Managing Archaeological Investigations

"Research sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration."

In a snapshot of 21st century archaeological resource management as a global enterprise, these 25 contributors show the range of activities, issues, and solutions undertaken by contemporary managers of heritage sites around the world. They show how the linkages between global archaeology and funding organizations, national policies, practices, and ideologies, and local populations and their cultural and economic interests foster complexity of the issues at all levels. Case materials from five continents introduce common themes of archaeologist relations with descendant groups, public outreach, national/local relationships, and data and site preservation. Sponsored by the World Archaeological Congress.

This substantial volume, the result of 2008 symposia in Copenhagen and Bologna, explores how field archaeology and site management can be more fully integrating, with considerations of public access and conservation taken having a greater role when archaeological research projects are designed. 51 papers present case studies from a wide range of sites, alongside more theoretical and methodological offerings.

Quality Management in Archaeology deals with the effects of the profound changes that have had an impact on the discipline of archaeology all over the world. In North America, in Europe and increasingly in other parts of the world, new legislation and international treaties have changed its position in society. What was once a university based research activity by a limited number of academics has become a socially relevant field with many practitioners that are mostly employed in some branch of archaeological resource management. Archaeology has been successful in persuading governments and the general public that more should be done to preserve archaeological heritage and to investigate it where it will be irretrievably lost. The scale and frequency of archaeological work has increased vastly, at considerable cost to society. Consequently, there is pressure to do the work efficiently and economically. At the same time, academic standards have to be maintained to assure that the end result will be the relevant knowledge about the past that society pays for. Different countries have found different approaches and solutions to deal with this dilemma. Sometimes commercial archaeology is allowed, sometimes it is not, but in every national context quality has to be managed in some way. This book presents a survey by specialists from the US, Canada, and several European countries on how this is done, what the principles are, and also the priorities. It will be useful for anyone interested in archaeological resource management.

This book results from discussions at the 1982 World Archaeological Congress on 'Public Archaeology and Cultural Resource Management'. It brings to everyone's notice the common need of a coherent, well-planned response to the potentially destructive threats of development and tourism to archaeology.

A collection of essays and reports examining key issues in conservation and management of archaeological sites. It is divided into parts that focuses on historical methods, concepts, and issues; conserving the archaeological resource; physical conservation of archaeological sites; the cultural values of archaeological sites; and site management.

Cultural resource management (CRM) involves research, legislation, and education related to the conservation, protection, and interpretation of historic and prehistoric archaeological resources. Kerber's work is divided into four major categories of discussion: theoretical and interpretive frameworks, research methodology, legislation and compliance, and creative protection strategies. The only volume on CRM in Northeastern America since Spiess's Conservation Archaeology in 1978, its contributors are all major participants in archaeology in the Northeast, which includes the six New England states and New York. Because the volume presents successful models and practical advice concerning CRM, it is relevant to regions other than the Northeast and can be helpful in providing a comparative framework for evaluating programs elsewhere in the United States.