106. Archeological Inventory of the 2008 Prescribed Burn Units, Buffalo National River, Marion, Newton, and Searcy Counties, Arkansas.
Sturdevant, Jay T. and Melissa A. Baier

In 2008, the Buffalo National River requested the services of the Midwest Archeological Center to conduct an archeological inventory of three prescribed fire units scheduled for burning in FY 2009. The prescribed burn units, totaling 2,327 acres, were inventoried for archeological resources in January - February 2008. Archeological inventory consisted of a pedestrian survey of areas within each burn unit that included ridgelines, drainages, river terraces and other landforms that were determined via GIS to have less than 25% slope and a moderate to high likelihood of containing archeological resources. Within each burn unit, known archeological and historic sites were relocated, recorded, and assessed for current condition and threats from prescribed fire. When new archeological sites were discovered, information on location, condition, content, and estimated time period was recorded. The winter conditions provided ample visibility and relative ease of movement not available during the warmer seasons at BUFF. Ten previously recorded sites were revisited and five new sites were added to the park’s inventory of known archeological sites.