Eventful Days in Paraguay* – Reconnoitering the War of the Triple Alliance |
| In late 1864, just as the American Civil War entered its final phase, another catastrophic conflict ignited elsewhere on the American continent. Under the dictatorship of Francisco Solano Lopez, sometimes referred to as the napoleon of South America, Paraguay went to war with the Triple Alliance of Brazil, Argentina, and Uraguay, and over the next five years was to fight itself almost to extinction. By the time of the death of Lopez at the hands of Brazilian troops in March 1870, Paraguay had lost somewhere between 220,000 and close to a million men, women and children in fighting for from related disease and starvation. The victorious alliance also suffered badly, losing between 100,000 and 300,000 men in the maelstrom of war. Despite the scale of loss, the war is today a largely forgotten event outside South America – although 2003 did see the simultaneous appearance of two biographies of Elisa Lynch the dictator’s colourful Irish mistress. The most substantial work on the war, however is still the 1934 five-volume history by A.U. Fragoso – senior member of the military Junta in Brazil in 1930. If the war has been largely neglected by recent military historians, then it has remained entirely virgin territory for archaeologists. That was until December 2003, when an archaeological reconnaissance of key sites related to the war was carried out. The aim of this visit wsa to lay the foundations for an archaeological project involving participants from Britain and at least two of the combatant nations (Paraguay and Argentina). This paper will provide a brief introduction to the war; discuss the reconnaissance, which involved limited metail detector evaluation, and discuss the archaeological potential of the sites visited, some of which incorporate the remains of field fortifications and trench systems and, in one place, even bullets lodged in trees.
* Apologies to George Masterman, who served Lopez as Apothecary General before becoming his prisoner. He survived incarceration and in 1869 published his memoirs as Seven Eventful Years in Paraguay. |
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