Dawn Golgan Portfolio


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CalStudies : NPS Internships : Cultural Resources : Presidio : Leo Barker : Dawn Colgan
Dawn Colgan E-mail: dawncolgan@hotmail.com Area of Service: Cultural Resources Park Site: Presidio Mentor: Leo Barker Fall 2003
Overview: My first assignment as an intern was organizing, and cataloguing artifactual material from a variety of locations around the park. Some of these artifacts were of historical significance, while others were not. The items came from different locations within the park, and were the results of previous excavations, and surface finds. I was involved in determining: what material was of historical significance and should be retained, and what, if anything could be discarded. Those that were deemed important, I organized according to provenience, and recorded them into the park’s database. Eventually, this database will be accessible to anyone within the National Park Service network. It is intended to be a searchable database that will include maps, photographs, GPS data and written documents among other materials. My next project was related to the recent excavation of Building 50 (The Officer’s Club). The excavation yielded evidence of a possible hearth from the Spanish period that lay just beneath the floor of the club. I carefully cleaned the bricks, and wood material yielded from the excavation, looking for pieces of adobe, any maker’s marks imprinted on the bricks, and anything else unusual or of interest. Learning to identify these fragmentary materials has been very valuable to me, as it is an important skill in archaeology. Materials Produced during Internship: - Numerous artifacts were excavated and identified towards the analysis of our site See the photographs section for details of our work. Portfolio Items: - Résumé - Description of the National Park Service - Description of Internship - Evaluation of Internship - Photographs of the Internship

Résumé
Objective	· An entry-level position in archaeology or museum work.
Education	· B.A. Anthropology San Francisco State University, May 2004
Relevant Coursework	Spring 2003 Introductory Archaeology · Developed knowledge of archaeological excavation processes, data collection methods, materials dating and artifact identification. · Created team-based mock research design plan for cultural recourse management group. Spring 2003 Human Osteology · Developed detailed knowledge of human skeletal morphology and ontogeny including normal and abnormal variation. · Assessed skeletal remains including dentition for signs of age at death, race and sex using multivariate data analysis and wrote detailed reports on findings. · Identified fragmentary skeletal materials based on landmarks of human morphology.
Experience	Fall 2003 Presidio Archaeology Internship, National Park Service San Francisco, CA · Organized, cleaned and prepared archaeological materials for accession. · Initiated identification of faunal remains of unknown origin. · Identified fragmentary earthenware, shell, charcoal, bone and lithic material. · Photographed a variety of artifacts for use by the National Park Service.
Associations	Member, Anthropological Student’s Association

Description of NPS, GGNRA and the Division of Cultural Resources and Museum Management

The National Park Service has a long history in the United States that includes many battles of competing interests. In 1832, on his trip through the Dakotas, artist George Catlin worried about the impact of westward expansion. He feared that development would spoil the natural beauty of the land in favor of economic gain. He envisioned a government policy that would protect the natural beauty of designated lands for the enjoyment of both man and beast. Fortunately, others agreed with Catlin and in 1864 the process of developing the Natural Park System began with congress’s donation of Yosemite Valley to California for preservation. This movement set a precedent of preserving land for the purpose of conservation of natural beauty. The enforcement of preservation efforts however fell on the shoulders of military engineers, Calvary men and civilians. Soon competing interests made their mark on the park system when San Francisco sought to dam Yosemite’s Hetch Hetchy Valley for a water reservoir and won. This exposed the general weakness of park protective legislation (Mackintosh 1999). In 1916 President Woodrow Wilson created the National Park Service within the Interior Department.
The mission statement of the National Park Service is, “To conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide or the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations” (Mackintosh 1999). After the creation of the NPS, several different kinds of parks joined the system including the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco in 1972. The GGNRA is a historic landmark representing many different periods of history in San Francisco. Native peoples lived on this land for over 8,000 years prior to the arrival of the Spanish who claimed the land as Alta California (Barker et al 200: 1). Under the Spanish crown, the area would begin its history of 218 years of military use forever altering the lives of the indigenous Ohlone populations. The Presidio has served as a military base under the flags of Spain, Mexico and the United States, each leaving its distinct character on over 500 historic buildings that are still standing today. Because of the rich cultural past of the Presidio, it is an excellent resource for archaeological study. The function of Presidio Archaeology is to preserve and evaluate sites of historical significance, ensuring that they find a place in educating the public about the rich cultural history buried just beneath their feet.

