thedrifter
01-22-07, 09:22 AM
Twentynine Palms opens paleontology center
By Beth Zimmerman - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Jan 22, 2007 5:09:20 EST
Eons before the Corps began sending leathernecks to the Mojave desert for training, the land surrounding Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentyine Palms, Calif., was home to creatures that currently exist only through their preservation in history books or museums.
In today’s Mojave Viper generation, archeologists work to preserve the base’s cultural and physical heritage assets — a task that led to the Jan. 17 opening of the Archeology and Paleontology Curation Center.
The Cultural Recourses Section of the base’s Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Division manages all archeology and paleontology on the post, and with more than 1,600 archeological sites, it was cheaper for NREA to build a center to store artifacts on post than to rent space at another federally approved facility, according to John Hale, NREA’s curation manager. Federal law requires the excavation of historic places and the preservation of any excavated artifacts, Hale said.
The new center “is essentially a warehouse with tight temperature and humidity controls,” Hale said. It will host all of the items excavated from the base, as well as records used by archeologists during the process, including field notes, maps, photographs and reports.
“The Marine Corps is very big on preserving the environment, and a part of that environment is the history that took place on the ground before we got there,” said Gunnery Sgt. Chris Cox, a base spokesman.
Evidence of the history at the combat center surrounds Marines who work and train daily among cultural sites. Just off a major route to one of the base’s training areas is the Foxtrot Petroglyph site, which features historic images scratched, pecked or chiseled into rock surfaces. When new sites are discovered, the NREA is responsible for evacuating areas before units continue training there, Hale said.
It’s a partnership indicative of the Corps’ habit of “returning things better than we found them,” Cox said.
The center eventually will be open to service members and civilians on base.
Ellie
By Beth Zimmerman - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Jan 22, 2007 5:09:20 EST
Eons before the Corps began sending leathernecks to the Mojave desert for training, the land surrounding Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentyine Palms, Calif., was home to creatures that currently exist only through their preservation in history books or museums.
In today’s Mojave Viper generation, archeologists work to preserve the base’s cultural and physical heritage assets — a task that led to the Jan. 17 opening of the Archeology and Paleontology Curation Center.
The Cultural Recourses Section of the base’s Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Division manages all archeology and paleontology on the post, and with more than 1,600 archeological sites, it was cheaper for NREA to build a center to store artifacts on post than to rent space at another federally approved facility, according to John Hale, NREA’s curation manager. Federal law requires the excavation of historic places and the preservation of any excavated artifacts, Hale said.
The new center “is essentially a warehouse with tight temperature and humidity controls,” Hale said. It will host all of the items excavated from the base, as well as records used by archeologists during the process, including field notes, maps, photographs and reports.
“The Marine Corps is very big on preserving the environment, and a part of that environment is the history that took place on the ground before we got there,” said Gunnery Sgt. Chris Cox, a base spokesman.
Evidence of the history at the combat center surrounds Marines who work and train daily among cultural sites. Just off a major route to one of the base’s training areas is the Foxtrot Petroglyph site, which features historic images scratched, pecked or chiseled into rock surfaces. When new sites are discovered, the NREA is responsible for evacuating areas before units continue training there, Hale said.
It’s a partnership indicative of the Corps’ habit of “returning things better than we found them,” Cox said.
The center eventually will be open to service members and civilians on base.
Ellie