New Perspectives on Cultural Heritage Protection Informed by Public Opinion Surveys

Summary

This is an abstract from the "New Perspectives on Heritage Protection: Accomplishing Goals" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Despite past cultural resource protection efforts, looting remains a prevalent issue throughout the U.S. While the laws may be adequate, current methods of and emphasis on detection and enforcement of these crimes are not. This paper discusses new perspectives on cultural heritage protection based primarily on the results of two surveys. The first involved Wyoming archaeology advocates and members of the public within highly-looted parts of the state and focused on assessing public perceptions and attitudes towards archaeology in Wyoming. The second is the 2018 American Perceptions of Archaeology Survey conducted on behalf of the SAA. Such concepts include a new, organized approach to methods for detecting looting; Archaeological Violation Investigation and Damage Assessment training for those involved in detection and prosecution efforts; incentivized detection and prosecution efforts and media focus on successfully prosecuted cases to emphasize the impacts and seriousness of ARPA punishments and make them more common-knowledge; incorporation of Native perspectives establishing a tangible connection to the collective past; influencing societal norms through ethics/morals-based educational efforts targeted at the future generation; and the continuation and expansion of site stewardship programs.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• New Perspectives on Heritage Protection: Accomplishing Goals

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24797