Companies look to past before building future

CEDAR RAPIDS - When a cellphone tower, housing development or other construction project goes up, there is the danger that something of historical value will be damaged in the process.

To avoid that type of loss and to ensure the work complies with federal regulations, businesses that focus on archaeology exist to evaluate the property beforehand, among other services.

Most of these projects begin with a cultural research survey, which requires walking the area of a given project, looking for any human artifacts that may be on the surface and scouring historical plot maps to get a sense of what is there. Soil surveys and subsurface tests also are done, requiring digging holes at a variety of depths.

'It's kind of hard and boring, backbreaking work, especially if you don't find anything, said Michael Finn, co-owner of Wapsi Valley Archaeology Inc.

When a bulldozer goes through, that's it - whatever was underneath is not being made any more, said Michael Finn, co-owner of Wapsi Valley Archaeology Inc. in Anamosa.

He called it 'the last shot you get” to ensure something of historical value isn't ruined.

Generally it's a 'look before you bulldoze” approach, said Randy Withrow, owner of Two Rivers Archaeology in Anamosa. Withrow said the field for private archaeological businesses took off in the late 1960s, early 1970s after the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 was passed.

And the field has expanded since, Withrow said.

'Our mission is to look at a piece of property as a blank slate,” explained Dave Stanley, owner of Bear Creek Archaeology in Cresco.

Prehistoric archaeological records in Iowa go back 12,000 years, Withrow said.

Stanley said his business must interpret the properties it evaluates within federal and state guidelines.

While these companies often have private clients hire them, they also often work with public entities, such as the Department of Transportation and Department of Natural Resources.

The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 only applies to projects by federal entities or projects accepting federal funds, but 'most counties have (reviews) done anyway,” Stanley said.

'We just finished up a contract with the city of Cedar Rapids,” Finn added.

Following the 2008 flood, the city had Federal Emergency Management Agency money it used to call in archaeologists to review sites such as the Cedar Rapids Public Library.

For each site, there is a process that the archaeologists go through to evaluate the site.

'It's always best, especially in a large project, to take a staged approach,” Stanley said.

The first phase is the cultural research survey, which is followed by an evaluation.

'If it's evaluated as significant …

then it's evaluated as potentially eligible for the National Register of Historic Places,” Finn said.

If it is eligible, then they move on to mitigation of damage.

At that stage, Withrow said steps to 'salvage or recover” found materials can be taken.

'When we do the fieldwork for this, we write a report. They're really involved. There's a lot that goes into this,” Finn said, adding that his company does not just walk in, find something then walk away.

Some sites, Withrow said, can host a mixture of historic and prehistoric materials.