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Resources for Anthropology/Archaeology Students and Teachers |
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State site numbers were developed by the Smithsonian Institution in the 1940s for the Smithsonian River Basin Survey project. Sites had traditionally been given names, often referring to a local landmark or to the landowner. This could be very confusing, however, if there were several sites with the same name (the Smith site for example, or the Rock Creek site). Many sites still get popular names, and some institutions have a separate recording system for their own purposes, but all sites should get official state site numbers too. The Smithsonian numbers are designed so that each site gets a unique identifier. This begins with a state designation (shown below), with the states numbered alphabetically. Alaska and Hawaii weren't states at the time, so they were added to the end of the list. Next comes a two-letter abbreviation for the county, followed by a suffix number. The suffix numbers are assigned as the sites are officially recorded by state institutions. The institutions differ from state to state. In Arkansas, for example, sites are officially recorded by the Registrar's office of the Arkansas Archeological Survey, while in Iowa they are recorded by the Office of the State Archaeologist. Sites with low numbers simply indicate they were recorded earlier than sites with high numbers. Examples: 3SB3 = Arkansas (3), Sebastian County (SB), 3rd site recorded (Cavanaugh Mounds). Artifacts and artifact bags are sometimes labeled with the state site number, followed by another number that refers to a specific provenience within the site. 3SB3-29, for example, would refer to provenience #29 at site 3SB3. You generally need to look at the notes or files for a site to determine the specific provenience.
State Numbers:
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