By Taylor Picard, Staff Archaeologist
In the world of archaeology, it is important for archaeologists to have access to information about historical and archaeological resources in the areas where they may be working. Often this is achieved through a single database for these resources, which provides a central location for archaeologists to go when evaluating the possible impacts to these resources or developing a research design for their research projects. Here in the state of Vermont, it is the Vermont Archaeological Inventory (VAI) Online Resource Center (ORC), that is maintained by the Vermont Division of Historic Preservation (VDHP). Our Museum’s archaeologists both refer to and add to this database frequently! This database didn’t just appear overnight though, it’s the work of numerous agencies and experts in the region, including Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. If you’re into data and database building, then join me for a fascinating tale of building an archaeological database for one state with over 5,000 entries!
University of Vermont (UVM) established an early version of the VAI as a means of standardizing their own archaeological site recording, which was growing in demand after the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 was passed. Once the VDHP was established in 1975 as Vermont’s State Historic Preservation Office, maintenance of the VAI was passed from UVM to VDHP. Former State Archaeologist Giovanna Peebles undertook the momentous task of expanding upon the 200 sites in the VAI by conducting surveys across Chittenden County and East Creek of Orwell. To support this work, the VDHP conducted interviews with collectors and avocational archaeologists to document their finds.
By the early 2000s, VDHP had numerous filing cabinets of paper site records, but these were only accessible by visiting the VDHP archives in Montpelier. Through grant funding VDHP was able to hire consultants to build a digital database utilizing Microsoft Access, following which archaeological site records needed to be submitted as digital files; however, access to the database was still limited. In 2015, Jess Robinson, State Archaeologist, spearheaded a project to move the database to a secure online platform that requires archaeologists to apply for access each year. This would become the ORC used today by the archaeologists of Vermont, and allows them instantaneous access to archaeological site information, to request new site numbers, and submit these new sites to the VAI.
In recent years, the need to include underwater archaeological sites in the VAI system has become more necessary and the VAI system was limited to only terrestrial sites. Working with the team here at Lake Champlain Maritime Museum between 2017 and 2018, VDHP created a new site submission approach for underwater archaeological sites.
Image: View of the VAI map that archaeologists can use to look at sites in their area of interest. Here the wreck of General Butler is selected showing the summary of the site.
To assist archaeologists in having a better understanding of the site, the underwater archaeological site submission form includes sections that allow the site reporter to include information about the site. These sections range from a description of the site, its condition, and artifacts recovered, to describing the data found and the temporal affiliation of the site. As our team knows, not all underwater archaeology sites are shipwrecks so this form also has a section that becomes available when the site reporter indicates in a dropdown box that the site is a shipwreck. This section allows archaeologists to choose from a variety of different vessel types that operated on Lake Champlain. They can also add information about the site including the elements of the vessel that remain, type of cargo, the vessel’s construction material, and vessel dimensions if they are known.
Image: Section 1 of the VAI form for General Butler.
Additionally, if archaeologists learn the identity of the vessel, there are boxes in this section of the form that allow them to include information about when the vessel was built and who built it, how it sank, who owned the vessel, as well as the captain, home port and crew at the time the vessel was lost. Often this is the hardest information for researchers to discover, and only partial information is found. Finally, the form asks for information about the site finder, who recorded the site, the project sponsors, and legal jurisdiction of the project, which directs future archaeologists towards the organizations and individuals that may hold more information about the site.
In 2022-23, VDHP was awarded a National Maritime Heritage Grant from the National Park Service focused on the canal boats in Vermont state waters of Lake Champlain. To help complete this work, VDHP partnered with the Museum to add the Vermont Underwater Historic Preserves and canal boats that are in the Vermont waters of Lake Champlain to the VAI. Archaeologists at the Museum compiled all locational data for these wrecks, as well as many others, into a database using ArcGIS. For several months, they combed through the many reports and records at the Museum to put together the necessary information to complete the form for each of the wrecks. After this information was gathered, the team created a template that would format this information into a few concise paragraphs to make the information more accessible to other archaeologists. Once this was finished, we uploaded information for all eleven Vermont Underwater Historic Preserves sites, twenty-eight canal boat sites, and the location of Phoenix’s Paddlewheel that were found in 2020 (Read more here), for a total of forty new underwater archaeological sites to the VAI. As a result of the work by VDHP, the Museum, and archaeologists working throughout Vermont, the VAI now has over 5,000 sites, both terrestrial and underwater.
While the information on the VAI is classified and accessible only to registered archaeologists, we interpret the history of some of these sites at the Museum! Join us for one of our Talking Archaeology free evening lecture series this season or visit the Museum. We’re open to the public for free every day through October 12. See you soon!
Image: A photogrammetric model of General Butler created and hosted by the Museum. Currently the VAI does not have the means to host models like this, but a future version might be able to.