CRM and Synthesis

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Refining Archaeological Data Collection and Management to Achieve Greater Scientific, Traditional, and Educational Values" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Today there is a growing movement to use accumulated archaeological information to contribute to discussions of general issues facing human societies, including our own. In this regard, the archaeological record is most unique and helpful when viewed at broad comparative scales concerning the long-term dynamics of households, settlements, and societies. Most of the data that are most relevant for these sorts of analyses are collected through the cultural resource management (CRM) process, but to a great extent, the basic observations of CRM, such as relative frequencies of stylistic artifact types, remain tailored to culture-historical questions that have little resonance beyond archaeology. What would it take for CRM data to become a means of studying social dynamics across societies? What sorts of data would be needed? In this paper I discuss this issue and suggest a few ways CRM archaeology could move productively in this direction.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• Refining Archaeological Data Collection and Management to Achieve Greater Scientific, Traditional, and Educational Values

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32291