DATED the 17th of April, 1999.
BE IT RESOLVED as an ordinary resolution of the members of the Society passed in accordance with the provisions of the Society Act and the bylaws of the Society that notes attached to this resolution as Schedule "A", be adopted as an Operational Standard of the Society. These notes supersede those passed as a resolution 19th February 1999 and take precedence where a conflict occurs.
NOTES CLARIFYING THE CULTURALLY MODIFIED TREES
OF BRITISH COLUMBIA HANDBOOK
B.C. ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL CONSULTING ARCHAEOLOGISTS
A.
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INTRODUCTION
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These standards were adopted by
the B.C. Association of Professional Consulting Archaeologists
at an Annual General Meeting on 17th of April 1999. |
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B.
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APPLICATION
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A member shall record Culturally Modified Trees
(hereafter referred to as ‘CMT’) as an archaeological
site in accordance with the standards contained herein. |
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C.
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WHEN TO RECORD CULTURALLY MODIFIED
TREES
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A member shall record CMTs, not been previously
recorded to the standards of the association, as an archaeological
site when such remains or evidence are encountered during the
course of his or her work as an archaeological consultant. |
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The member is encouraged, but not obliged, to
record previously unrecorded CMTs encountered at times other
than during the course of his or her work as an archaeological
consultant. |
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D.
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KINDS OF REMAINS AND EVIDENCE
TO BE RECORDED
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A member shall, under the circumstances stated
above, record as an archaeological site any modified trees
meeting the definition of a CMT presented in the Handbook.
Any CMT site, with features estimated to have been modified
50 or more years prior to investigation, shall be recorded
as stated in ‘E’. |
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E. |
SITE RECORDING |
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During Preliminary Field Reconnaissance or Archaeological
Inventory Survey members shall, at a minimum, complete Level
I CMT Recording Forms presented in the Handbook for clusters
of CMTs; |
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During Impact Assessments, where impacts to
CMTs are likely, Level II site recording forms (standard British
Columbia Site Inventory Recording Forms) accompanied by CMT
Feature Recording Forms will be completed as defined in ‘F’,
and the location and type of each CMT within a development
area shall be recorded, unless excluded by a sampling strategy
approved under a Heritage Conservation Act Permit, or an equivalent
permit issued by a First Nation. |
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Level I CMT Recording Forms, Level II site recording
forms, and CMT Feature Recording Forms can be substituted by
alternate forms if approved by the Archaeology Branch; |
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Site maps shall be attached to the site form
and prepared in accordance with the standards of the Society; |
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The site forms shall be completed and submitted
for entry into the Provincial Heritage Register; |
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F. |
WHEN TO USE CMT FEATURE RECORDING
FORMS |
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The number of CMT Feature Recording Forms
completed in accordance with ‘E2’. will be the
minimum stipulated below, unless otherwise specified under
the conditions of a Heritage Permit:
a. all aboriginally logged trees. A sketch of the feature
will be included;
b. all features present for sites with up to 10 CMTs;
c. either of the sampling approaches presented below for
sites with more than 10 CMTs:
i.the first 10 and every second CMT for sites with more
than 10 CMTs, until a sample of 40 is reached, and subsequently
for apparently rare or particularly significant features.
ii. A spatially representative sample of CMTs.
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CMT Feature Recording Forms will be completed
for any CMT marked for stem-round sampling. |
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If CMTs are to be harvested, consideration will
be given to complete recording of every CMT that is felled.
For harvested aboriginal logging features, consideration will
be given to mitigative work including detailed mapping and
excavation, and collection of clear examples of traditional
tool marks (non-axe or saw). |
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G. |
CLARIFICATIONS TO HANDBOOK. |
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Handbook pages 11-13,88,94. Toolmarks, particularly
those other than axe or saw, must be carefully recorded. Tool
bit width, degree of curvature, and other non-metric features
must always be recorded. |
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Handbook, page 89. If icons are used on feature
recording forms they should be changed to lettered abbreviations
for data entry, to facilitate data transfer, sorting, and searching. |
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Handbook, page 92, 93, 96, 130. The Handbook
states that scar width of bark strip scars on cedar trees can
only be obtained from stem round wood samples, other than recent
or unusual circumstances, due to lobe growth. It also recommends
that lobe depth and scar window width not be recorded. However,
an acceptable estimate of scar width can be calculated from
the window width added to the combined healing lobe thickness.
This allows for calculations of percentage and area of bark
removed from the original tree, and aids in placing increment
core samples for dating. The data also can assist relocation
and identification of the tree in the field or samples cut
from the tree after falling. The window width and average healing
lobe thickness should be recorded in the width and thickness
fields, and a separate field added (in a spreadsheet) for calculation
of original width and area, if desired. If markedly different
lobe thicknesses are present on a single scar, the average
should be recorded in the thickness field and both measurements
should be recorded in the ‘remarks’section. |
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Slope recorded for CMTs should be recorded as
the average slope in the area of the CMT. |