Administration, Inventory & Evaluation,
and Collections & Information Management
Fact Sheet
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:
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Reviews park actions to assess potential impacts
to their archeological resources and develops recommendations to mitigate
adverse impacts.
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Undertakes archeological clearances pursuant to section
106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.
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Prepares research designs and cost estimates, analyzing
artifacts, preparing reports, and cataloging the collections from subsequent
projects.
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Undertakes archeological projects for park management
needs.
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Provides technical assistance for planning, site
stabilization, public education, interpretation, and protection.
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Prepares National Register nominations and state
site forms, and updates the Cultural Sites Inventory (CSI).
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Disseminates information to parks, State Historic
Preservation Offices (SHPO), and the professional community.
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Prepares databases for archeological reports and
collections.
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Tracks archeological activities for the Secretary
of the Interior's Report to Congress on Federal Archeological Activities.
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Processes and oversees Archaeological Resource Protection
Act (ARPA) permits.
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Assists parks with developing public education programs.
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Works with law enforcement agents and U.S. attorneys
on ARPA cases.
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Prepares overviews and assessments of park cultural
resources.
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Surveys park areas as part of the Systemwide Archeological
Inventory Program.
ACIM provides the following services:
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Manages park museum collections (conservation, preservation,
storage, and security).
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Maintains accession and cataloging information for
parks.
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Manages the backlog cataloging program for park archeological
collections.
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Maintains the park and regional portion of the servicewide
ANCS (Automated National Catalog System), CSI databases, and Archeological
Sites Information Management System (ASMIS) databases.
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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).
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Provides Geographic Information System (GIS) archeological
theme layers and other computer mapping data for parks.
FACILITIES
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
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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.
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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.
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Center Archives contain records of investigations
from all parks in the Southeast Regional Office.
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Collections: Over six million objects and archival
documents comprise the Center's collection.
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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).
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Maps: Hundreds of USGS quadrangle and other project
maps have been generated by investigations.
Equipment
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Vehicles and field equipment are available to conduct
investigations.
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State-of-the-art surveying equipment makes mapping
accurate and efficient through the use of data recorders and computer assisted
drafting (CAD).
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Personal computers (PCs) and special software permit
rapid data processing and report preparation; high-speed PCs facilitate
CAD, GIS, and collections management work.
TRACK RECORD
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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