The Arkansas Archeological Survey celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2017. Our mission to study and conserve the state's archeological heritage and to communicate our knowledge to the public was established by the Arkansas legislature with passage of Act 39 in 1967. In honor of that occasion, we are posting weekly “Historic Moments” to share memories of some of our most interesting accomplishments and experiences.

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  Fifty Years of Archaeological Survey
Kyle Kellams, KUAF National Public Radio
February 28, 2017

50 Moments in Survey History (added weekly throughout 2017)

1.  Birth of the Arkansas Archeological Survey (1957-1967)

2.  Cedar Grove Cemetery

3.  Archaeomagnetic Dating at the ARAS

4.  Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial: Commemorating & Excavating the Civil War in Arkansas

5.  Partnering with Arkansas State Parks across the State

6.  The Osotouy Project

7.  Camp Monticello

8.  Educational Outreach Activities

9.  The Annual Arkansas ArchaeOlympics: Three Years On and Growing!

10. The Survey Publications Program

11. Teaching Anthropology in Universities across Arkansas

12. Cemetery Preservation: Working with the Arkansas Humanities Council and Descendant Communities

13. Aerial & Near-Surface Remote Sensing at the Prehistoric Old Town Ridge (3CG41) Site in Northeastern Arkansas

14. Arkansas’s “Society Dig”: Volunteers & Professionals Working Side by Side to Learn about the Past

15. Saltmaking

16. Research into Ozark Bluff Shelters in Arkansas

17. The Blytheville Research Station

18. Studying Arkansas Rock Art

19. Investigating Spiro Mounds

20. Collaborative Research with the Ozark-St. Francis and Ouachita National Forests

21. National Park Service Collections Curation at ARAS, 1988 to Now

22. The Sloan Site

23. Partnering for Preservation and Education: 4-H and the Arkansas Archeological Survey

24. Arkansas Heritage Coming Home

25. Civil War Heritage Tourism

26. Pea Ridge & Civil War Archeology

27. Archaeogeophysical Remote Sensing

28. Changing Arkansas History through Archeological Research: The Hernando de Soto Expedition in Arkansas

29. Archeology in Communities across Arkansas

30. UAFS Historic Interpretation Program and the Creation of a New Research Station in Fort Smith

31. Arkansas Novaculite and Quarries Research

32. Historical Archeology in Arkansas

33. Investigating the Possible Base of the Cross Raised at Casqui by Hernando de Soto in 1541

34. Collaboration with the First Peoples of Arkansas

35. The Development of AMASDA (Automated Management of Archeological Site Data in Arkansas)

36. Metal Conservation at the Arkansas Archeological Survey

37. The Moss-Bennett Act

38. ARAS Gets a New Home

39. Toltec Archeological State Park

40. Native Gardens of the Arkansas Archeological Survey

41. Contributions to State and National Encyclopedias

42. A Voice for Archeology: Introduction

43. A Voice for Archeology I: Stewards of the Past (1970)

44. A Voice for Archeology II: Is there a Future for the Past? (1971)

45. A Voice for Archeology III: The Crisis in American Archeology (1972)

46. A Voice for Archeology IV: History of the Arkansas Archeological Survey (1992)

47. Arkansas Before the Americans

48. Archeology Month

49. The West Memphis Boatwrecks Project

50. The State Plan

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The founding staff of the Arkansas Archeological Survey in 1968. From left to right: Frank Schambach, Hester Davis, Burney McClurkan (top), Jim Scholtz (sitting), Martha Rolingson, Bob McGimsey, Ken Cole (above Bob), Dan Morse, and John Huner.

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