A Brief History and Future Prospects of the National Park Service’s Annual Archeological Prospection Workshop

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Since 1991, the National Park Service has offered a week-long series of lectures and field exercises aimed at promoting the use of ground-based geophysical, aerial, and other remote sensing methods within archeology. The workshop was originally created to address the lack of formal training opportunities in archeological remote sensing. Over time, the workshop has evolved as the expertise of its instructors has grown and remote sensing methods have developed, making it more suitable to meet the changing needs of participants. The workshop’s longevity is largely due to its reliance on experienced practitioners, equipment manufacturers, and software developers, who volunteer time, equipment, and software to offer the invaluable training. Over 1,000 participants from diverse backgrounds, including avocational archeologists, undergraduate and graduate students, university professors, cultural resource management professionals, tribal representatives, and others, have attended the workshop, leading to a sizable community of users and supporters of remote sensing technologies in archeology. Besides covering the workshop’s history, we will share our thoughts regarding its strengths and shortcomings, relying on feedback from participants, and discuss what we see as its prospects for continued relevance in the future.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 53488