Towns and Temples Along the Mississippi

13. Comprehensive Planning for the Protection and Preservation of Mississippian Sites in Tennessee

13 Comprehensive Planning for the Protection and Preservation of Mississippian Sites in Tennessee George E Fielder, Jr. Cultural resource management is the term currently used to describe a wide range of activities, decision-making processes , and legal obligations. However, it is not a new concept, inasmuch as the participation of local, state, and federal governments in archaeological research, salvage operations, and site acquisition date back to the 1930s and earlier. The archaeological foundations of Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, and most of the states along the Mississippi River are the result of federaland state-funded archaeological work combined with that of the universities and amateur archaeological societies (Morse and Morse 1983). This paper does not intend to summarize cultural resource management activities in the Mississippi Valley. Rather, it discusses various techniques that can be used to effect archaeological site preservation. In historic preservation Circles, comprehensive planning means the process by which changes in land use can be anticipated and the impacts on archaeological and historical resources can be assessed. It assumes that existing land use and historic preservation planning tools and techniques can be used to avoid, minimize, or mitigate deleterious impacts on cultural resources. Comprehensive planning also includes resource management processes to determine which properties are important enough to warrant preservation, to allocate time and funds for preservation activities, and to sort large inventories of historic and archaeological properties into meaningful groups. The distribution of known and predicted archaeological sites and its correlation with areas of future land development is an activity that comes naturally to archaeologists. Whether it is called predictive modeling, "manland " relationships, or patterns of aboriginal sites selection, the process is 239 240 • George F Fielder, Jr. basically one of correlating observed patterns with selected variables. Hypotheses are proposed, tested, and refined. The resultant site location distribution models can be expressed in both statistical and nontechnical terms depending on who will be using the results. The forecasting of where economic growth and consequent construction is going to take place is a less exact science than archaeological predicting. Although we have the advantage of dealing with past human behavior rather than trying to predict future behavior, some of the same techniques can be used. planners look at observed patterns of growth and correlate them with land and economic variables. Past, current, and projected population density maps are a frequent product of planning studies. When these are superimposed on the archaeological site distribution maps, the composite map indicates where future archaeologist-developer confrontations will occur. Another future growth prediction technique is the review of requests for federal assistance by local communities and agencies. Most state historic preservation offices review around 1,700 such requests per year. The distribution of requests indicates where future activities may occur. Another excellent source of information comes from professional planners working for federal, state, and local planning agencies. The state planning offices, regional development districts, and local planning commissions all have the responsibility of trying to understand, predict, and manage future growth for the benefit of society. However, in my experience, very little communication has taken place between planners and archaeologists in the areas of archaeological values, predicted site locations, and land-use planning tools. Increased communication will improve the effectiveness of both fields for the eventual benefit of society and cultural resources. Tools and Techniques of Archaeological Preservation Techniques ofarchaeological site preservation are varied but can be divided into three general categories: public awareness, regulatory processes, and the acquisition of property rights. Each category has its strengths and weaknesses , but the latter two rely primarily on the legal system. Public awareness techniques can be considered as reactive or proactive. The most common reactive technique is the confrontation news story. The scenario is all too familiar: bulldozer uncovers "ancient remains"-archaeologist stops construaion to "dig" in front of television cameras-film at 6 and 11! The resultant public perception is frequently reduced to the idea that Preservation of Sites in Tennessee • 241 archaeology is (1) digging stuff up before it gets destroyed, (2) archaeologists are obstructionists, and (3) if anyone wants to stop a project all you need to do is find an archaeological site in the area. A better reactive posture for archaeologists is to join forces with other groups, including planning agencies, to form coalitions that are perceived to be in the public interest. The news media will be a critical factor in any attempt to carry out preservation by influencing...