HISTORY OF THE CENTER

The Southeast Archeological Center (the Center or SEAC), established in 1966, was originally housed on the ground floor of the Ocmulgee National Monument Visitor Center. In 1972, the Center moved to the main campus of Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee where it occupied 5,200 square feet next to the Department of Anthropology. The Center has maintained close association with the Department by sharing space, personnel, expertise, and equipment. In October 1995, the Center moved to new and expanded quarters in FSU's Innovation Park. In 1995, the Center was merged with the Interagency Archeological Services (IAS) Division, then based in Atlanta. Today, all Center offices are located at Innovation Park, an extension of the Florida State University campus. The Center continues its historical support functions as well as a wide variety of technical assistance and partnership projects both within and outside NPS. 

For nearly forty years, the Center has been responsible for archeological research, collections, and database management for all park units located in the Southeast Regional Office of the National Park Service (NPS). A primary mission of the Center is to facilitate long-term protection and use of archeological resources and information from the parks of the Southeast. As a support operation, the Center helps parks fulfill the requirements of various federal laws, regulations, policies, and guidelines. 

ORGANIZATION

The Center is organized into four sections: Administration; Inventory and Evaluation (I&E), Archeological Collections and Information Management (ACIM); and Technical Assistance and Parnerships (TAP). The Center's staff comprises twenty-six permanent full-time employees and a varying number of part-time student appointments. Together, the permanent professional employees have nearly 300 years of archeological and CRM experience. 

SERVICES

The Center assists the parks in fulfilling their archeological responsibilities by providing a variety of services through the I&E and the ACIM sections. 

I&E provides the following services:

1. Reviews park actions to assess potential impacts to their archeological resources and develops recommendations to mitigate adverse impacts.
2. Undertakes archeological clearances pursuant to section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.
3. Prepares research designs and cost estimates, analyzing artifacts, preparing reports, and cataloging the collections from subsequent projects.
4. Undertakes archeological projects for park management needs.
5. Provides technical assistance for planning, site stabilization, public education, interpretation, and protection.
6. Prepares National Register nominations and state site forms, and updates the Cultural Sites Inventory (CSI).
7. Disseminates information to parks, State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPO), and the professional community.
8. Prepares databases for archeological reports and collections.
9. Tracks archeological activities for the Secretary of the Interior's Report to Congress on Federal Archeological Activities.
10. Processes and oversees Archaeological Resource Protection Act (ARPA) permits.
11. Assists parks with developing public education programs.
12. Works with law enforcement agents and U.S. attorneys on ARPA cases.
13. Prepares overviews and assessments of park cultural resources.
14. Surveys park areas as part of the Systemwide Archeological Inventory Program.

1. Manages park museum collections (conservation, preservation, storage, and security).
2. Maintains accession and cataloging information for parks.
3. Manages the backlog cataloging program for park archeological collections.
4. Maintains the park and regional portion of the servicewide ANCS (Automated National Catalog System), CSI databases, and Archeological Sites Information Management System (ASMIS) databases.
5. Provides summaries and inventories and coordinates cultural affiliation studies and consultations with Native American tribes for parks in compliance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).
6. Provides Geographic Information System (GIS) archeological theme layers and other computer mapping data for parks.

In 13,652 square feet of space, the Innovation Park facility houses administrative and staff offices; ADP; archives; a library/conference room; artifact processing and analyses laboratories; collection storage; and drafting, report preparation, and storage areas. 

Research Resources

1. Libraries: These include the Center's library, the state of Florida library, the Strozier Library (FSU), and the Florida A&M University library. The Center has interlibrary loan privileges with the above.
2. Cooperative Agreements are in place with FSU, the University of Georgia, the University of Florida, the University of South Carolina, and the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation to conduct special analyses and other activities.
3. Center Archives contain records of investigations from all parks in the Southeast Regional Office.
4. Collections: Over six million objects and archival documents comprise the Center's collection.
5. Data Bases at the Center are available electronically and include ANCS, CRBIB (Cultural Resources Bibliography), CSI, LCS (List of Classified Structures), and NADB (National Archeological Database).
6. Maps: Hundreds of USGS quadrangle and other project maps have been generated by investigations.

1. Vehicles and field equipment are available to conduct investigations.
2. State-of-the-art surveying equipment makes mapping accurate and efficient through the use of data recorders and computer assisted drafting (CAD).
3. Personal computers (PCs) and special software permit rapid data processing and report preparation; high-speed PCs facilitate CAD, GIS, and collections management work.

Since 1991, the Center has reviewed over 500 "Assessment of Actions Having an Effect on Cultural Resources" (XXX) forms. No further archeological work was recommended on approximately 60 percent of projects reviewed. Of the remaining approximately 40 percent, archeological survey, testing, and/or monitoring was recommended. In no cases, after a recommendation of no additional work or after field testing was conducted with negative results, was an archeological site discovered during construction. In the few exceptions where projects were undertaken by private consultants or archeologists from other agencies, the Center reviewed their qualifications, research designs, and reports to assure that professional, NPS, and Center standards were met. With over 200 projects conducted since 1990, only twice have SHPOs requested minor additional work. Center projects are recognized as cost effective, timely, and of the highest quality throughout the NPS. 

MAIN CONTACTS:

George S. Smith, Acting Center Director
      e-mail: bennie_keel@nps.gov
Guy Printice, Inventory and Evaluation
      e-mail: Guy_Printice@nps.gov
Richard Vernon Archeological Collections and Information Management
      e-mail: richard_vernon@nps.gov
Janice Burke, Administration
      e-mail: janice_burke@nps.gov

Address:

Southeast Archeological Center
National Park Service
2035 E. Paul dirac Drive
Johnson Building, Suite 120
Tallahassee, Florida 32310
phone: (850) 580-3011
fax (850) 580-2884

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