Archaeology and the Historic Registers

Nominating archaeological sites to the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places has often proved challenging, but recent steps taken by DHR and other stakeholders may introduce new opportunities to incorporate archaeology in the Registers.

By Jolene Smith | Director of Resource Information and Register

There are more than 3,400 buildings, districts, sites, structures, and objects listed in the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register (NRHP/VLR or “the Registers” for the rest of this article). Only 258 of those listings recognize archaeological areas of significance. With over 50,000 sites recorded in the Virginia Cultural Resources Information System (VCRIS), our state’s complete cultural resources inventory, why is the number of listings that recognize archaeological sites so low? What can we do to list and highlight archaeological sites in Virginia in the Historic Registers? We’ve been hard at work this year diving deep into these questions and looking for ways to move forward.

Capturing Archaeology in the Registers

Tracking archaeological nominations in the Registers has been challenging in the past, since there hasn’t been a standardized way to do so until very recently. An archaeological site may be individually listed or part of a larger district. Often, but not always, archaeological sites are considered under Criterion D within the National Register criteria. Criterion D refers to information potential. Do artifacts and archaeological features from the site or district contain information that can answer specific research questions? Can we be reasonably sure that there is enough undisturbed material present that an imaginary researcher could answer these questions in the future?

Other archaeological sites are contributing to larger properties, even though we might not have considered their information potential and eligibility under Criterion D. For example, a Civil War earthwork is recorded as a site that contributes to a larger battlefield, which would be eligible under Criterion A as associated with the Civil War battle.

Another scenario that we see in our Register listings is a discussion of archaeological potential. We may think that a site could be contributing, but we might not have all the information we need to make the case. Since it may require a lot of time and professional expertise to gather that data through excavation, the best choice might be a discussion of archaeological potential until the time is right.

Archaeological information is sensitive and protected due to the risk of looting and vandalism. Most nominations containing archaeological content have been redacted to protect sites from damage. Some listings are not publicly available at all because of depictions of human burials or places sacred to Virginia tribes.

Archaeology in the Register Over Time

The Virginia Landmarks Register and National Register of Historic Places began in 1966. Through the years, the process for listing has evolved. Many of the earliest listings of some of the most recognizable and important historic places in Virginia contain very little detail. For example, there is not even a listing document for Jamestown. The nomination for Mount Vernon makes no mention of archaeology at all; its brief content focuses only on the house.

In the 1980s and 1990s, quite a few archaeological sites and districts were listed as part of an effort by staff at the Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission (the body that later became DHR).

Detailed guidance for listing archaeological sites first became available through the National Park Service in 1993, around the same time as other NPS National Register Bulletins were published. This guidance was updated in 2000. As the Register program became more structured and formalized, the process for evaluating and listing archaeological sites also became more standardized.

The National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register serve several functions. Primarily, the Registers are designed to serve as a list of places in Virginia worthy of preservation. While listing is honorary and doesn’t directly place any restrictions on property use or development, it does make some incentives available for preservation. Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits became available for buildings listed on the National Register in 1976. Since then, many listings are driven at least in part by the Tax Credit program. Since tax credits are available to buildings and not archaeological sites, we tend to see fewer archaeological nominations.

Writing a successful argument for eligibility for archaeology under Criterion D often requires some degree of subsurface excavation and artifact analysis, or at least the professional expertise of an archaeologist to make an argument for integrity, information potential, and significance. This means that it can be much more difficult (and costly) for a citizen or property owner to write a successful nomination for archaeology than it might be for a building above-ground. And since eligibility for listing on the National Register provides the same considerations as actual listing when a compliance project is underway, most archaeological sites are evaluated for eligibility, but never proceed to listing.

Broadening Approaches

Recently, we have returned focus on representing archaeology in the Registers. Listing is important to demonstrate the significance of archaeological sites and material culture to Virginia’s past and present. As a part of this, we have built our skills to understand the archaeological listing process. We also partnered with the Council of Virginia Archaeologists on a hybrid workshop on Virginia Archaeology and the National Register in June of this year. A video recording of presentations from DHR as well as National Park Service Archaeologist Michael Roller is available for the public to view.

We realize that it might not always be practical to write a full Criterion D archaeology nomination for a property when time and budget are considerations, so we are working on ways to recognize archaeological potential in new nominations for future exploration by other researchers. We have also improved the way we organize information about listings, so that it’s easier to safely share information about significant archaeology in Virginia with the public.

Looking to the future, we hope to encourage more new archaeological listings, as well as to update older listings to include archaeology (see the listing for Poplar Forest for a wonderful example), or a simpler addition of archaeological potential. If you are a professional archaeologist or preservationist with questions or a member of the public interested in learning more, check out our website to learn more about the nomination process for Historic Registers.