ICA Nears Extinction

The Institute for Conservation of Archaeology (ICA), which for seven years carried out environmental impact studies for the Peabody Museum, will shortly complete its final projects before it becomes extinct itself.

The Institute officially closed its doors last July, but three major projects remain unfinished, Gregory Laden, staff archaeologist at the Peabody Museum, and the only remaining staff member at the institute, said Monday.

The ICA was one of only three Massachusetts-based agencies protecting archaeological sites from destruction during urban development. Similar institutes remain at Boston University and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

The remaining projects include completion of reports on the discovery of a Chicopee Indian crossing and a Charlestown excavation project completed last spring. The institute also plans to erect a series of public information displays in MBTA subway stations.

The Charlestown project uncovered a prehistoric Indian campsite dating back more than 3000 years. The find, which yielded pottery, stone tools, and charcoal, was only the second to indicate prehistoric settlement in the Boston area.

According to Garth L. Bawden, assistant director at the Peabody Museum, the artifacts helped anthropologists recreate the lifestyle of the nomadic Indians. The site also provided evidence of a trading economy.

"There have been few such early sites uncovered--colonial expansion has usually covered or wiped them out," he said.

The Institute's closing is part of "an overall change of focus on the part of the museum," said Laden. "We had a good future, but apparently just didn't figure into the picture."