Oh, Ranger!

As an archeologist here at Great Smoky Mountains National Park I often spend time excavating in isolated places. Limited exploration using small post hole excavations may yield small flint flakes, pieces of ceramic vessels, or shards of bottle glass. These artifacts are evidence of human history, and add to our knowledge of early inhabitants of the area and their culture.

It is my job to protect these fragile pieces of our past and to try to give a voice to the unwritten record. I help protect archeological sites from destruction or alteration that may occur from projects such as new building construction or trail rerouting. It is sometimes necessary to alter a project design to avoid disturbance of a site, or to undertake a large scale scientific excavation to remove, analyze, and catalog artifacts.

Archeological research adds to our knowledge of the more recent, documented past and also helps shed light on the cultures of earlier periods for which there are no written records. Great Smoky Mountains National Park was carved out of lands once home to the Cherokees and Scots-Irish mountaineers, but the park's museum collection contains artifacts dating back through some 10,000 years of human habitation.

Over time and with numerous excavations across the park, a clearer picture as to what areas were used, what they were used for, and who used them become apparent. It is only through the protection of areas like the Great Smoky Mountains that we as a nation are able to foster a greater understanding of the unwritten past.