A Conservation Model for American Archaeology

Abstract

Archaeological research on any particular segment of the past is based on a non-renewable resource, and one that is being very rapidly eroded. If archaeological field work is to continue very much into the future, we must slow down the attrition of the resource base and must see that from now on it is expended very frugally. Some implications of conservation thinking in archaeology are explored. Foremost are direct conservation measures, such as public education, involvement of archaeologists in land use planning, and establishment of archaeological preserves. These require archaeologists to become involved in all aspects of archaeological resource management, not just in the exploitive aspect. Emergency salvage archaeology should be carried out only as a last resort, and should combine a strong problem orientation with additional work designed to preserve a representative sample of the data to be lost when the site or sites are destroyed. Sites not immediately threatened with destruction should be dug only when the data needs of a problem cannot be met from the available pool of sites requiring salvage. Such pure problem-oriented research should be conducted so as to leave as much of the archaeological resource as possible for future workers.

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