Preserving Vermont's Archaeological Collections - Background and Feasibility Study for a Vermont Archaeological Heritage Center

In July, 2001 the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) contracted with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis District, to assess the archaeological collections recovered in the course of federal and state funded archaeological investigations in Vermont and to assess two Vermont organizations as potential candidates for curating and managing Vermont’s archaeological collections (VTrans Contract No. 0984273; USACE Agreement No. VDOT0001).

The goal of the project was to determine the feasibility and possible costs associated with the development of an archaeological heritage resource center for Vermont. The heritage resource center is envisioned to address multiple issues. The primary and most pressing need is curation for the State’s archaeological collections. The center is intended to serve as a repository for archaeological collections from the State of Vermont. However, the heritage resource center would serve as more than a simple warehouse for collections. In addition to bringing the collections together and preserving and organizing them, the center would provide a valuable resource for research, public outreach, education, and future archaeological investigations.

This feasibility study builds upon work originally completed in early 2000 by Giovanna Peebles, Vermont State Archeologist, Division for Historic Preservation (DHP), and Duncan Wilkie, VTrans Archaeology Officer. In the face of an increasing need for a collections repository, Peebles and Wilke conducted a survey of potential partners and interested parties to determine attitudes and opinions on the creation of an archaeological heritage center. There was an overwhelming consensus among the respondents for a center to house collections, at the very minimum, and strong endorsement and support for a resource center to provide public outreach, education, and research opportunities.

As the needs for VTrans’ collections storage became more pressing, VTrans, in consultation with DHP, contracted with the St. Louis District to assess the extent and current condition of archaeological collections stored at six facilities: GEOARCH, Inc. (Brandon, VT), Archaeological Consulting Team, Inc.(Essex, VT), USDA U. S. Forest Service (Rutland, VT), USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (Berlin, VT), Consulting Archaeology Program, University of Vermont (Burlington, VT), Archaeology Research Center, University of Maine (Farmington, ME).

In addition, two institutions, the Consulting Archaeology Program (CAP) (Burlington, VT) and the Vermont Historical Society (VHS) (Barre, VT) were to be assessed as potential partners in establishing the archaeology heritage center.