Using Site Condition Data to Manage Heritage Sites for Climate Change Impacts

Summary

Heritage sites worldwide are threatened by human action and inaction; archaeologists are observers of the era of human-induced global change. We are specially positioned to use our data to examine such change through the material record. Additionally, archaeologists have been recording observations about the condition of sites for many years, even if those observations are not always intended to monitor site condition or integrity. Archaeologists in the National Park Service have, in maintaining the Archeological Sites Management Information System (ASMIS), inadvertently left a record of climate change observations.

As heritage stewards, we must learn to manage sites in the face of continuous changes that we do not fully understand. Recently emerged technologies -- including those designed to manipulate increasingly comprehensive and accurate geospatial data -- allow archaeologists to examine our data in new ways to understand the causes, directions, and ongoing dynamics of climate change impacts. Our recent study of site condition data from several U.S. National Parks allows us to examine those impacts on National Park Service sites and provide recommendations for future study. We consider how park planners and managers might use these data to prioritize and preserve cultural resources in the face of rising sea levels.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Heritage Tools for Tackling Climate Change

Keywords

Spatial Coverage