Lay of the Land

Clearing The Fog Of War

Battlefield archaeology is an upand-coming sub-discipline that is demonstrating that the use of modern archaeological techniques can add huge amounts of new, reliable data to the story of warfare. As every historian knows only too well, the chaos and obscurity of warfare lead to distorted histories. Adding modern archaeology to the mix helps to clarify events that are often misunderstood.

In this issue of American Archaeology (see “A Tour Of Civil War Battlefields,” page 26), we feature a tour of battlefields from southern Pennsylvania to central Virginia. Many of the dozens of Civil War battlefields in the area are now being preserved by the National Park Service, state parks, and others. These preserves are a treasure trove of information about America’s greatest conflict. Using developing technologies, archaeologists are beginning to add significant new information to the myriad accounts and histories of the conflict.

In the 1980s, NPS archaeologist Douglas Scott did pioneering work at the Little Bighorn battlefield in Montana using teams of volunteers with metal detectors to map the course of the battle. His work rewrote what happened at the famous conflict. Using similar methodology, Albuquerque archaeologist Matt Schmader was able to map and describe a battle that took place between Coronado’s army and pueblo natives in 1541. The possibilities are endless.

This new field of study can only prosper if the sites of American military encounters are preserved, and the Conservancy has been working to do just that by preserving forts and battlefields across the country. But development and looting continue to take a toll. Armed conflicts play an essential role in the human experience and working to better understand them will pay enormous dividends.

Mark Michel, President