scholarly journals The Gap Between the Museums and Contract Archaeology

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-43
Author(s):  
Göran Gruber
Keyword(s):  
Contract Archaeology

Development of Contract Archaeology in Southern Africa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phenyo Churchill Thebe
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cultural Resources ◽  
Contract Archaeology ◽  
Archaeological Methods ◽  
Intangible Heritage ◽  
Methods And Techniques ◽  
Polluter Pays Principle ◽  
Public Consultations

Contract archaeology (CA) is a relatively new concept in world archaeology. It first became prominent in the United States five decades ago and in southern Africa four decades ago. Many archaeologists in the region are employed as contract archaeologists. CA has contributed significantly to the development of archaeological methods and techniques and, to a lesser extent, theory. The development of CA in southern Africa experienced an important transition five decades ago. Despite the progression of CA in the region, the quality and standards of reports are major problems. CA structures have to be developed in order to protect cultural heritage from destructive projects. The elaboration of a relevant and active CA program that engages stakeholders is also vital. The future of CA depends on several factors, including strong legislative frameworks and policies that make pre-development studies mandatory, funding of projects, public consultations, and protection of cultural resources. In addition to implementing several cultural heritage structures, the “polluter pays” principle should be reinforced to safeguard southern African cultural heritage. It is important to develop CA statutes that move beyond archaeological studies, pay attention to heritage, and stress intangible heritage.

Development and Disciplinary Complicity: Contract Archaeology in South America Under the Critical Gaze

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 279-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristóbal Gnecco
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Rapid Growth ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Job Market ◽  
Contract Archaeology ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Heritage Education ◽  
Disciplinary Practice ◽  
Environmental Permitting

In South America, as elsewhere, development projects have to go through environmental permitting, a component of which is the archaeological assessment of the areas to be impacted. Because such an assessment is paid for by the development companies seeking such a permit, it has come to be known as contract archaeology. Given the accelerated pace of development projects in the region, it is not surprising that contract archaeology has grown exponentially. The academic literature dealing with it and related fields has also witnessed a rapid growth, which this article seeks to review. In doing so, it discusses the literature that accepts and promotes contract archaeology ( a) as a part of environmental permitting; ( b) as the primary stimulus responsible for widening the job market, whose structure has transformed disciplinary practice to a large extent; and ( c) in terms of its relationship with the archaeological record and with heritage education. This article also reviews a growing literature, both supportive and critical, that assesses contract archaeology.

The Status of Archaeological Research Design in Cultural Resource Management

1978 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert C. Goodyear ◽  
L. Mark Raab ◽  
Timothy C. Klinger
Keyword(s):  
Research Design ◽  
Research Activity ◽  
Resource Base ◽  
Contract Archaeology ◽  
Contract Research ◽  
Research Orientation ◽  
Research Organizations ◽  
Research Designs ◽  
The Status ◽  
Made In

The recent research activity of contract archaeology is reviewed from the perspective of research design and its essential features. Some of the difficulties currently encountered in contract research are attributed to vague notions of research design, lack of general models and methods in the science of archaeology, and ineffective research organizations. It is argued that American contract research offers an unprecedented opportunity to test theories of human behavior, provided the profession can make the necessary organizational shifts in research orientation and structure. Some examples of various applied research designs are examined to indicate the kinds of successful adaptations being made in the contract sphere, as well as outright scientific contributions to the discipline. We conclude that contract archaeology has already provided at least three benefits to the profession (1) by forcing researchers to cope theoretically and methodologically with heretofore unexplored and unexplained archaeological remains, (2) by promoting a scientific merging of historical and prehistoric archaeology, and (3) by stimulating archaeologists to probe the resource base in new and explicit ways for all possible dimensions of significance.

Post-processualism, professionalization and archaeological methodologies. Towards reflective and radical practice

2003 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Chadwick
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
Archaeological Theory ◽  
Contract Archaeology ◽  
Archaeological Practice ◽  
Archaeological Work ◽  
Commercial Archaeology ◽  
Theoretical Considerations

In recent years the gap between archaeological theory and practice has been closing, but although there have been calls for ‘reflexivity’, there has been little critical examination of its meanings. Proposed reflexive methodologies still perpetuate many traditional hierarchies of power, and fail to consider the creative nature of excavation and post-excavation. Much archaeological work in Britain, Europe and North America also takes place within the commercial sphere, and post-processual ideas cannot advance archaeological practice unless they can be implemented in contract archaeology. This paper examines theoretical considerations of reflexivity, representation, subjectivity and sensual engagement to highlight their relevance to everyday archaeological practice, and their political potential to undermine existing hierarchies of power within commercial archaeology.

scholarly journals Museus e Arqueologia: algumas reflexões

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandra Saladino
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Collaborative Work ◽  
Public Archaeology ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Methodological Issues ◽  
Empirical Observation ◽  
Archaeological Heritage ◽  
Contract Archaeology ◽  
Full Power ◽  
The Subject

This article results from a preliminary thoughts about museums of archeology that part of the observation of the museum sector in Brazil, but it might eventually extend to contexts in which the preservation of archaeological heritage and musealization references are affected by the dynamics of Contract Archaeology. The aim of this paper is to initiate a reflection on some conceptual and methodological issues relating to archaeological museums, notably the specifics of this kind of museum, the theme can be approached, the profile of museums that adopt the grammar of Sociomuseologia and Public Archaeology applying museographic strategies to decrease the gap between the discourse of the permanent exhibitions in the development of archaeological research and the challenges of managing archeological collections from the development of Contract Archaeology. The methodology focuses on the literature review on the subject and empirical observation about the Brazilian context. Considerations to highlight this preliminary thoughts concerning the urgency of establishing an agenda for collective and collaborative work of the various professionals involved in the processes of preservation of archaeological heritage museums to exert their full power while loci of appropriation and reinterpretation of the archaeological heritage references. Keywords: museums, Archaeology, Sociomuseologia, Public Archaeology

“Significance” in Contract Archaeology

1979 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 327-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Floyd W. Sharrock ◽  
Donald K. Grayson
Keyword(s):  
Land Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Federal Agency ◽  
Contract Archaeology

“Significance” is evaluated from the perspective of federal agency land management practices and compared with the perspective of significance as a measure of research value.

Practicing Archaeology in the Mid-South: Problems and Prospects

1992 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 24-26
Author(s):  
Mitchell Childress
Keyword(s):  
Applied Anthropology ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Contract Archaeology

Most readers are probably aware that the participation of archaeologists in the Society for Applied Anthropology has historically been minimal to nonexistent. This brief article represents an attempt to rectify this situation and to discuss the role of contract archaeological research in the larger context of applied anthropology. In particular, I highlight what I see as some important issues involved in conducting contract archaeology in the 1990s.

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