These essays urge archaeologists to reexamine and to change
their basic assumptions about how we assign value to
cultural places and, beyond that, how we should understand
and manage our heritage throughout much of the world.
At the heart of the complex field of cultural
resource management is the work archaeologists do to
determine the significance of a particular site. On a daily
basis, they often face the question of what should be
protected for future generations, salvaged in the face of
impending destruction, or allowed to be destroyed without
record. Frequently, their assessments are at odds with
segments of society whose culturally conditioned values
conflict with the practical management of resources. The
book addresses such topical issues as public controversy
over national memorials, land ownership, repatriation, and
the protection of cultural heritage in war and peace. It
sets the concerns of native peoples and minorities in the
context of worldwide tensions between national and local
identities, and it explores the overt goal of many
countries to promote and appreciate cultural diversity. It
also addresses the philosophical separation of heritage
management and research within the archaeological
discipline itself.
The contributors propose that in both developing and
developed nations the theoretical underpinning of policies
must be examined, and new preservation, protection, and
research strategies must be developed. Drawing on a broad
base of international expertise, the book highlights new
theoretical and pragmatic approaches to archaeological
value and significance being applied currently by
professionals in North America, Europe, Africa, South
America, and Australia.
The book raises concerns of interest not only to
archaeologists but also to those in law, politics,
anthropology, environmental studies, and related fields. It
revives the critical debate concerning significance and
value while emphasizing innovations in both theory and
practice in what has become in the 21st century an
increasingly diverse
discipline.
Clay Mathers is the geographic information systems
coordinator for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the
Albuquerque District, New Mexico. He is the coeditor of
Trends and Patterns in Cultural Resource Significance,
Cultural Resource Significance Evaluation, and
Development and Decline in the Mediterranean Bronze
Age.