Davy Crockett NF Site Survey 2019 - Passport in Time
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Texas - Davy Crockett NF
Closed! Davy Crockett National Forest Site Relocation and Evaluation Project
Projectile Points from 41HO54 and an Historic Bottle from the survey area
TX-4395
February 10-15; 17-22, 2019
Must commit to one entire session; may participate in more
Join us this year for another hike into the past on the Davy Crockett National Forest (DCNF)! The Davy Crockett is located in the Piney Woods of East Texas, approximately 80 miles west of the Louisiana state line and two hours north of Houston. There are many interesting historic and prehistoric sites in or near the Forest, including mounds, prehistoric camp-, work-, and resource-gathering sites; historic homesteads, logging trams, and sawmill ruins; and structures built by the Great Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).
The goal for this year’s PIT project is to address previously recorded prehistoric and historic sites on the DCNF that have been insufficiently documented. Participants will work with National Forests and Grasslands in Texas (NFGT) Heritage Resource personnel, Dr. Robert Z. Selden from the Center for Regional Heritage Research (CRHR) at Stephen F. Austin State University, and archaeological interns to relocate, fully record, and evaluate archaeological sites.
During each one-week session, volunteers will be assigned to one of two teams: field and laboratory. Field-going personnel will traverse wooded areas across the Forest’s cultural landscape, searching for features, artifacts, and other important archaeological phenomena via shovel-testing, mapping, GPS plotting, and photography; we will record data on project forms and onto collection bags. Lab volunteers will wash and catalog artifacts recovered during the fieldwork or assist with collections at the CRHR in nearby Nacogdoches.
Your help on this project will assist NFGT personnel with the conservation and management of irreplaceable cultural resources. There is also much to see and do in this area during your hours “off the clock” – hike the local trails, or hit Ratcliff Lake for a little fishing! Additionally, nearby museums and sites have much to offer both the veteran and the uninitiated PIT volunteer: Mission Tejas State Park is located within the administrative boundary of the DCNF; Caddo Mounds State Historic Site is just a few miles beyond; and Mission Dolores State Historic site is just over an hour to the northeast. We hope to see you in February for this unique project and archaeological opportunity with a little something for everyone!
Number of openings: 40 (20 per session)
Special skills: Field personnel must be physically capable of hiking ~5 miles each day, carrying field equipment through thick vegetation and traversing often uneven terrain in a variety of weather conditions; volunteers must be able to repeatedly lift sediment, and to shovel, stoop, kneel, bend, and/or sit for extended periods each day; Lab volunteers must be comfortable sitting for extended periods while cleaning, drying, bagging and tagging artifacts; volunteers must be able to take detailed notes and to write legibly; volunteers must also be willing to learn and implement survey, excavation, and curatorial guidelines and methods specific to the NFGT and the State of Texas; previous archaeological survey, excavation, laboratory, mapping/GPS, and/or artifact identification experience helpful, but not required
Minimum age: 16 years old, under 18 with a responsible adult
Facilities: Tent and RV camping available at no charge at nearby Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area; water, flush toilets, showers, RV hook-ups (at volunteer expense), boat ramp, fishing piers; Crockett, Lufkin, and Nacogdoches are full-service communities with hotels/motels, restaurants, grocers, and a full range of other amenities; volunteers responsible for own lodging/camping equipment, meals, water during work hours, and daily transportation to designated meeting area
Nearest towns: Ratcliff, Crockett; 20 miles; Lufkin; 27 miles; Nacogdoches; 38 miles
Applications due: Ongoing until filled
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