Mackintosh, Barry.
1999 . National Park Service, A Brief History. Electronic Document,
http://www.cr.nps.gob/history/hisnps/NPShistory/briefhistory.htm.

Barker, Leo. Blind, Eric. Barnaal, Hans.
2001. El Presidio de San Francisco, Archaeological Site Tour. Presidio Pasados 2001 Commemorative Issue.

Description of Presidio Archaeology Internship

My intent in pursuing an internship with the National Park Service, Presidio Archaeology was twofold. First, I was interested in putting my hands into as many projects as possible to get a broad range of archaeology experience. Second, I wanted to explore any specific interests that developed as a result of the internship. My first assignment as an intern was organizing, and cataloguing artifactual material from a variety of locations around the park. Some of these artifacts were of historical significance, while others were not. The items came from different locations within the park, and were the results of previous excavations, and surface finds. I was involved in determining: what material was of historical significance and should be retained, and what, if anything could be discarded. Those that were deemed important, I organized according to provenience, and recorded them into the park’s database. Eventually, this database will be accessible to anyone within the National Park Service network. It is intended to be a searchable database that will include maps, photographs, GPS data and written documents among other materials.

My next project was related to the recent excavation of Building 50 (The Officer’s Club). The excavation yielded evidence of a possible hearth from the Spanish period that lay just beneath the floor of the club. I carefully cleaned the bricks, and wood material yielded from the excavation, looking for pieces of adobe, any maker’s marks imprinted on the bricks, and anything else unusual or of interest. There was a wide variety of brick material collected from the site, and the purpose of cleaning them was to try and assess where the bricks had come from and possibly recreate the hearth if there was enough information. Unfortunately, the brick material was relatively inconclusive and my work with them ceased. I changed my focus to working with many smaller fragments from this excavation. Sorting through rock material, looking for small bits of shell, bone, charcoal and any lithic materials. Learning to identify these fragmentary materials has been very valuable to me, as it is an important skill in archaeology.

As stated previously, one of the objectives of my internship was to work in as many areas as possible to discover what my specific interests in archaeology are. There were many projects that I worked on for a short time, before being assigned to something else. I have an interest in Osteology, and I initiated the identification of some faunal remains found eroding out of the cliffs at Fort Funston. In addition to this project, I have been using my experience in photography to assist the park in building their photographic database. I have taken digital images of ceramics and earthenware that are a part of the Crissy Field collection. As well as various artifacts found at the Golden Gate Dairy site. My photography work has contributed a significant amount of images to the Park’s database, with roughly 75 images going into archive from the Crissy Field Collection, and roughly 20 from the Golden Gate Dairy site.

My experience as an intern for the National Park Service has been a very interesting and rewarding experience. Not only did I meet my objectives as an intern, I have also grown in my knowledge and interest of the Park Service.

Evaluation of Internship

As an anthropology major, I have always had a general interest in archaeology, however my prior experience with it was somewhat limited. I was intrigued by the prospect of learning more about archaeology, working in the field, and cultivating personal interests. My enthusiasm for archaeology was all that was needed to launch a successful internship, as Leo Barker has been a really great mentor. Leo has given me a broad range of exposure to different types of projects as well as encouraged me to find my personal interests and expand upon them.
Every day presented a new challenge or learning experience, which made me look forward to going to the internship. I feel that I have learned so much more about archaeology than I could possibly have learned in a classroom. Working with real historical materials, makes every lesson pertinent. For me, the best part about this experience has been the hands on contact that I have had with artifacts and historical materials. I have had the opportunity to actually touch pieces of history, which I feel is a real privilege. The internship provided me with the opportunity to learn how to recognize fragmented pieces of bone, ceramics, shell, charcoal and adobe in an archaeological sample. Organize artifacts according to provenience, and photograph them using scale. I have also learned about the steps that must be taken before an article becomes a part of an archaeological collection. In addition, I feel that I have a better understanding of how an archaeology lab runs. I feel that this experience has been a challenge for me. I have been able to both explore my interests and gain valuable work experience, while hopefully doing a service for our national parks.