Archaeology of Military Sites Flashcards
What are three important considerations for conflict archaeology?
- real human lives lost
- the winners set the record
- what are we studying?
What is conflict archaeology? (3)
archaeological consideration of the organization and management of war
What sites other than battlefields played important roles in military events? (5)
- military support facilities
- camps
- bases
- arsenals
- POW camps
What are conflicts symptomatic of?
underlying societal stresses
What does conflict often mark?
the beginning of significant processes of change
What were the first places to attract historical archaeologists, and why?
- military sites
- tend to be well-documented
When did the Battle of Little Bighorn occur?
June 25-26, 1876
What are some other names for the Battle of Little Bighorn? (2)
- Battle of the Greasy Grass
- Custer’s Last Stand
Who were some notable figures involved in the conflict between the United States and the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes? (3)
- Crazy Horse and Chief Gaul
- inspired by visions by Sitting Bull
- General George Armstrong Custer
Why was the Battle of Little Bighorn a major U.S. defeat? (3)
- 5 out of 12 companies annihilated
- Custer killed
- total casualty: 200 dead and 50 wounded, six of which died later
What was the result of the U.S. defeat at Little Bighorn? (2)
- Custer’s widow worked to push his memory as a hero, rather than a failure
- because of this, the historical record of the battle is unclear
Why is the historical record of the Battle of Little Bighorn unclear? (3)
- U.S. - Native power dynamic
- U.S. paid Natives for their testimony
- Natives don’t have an organized military
What rare historical documents are associated with the Battle of Little Bighorn? (3)
- Standing Bear and Louise Standing Bull
- Old German
- firsthand account of the Battle of Little Bighorn by an indigenous person
Who began fieldwork at the Little Bighorn site in 1984?
National Parks Service, Douglas Scott and Richard Fox
What were Scott and Fox’s three research questions?
- Positions and movements of combatants?
- Disposition of 28 missing soldiers?
- Did historical markers mark actual burials?
What field methods were employed by Scott and Fox at Little Bighorn? (4)
- pedestrian surveys
- pedestrian surveys with metal detectors; set a new precedent for battlefield archaeology; effort spent documenting the location of metal artifacts was groundbreaking
- test units
- 100-meter interval grid
How many guns were found at the Little Bighorn site, and how many of those were Native American?
- 371
- 209
How do the 371 guns found at Little Bighorn compare to the total guns estimated to be at the site?
371 only represents about 1/3 of statistically probably guns on site
How many guns did the combatants have?
- Native Americans had 600-700 guns
- Custer’s cavalry had 350-400 guns
What was the outcome Richard and Fox’s research at the Little Bighorn site? (3)
- combatant positions identified
- firearms identified and quantified
- sequence of events elucidated
What is the Post-Civil War Battlefield Pattern? (3)
- land-and-groove signatures allowed archaeologists to identify individual weapons
- artifact dispersion allowed them to trace events
- model company, unit, and individual behavior patterns
What was the Battle of Valcour Island? (3)
- Lake Champlain, October 11, 1776
- General Benedict Arnold, fleet of 15 vessels
- five-hour battle, British victory
Who discovered the Valcour Island site, and who coordinated public engagement?
- Edwin Scollon, diver
- Arthur B. Cohn, Director of Lake Champlain Maritime Museum
What were the three objectives of the Valcour Bay research project?
- map of the artifact scatter
- interpret the history of the Battle of Valcour Island for the public
- incorporate local divers into research crew
What field methods were employed in the Valcour Bay research project? (3)
- handheld metal detectors
- 50ft square grid
- diver survey
