Cultural Resources Archaeology: An Introduction

Cultural resources (CRM) archaeology is where graduating archaeology students get their jobs and where most field work and funding is now found. Yet, to date, there has not been a basic textbook introducing students to the proper practices of cultural resources archaeology…until now. Neumann and Sanford use their decades of teaching and field experience to walk students through the process of conducting a CRM project. After an introduction to the legal and ethical aspects of cultural resources management, the authors describe the process of designing a project, of conducting assessment, testing, and mitigation (Phase I, II, and III) work, and preparing a report for the project sponsor. Throughout, the emphasis on real-world problems and issues, the use of extensive examples, and the practical advice given to the student on everything from law to logistics, make this an ideal teaching tool for archaeology students who wish to become practicing archaeologists. The accompanying training manual by the same authors, Practicing Archaeology, discusses each of these topics in greater depth for professional archaeologists.

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Thomas W. Neumann has been conducting CRM archaeology projects for over 25 years and has been a faculty member at four different institutions. In addition to his running his own contract archaeology firm, he now manages the Diachronics Division at the Pocket Park-Wentworth Analytical Facility.

Robert M. Sanford is on the Environmental Science faculty at University of Southern Maine, Gorham. He has taught at several universities, been a consulting archaeologist, and served as an environmental regulator .