Mary Ann (Mariann) Forge

Tom

Explorer
Feb 10, 2004
231
9
All this talk recently about treasure hunters and dictators has made me wonder. What needs to happen for the state archaeologists to come in and excavate it? I, personally, would really like to see this happen. I assume that the site of the forge is on State lands.

Ariadne, can you shed some light on this?

Tom
 
Tom said:
All this talk recently about treasure hunters and dictators has made me wonder. What needs to happen for the state archaeologists to come in and excavate it? I, personally, would really like to see this happen. I assume that the site of the forge is on State lands.

Ariadne, can you shed some light on this?

Tom


My guess is that tons of money needs to happen but I'll let Ariadne give you the facts.

Steve
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
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bruset said:
Just barely. The demarcation line for Lebanon State Forest runs right through the town site.


Those lines are not always the boundary anymore. The state has purchased quite a bit of land in the past 30 years, and the feds gave them all of their property south of 70 except the training center.

Guy
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,603
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bruset said:
Yes but Mary Ann is north of 70...

I know...I was just using that as an example. The state is quietly always acquiring property. Ace is an example of that. So where the line runs through Maryann Forge may or may not be the state line now.

Guy
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
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woodjin said:
Guy, is that true that the feds gave the land south of 70 to the state. What about in Whiting? Or is there a training center there?


The training center is still used by them, but all of the land on the south side is now state. That property was given to the state in 1976. The Hanover 1824 stone was the far southeast corner of the property which consisted of 282.61 acres.



Guy
 

Ariadne

Explorer
Dec 23, 2004
141
0
45
Charleston, WV
Public Archaeology Funding.

The rule is thus: Unless a site is in imminent danger due to pending construction, the state prefers a "preservation in place" approach. The idea is that with each passing year, technology becomes better and future archaeologists are far better equiped to deal with analysis than current archaeologists.

Most archaeology done in the United States in conjunction with development of some kind.

Pure research archaeology, meaning archaeology for the reason of scientific advancement alone, is done largely by universities and is often limited to private or locally held hand (as in city or county properties). Often, the sort of archaeology that I do is called "salvage archaeology," because it is viewed that we are salvaging what information we can from a site that will inevitably be destroyed. We prefer to call it "cultural resource management."
 

LARGO

Piney
Sep 7, 2005
1,552
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Pestletown
Ariadne said:
Often, the sort of archaeology that I do is called "salvage archaeology," because it is viewed that we are salvaging what information we can from a site that will inevitably be destroyed. We prefer to call it "cultural resource management."

Not to get this thread off topic but, looking at your posts is informative.
Does what you do allow you to "pick" local work or do you have to travel alot.A local focus would explain I guess the edge or the knowledge of pines related archaeology.
Is there specific schooling for the different "types" as you say?
Either way, interesting posts.
 

diggersw

Scout
Dec 4, 2003
87
0
Freehold Area
Visit site
As another archaeologist on this list, I can say that specializing in a particular locality would make one a very (much more than usual) monetarily poor archaeologist. Many archaeology (CRM) firms operate within a radius of their home office. There is a lot of travel involved, even for "local" work.
On another note (and to address the original matter), there is the possibility of doing limited site research at a site like MaryAnn Forge, but it would require a knowledgeable individual, permission from the State Park Superintendent, and also a nod from the State Historic Preservation Office. I know this because it is what I needed to examine the Brooksbrae site in BBSF. Sometimes if the circumstances are just right, and in the hopes of examining a site before losing it to vandals and looters, you can get permission to perform a very concentrated study of the site. My research at Brooksbrae, for instance, consisted mainly of mapping, documentation of the structural remains, and very limited shovel-tests (only with the permission of the Park Superintendent himself - in fact, he helped screen the tests).
So, if you know an archaeologist and can jump through all the hoops to get your research authorized, then yes you can do a limited investigation. However, for many non-archaeo types, it is always well advised to keep the State Park informed of looters and "treasure hunters". For BBSF, you would want to keep Chris Bethmann in the know, he has a passion for the forgotten town sites, and usually will increase patrols if there are reports of suspicious activities.
Hope this helps.

Scott W.
 

Ariadne

Explorer
Dec 23, 2004
141
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45
Charleston, WV
LARGO said:
Does what you do allow you to "pick" local work or do you have to travel alot.A local focus would explain I guess the edge or the knowledge of pines related archaeology.
Is there specific schooling for the different "types" as you say?

It really depends what sort of archaeologist you are. I started out working on Neolithic sites in Europe, but for practical reasons (as in needing food, and money to pay for the food), I started working in contract archaeology. I've never had to travel particularly far, but NJ has a lot of work. I have archaeologist friends in the midwest, however, who are basically nomadic. These days, I don't actually physically excavate many sites anymore, and most of my work is done in an office.

I really was educated as an academic archaeologist, with the intent to be a professor. I discovered somewhere along the line that I really enjoy contract archaeology far better, because there's something immediate and varied about it. My education was in paleoethnobotany, and then I switched to battlefield archaeology. I think we all (archaeologists that is) end up working in several different areas of the field.
 

Ariadne

Explorer
Dec 23, 2004
141
0
45
Charleston, WV
Tom said:
Ariadne, this is a little of the thread topic. How is the book coming?

After over a year, it's finally done. (Almost).

There's still some additional detail I'd like to flesh out about some peripheral historical events that impacted the rise and fall of the furnace. And I'm still selecting figures, plates, maps, etc.

I think I've tracked down a daguerrotype of the furnace mansion or "big house." I'll be taking a trip to view it in the next few weeks.
 

Boyd

Administrator
Staff member
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Jul 31, 2004
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Ben's Branch, Stephen Creek
Wow, how ironic. You need to jump through all sorts of hoops to do "limited shovel tests" and meanwhile the a-holes can dig holes, build fires, dump trash and spray paint everything to their hearts content...
 

Tom

Explorer
Feb 10, 2004
231
9
I have been trying to locate a picture of the "Big House" for over a year now. The Pemberton Historical Trust said they used to have one, but cannot find it and have put me in touch with a number of people. I would love to have a copy of it to go with my files...if it is the "Big House."
 
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