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Pennsylvania Archaeological Site Survey (P.A.S.S.) The Pennsylvania Archaeological Site Survey form is used to record locations of both prehistoric and historic archaeological sites with The Bureau of Historic Preservation. The P.A.S.S. files are maintained by the Bureau for protecting archaeological sites from destruction due to development projects and mining activities. Whenever a proposed development or mining project submits an application for a state issued permit, the P.A.S.S. files are searched to determine if any archaeological sites may be threatened by the project. This gives professional archaeologists advanced warning if sites are found to be in jeopardy. The significance of the site can then be determined and if necessary salvage excavations can be conducted to collect as much information as possible prior to the site's destruction. Sometimes developers can work in cooperation with archaeologists by altering development plans so that damage to a site is minimized, thus preserving the site for future study. It is important to record your sites. If the site is not on file then it can not be protected. If you think the site may have already been recorded, complete and send in a form anyway. The updated information you provide will be added to the site's file and the P.A.S.S. number assigned to the site will be provided to you. The importance of this number is explained below. Some surface collectors have expressed a concern for maintaining the secrecy of their sites to prevent looting and pothunting. The information contained in the P.A.S.S. files is kept confidential. Access to the files is usually only granted to professional archaeologists for conducting legitimate archaeological research. This brings up another important aspect of the P.A.S.S. files. The number of recorded sites in Pennsylvania has now surpassed 17,000. The files provide archaeologists with a valuable database of information that can be statistically analyzed. As the database grows larger, the information it contains becomes more valuable. For example, site locations can be correlated with certain topographic settings and soil types. Archaeologists can then use this information to develop models of settlement patterns and population movements. Links for downloading
P.A.S.S. forms are provided below. Two types of forms are available, the
standard form used by professional and
avocational archaeologists, and an abbreviated form
that can be used by the nonprofessional. The standard form requests information
that requires some knowledge of map reading and geology. If you can't fill
in all of the categories that's okay. Complete as much as your abilities
allow. If the standard form is too much to tackle, try the abbreviated form.
It's more user friendly. Use one form for each site you want to record. Remember
to provide a map with the location of your site clearly marked on it. If
possible, photocopy a USGS 7.5 minute topographical map to locate the site,
or print a map from one of several websites that provide online topomaps.
Don't forget to give the name of the topo map. An accurate location is the
single most important piece of information that you can provide. Mail P.A.S.S. forms to: Pennsylvania Archaeological Site Survey When the form has been processed by the Bureau, they will provide you with the P.A.S.S number assigned to the site. This is an important number. The number will look like this: 36SO271 The first two digits, 36 represent the state of Pennsylvania. In an alphabetical list of all fifty states Pennsylvania is the 36th state on the list. All sites recorded in Pennsylvania will begin with 36. Next are two letters. SO in this case represents Somerset County. Each county has a two-letter code. The remaining digits represent a number assigned to the site. These numbers are assigned sequentially for each county starting with the number 1. In this example 271 is the two hundred seventy-first site recorded in Somerset County, SO, in the state of Pennsylvania, 36. All information concerning the site and all artifacts found on the site are linked with this number.
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