What Next? The Pivotal Role of Archaeological Science in Heritage Management

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Archaeological Science Outside the Ivory Tower: Perspectives from CRM" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Heritage Management and CRM are relatively new, evolving industries that have changed the charge of archaeological work in the past half-century. Previously, archaeological sciences were developed and applied in research settings (universities and museums) to extend the range of archaeological exploration and interpretation. But times have changed. Archaeology has transitioned from a research to management and preservation-based endeavor at a dizzying pace. We no longer dig or explore what we want but apply our craft to landscapes threatened or designated for preservation by private and public interests. Recent advances in remote sensing, geoarchaeology, zoo-archaeology, forensic sciences and GIS have all found applications in archaeological settings. These sub-fields and others have altered research designs and maximized the efficiency of archaeological exploration and data recovery. The trend is to less digging and more non- or minimally invasive technologies. I trace the history of inter-connected CRM and archaeological science efforts. I promote the thesis that innovative archaeological science in CRM is both cost-effective and high yield. Cases from various sub-fields are drawn upon to demonstrate this thesis. The future of archaeological science is bright in an age of diminishing budgets where ever-increasing development concerns take center-stage under a legal compliance umbrella.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• Archaeological Science Outside the Ivory Tower: Perspectives from CRM

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23570