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.

What do we value about the past? In formulating policies about heritage preservation, that is the inevitable question, and deals not only with economic value but also the intangible value to individuals, communities and society as a whole. This interdisciplinary group of scholars—anthropologists, archaeologists, architects, educators, lawyers, heritage administrators, policy analysts, and consultants—make the first attempt to define and assess heritage values on a local, national and global level. Chapters range from the theoretical to policy frameworks to case studies of heritage practice, written by scholars from eight countries.

In recent years, heritage has grown by leaps and bounds, beyond the reach of the conservation of monuments and into the realms of economic growth, community development and human rights. But how have shifts in the meaning of “heritage” changed its study? And how will heritage continue to evolve in the future? Heritage Studies: Stories in the Making, an edited collection developed from a conference at the McDonald Institute of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, attempts to respond to these questions by charting developing trends over decades of heritage scholarship. This volume presents a snapshot of the field today, addressing the influence of new thinking on heritage, and its current and future trajectories. Should heritage be viewed as a “resource” to be cashed in on, or a “tool” for political engagement and representation? Or should heritage be seen as it first was, as the significant remains of the past? At a turning point in the study of heritage, this volume explores the complex ways in which we use the past to construct meaning in the present. Above all, Heritage Studies: Stories in the Making aims to arm readers—theoretically and methodologically—to participate in the much needed debates facing the heritage world today.

Unlike most textbooks on heritage which discuss the creation of heritage as a cultural phenomenon or offer practical guides to heritage practices, Archaeology and Heritage takes a fresh approach by providing an introduction to themes in the field of heritage as it relates to the material legacy of our past. A survey of current approaches to theorizing archaeological practice presents some ideas about how we understand and relate to the remains, sites, structures and buildings that have come to our present from the past.The book is divided into seven chapters, each preceded by a short interlude which considers the types of literature and ways of talking about heritage which characterize that approach. For those not already acquainted with recent archaeological theory, the book provides a brief introduction to current trends. Each chapter is in turn divided into key points indicated by sub-headings, and these key points are reiterated at the end of each chapter and are followed by a list of suggested readings.

Archaeological heritage legislation aims to ensure the best possible protection for the archaeological heritage, yet it remains the case that legislation can remain ineffective through other practical considerations. Some consideration may be legal or procedural, such as difficulties in enforcing legislation or in preventing crimes or damage or archaeological monuments. However other problems may be less obvious and harder to address, and require solutions which go much further than the simple application of the law. The aim of this volume is to address several issues surrounding the management of archaeological heritage comparing and contrasting which laws 'work' and which ones do not, and ignoring other issues which might effectively present the transplantation of an 'ideal system' to another country or political climate. Or the cultural attitudes which might prevent a law working in the legal system for which it was designed. The contributions are from various international jurisdictions and address a variety of subjects - from the protection of archaeological monuments to dealing with and controlling chance finds made by members of the public.

Archaeological Resource Management provides an international comparison of the main practices involved in managing archaeological remains, especially their identification and recording, their evaluation for 'significance,' their preservation and their presentation to the public.

This important book addresses critical themes in the development of archaeology as a reflexive, self-critical discipline in the modern world. It explores the ethical, political and cultural tensions and responsibilities which need to be addressed by archaeologists when working within networks of global ecologies and communities, examining how authoritarian traditions can exacerbate the divide between expert and public knowledge. Moreover, it analyses how localized acts of archaeology relate to changing conceptions of risk, heritage, culture, identity, and conflict. Bringing insights from Alain Schnapp, Michael Shanks, Isabelle Stengers, Bruno Latour, Ulrich Beck, John Urry and others to cross-disciplinary discussions of these themes, Unquiet Pasts shows how archaeological discourse can contribute towards engaging and understanding current dilemmas. It also shows how archaeology, as a localized and responsibly exercised practice, can play a part in building our commonly shared and experienced world.