Abstract
Wildfire is one of many natural forces that has challenged humans for thousands of years. In just over the last one hundred years, methods to suppress and manage wildfire in the United States were formally developed. Wildfire prevention and suppression is necessary to the management of many natural and cultural resources. Cultural resources are nonrenewable resources that require consideration by those who manage wildland fire. Though there has been previous research conducted on the direct impact of fire to cultural resources, there is a dearth of information on how operational effects, such as fireline construction, impact cultural resources including archaeological sites. What limited information is available on the subject suggests that mechanical fireline construction and rehabilitation are no less of a threat to cultural resources than fire is. Working within the framework of experimental archaeology, I simulated an archaeological site using replica precontact artifacts and authentic historic materials. A fireline was mechanically constructed through the simulated site, a prescribed burn was conducted, and the fireline was mechanically rehabilitated.
Data were gathered on the spatial displacement and physical impacts to experimental artifacts. The findings of this study reveal that mechanical fireline construction consistently displaces artifacts by several meters. Fireline rehabilitation also contributes to the displacement of artifacts. Both of these operational effects are no less directly threatening to cultural resources than fire is, and have irreversible impacts that severely inhibit the ability to interpret or recover an archaeological site. Physical impacts to artifacts in this study include breakage and staining from combustive residue. By quantifying the impacts of fireline construction and rehabilitation to the simulated archaeological site, this study provides a means for cultural resource specialists and wildland fire managers to make appropriate decisions towards the preservation of our Nation’s heritage.