Little-known office unearths archaeological treasures at Bragg

The longleaf pine forests on Fort Bragg where soldiers prepare for battle conceal more than the Army's training secrets.

Pieces of North Carolina's history are hidden there, too.

Dirt piles cover chimneys that once blew smoke from Scottish settlers' homes. The bones of Civil War soldiers - Confederate and Union - lie in mass graves beneath wire grass fields. Pointed stones fashioned by Native Americans have been found from as far back as 12,000 B.C.

There are about 4,200 defined archaeological sites on Fort Bragg and 290 have been declared "worthy of more research" by a little-known office that protects and explores the sites.