Cultural Resource Management

Through a variety of state and federal laws, the staff of the Survey works to preserve and protect important archeological resources. Among the most important of these laws are:

Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966, as amended, requires that Federal agencies and their designees/authorized representatives take into account the effects of their federal undertakings on cultural resources that are listed on or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The process of complying with Section 106 in Oklahoma provides OAS with a role in commenting specifically on potential impacts to significant archaeological resources.  For more on Section 106, visit our Resources Page.

To ensure timely responses from the OAS and to reduce the OAS’s need to request additional information, submission letters must contain the following information:

• A cover letter that provides:
  • your agency’s complete return address;
  • a detailed description of the proposed project, including what, if any ground disturbing activities are going to occur;
  • the agency that is funding, licensing, or permitting the project;
  • the size of the project area (preferably in acres) and the legal description (quarter section, section, township, and range), city and county; and
• A color map (preferably a portion of a USGS 7.5’ quadrangle topographic map) and/or aerial photograph illustrating the exact location of the project area.

For more detailed information about submitting a Section 106 request please refer to the SHPO’s Review and Compliance Manual (pdf). 

We encourage you to review our response letter upon receipt as it may contain a request for further information—either in the form of additional documentation required to complete our initial review or to recommend that an archaeological survey of the project area be completed.

For some other useful resources in conducting background research beyond the OAS site files in the CAP office, please refer to the Resources Page.

A draft of each site form must be submitted prior to receiving a site number. These may be submitted either electronically as an attachment to Dr. Debra Green, Assistant State Archaeologist, or in hard copy format to Dr. Green’s attention at the above-listed address for OAS.

Trinomials will be assigned upon initial review of the site form, typically within one to two days if the forms are completed adequately and accurately. A final unbound hard copy of each site form must be submitted shortly after issuance of the number or with the associated project report.

Occasionally, OAS will request some revisions or changes to the form based on obvious errors or omissions; such revisions generally don’t preclude the issuance of a site number, provided the changes are addressed in the final versions of the forms that are submitted.

Common Issues with Site Forms:

• Incomplete sections (e.g. Soils, Elevation/Slope)
• Incorrect legal descriptions
• Inaccurate UTM’s (reversing the Northing and Easting coordinates)
• Missing sketch and/or USGS topographic maps
• Missing site photographs
• Poor-quality of the photographs
• Missing photographs of diagnostic artifacts.
• Incomplete sections stating, “see Section 23.” This typically occurs in Section 10. Please complete all sections.
• Grammatical and spelling errors

Please refer to the SHPO’s Fact Sheet 16, Guidelines for Developing Archeological Survey Reports in Oklahoma and Report Components (pdf).

36 CFR Part 800 (pdf)

SHPO Fact Sheet #10: Frequently Asked Questions about Section 106 Review (pdf)

SHPO’s Section 106 Review and Compliance Manual (pdf)

The OASIS Public Viewer provides an interactive map of known archaeological sites within Oklahoma by county and broad time periods. 

The OASIS Public Viewer also provides an interactive link for those who wish to report an artifact to our staff. OASIS Public Viewer

The following table provides a listing of known prehistoric sites within Oklahoma by county and broad time periods. [Last updated 2005] For discussion of selected significant sites across the state, see Highlighted Sites By County (pdf). [Last updated 2002]