Abstract
The current state of archaeology in the United States of America (USA), particularly its commercial side, known as “cultural resource management” (CRM), is quite apart from similar kinds of enterprises in other parts of the world today. Much of this has had to do with the fact that archaeology itself developed differently here than it did in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, or even Canada. It also has to do with the nature of the political and regulatory system within the USA. Even the term “cultural resources management” is singularly different than those used for similar endeavors elsewhere where “public archaeology,” “commercial archaeology,” or “heritage management” is more appropriate. This is part accident and part intention, based on the fact that CRM represents a broad range of studies done under this umbrella. It does include archaeology but also encompasses the professions of history, architectural history, ethnographic studies and, even urban planning. More recently, cultural landscape studies have come to the fore. While not a separate discipline, it represents an important offshoot of study not widely discussed in the past.
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Altschul, J. H., & Patterson, T. C. (2010). Trends in employment and training in American archaeology. In W. Ashmore, D. T. Lippert, & B. J. Mills (Eds.), Voices in American archaeology (pp. 291–316). Washington: Society for American Archaeology.
American Cultural Resources Association. (2009). Investigative survey of cultural resources companies across the United States [Data on file]. Baltimore, MD: ACRA Headquarters.
Dore, C. (2012, February 17). Shift in market share away from U.S. heritage-only firms. Heritage Business Journal (online).
Hirst, K. K. (2012). Cultural Resource Management: A Process. http://archaeology.about.com/od/culturalresource/qt/crm_definition.htm.
King, T. F. (2002). Thinking about cultural resource management: Essays from the edge. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira.
Phillips, D. (2003). Who’s my daddy? Who’s my mommy? Results of a poll on the origins of private-sector CRM. ACRA Edition, 9(5), 4–10.
Polk, M. R. (2002). Private contracting in cultural resources: A maturing business. The SAA Archaeological Record, 2(3), 22–24.
The Economist. (2006, June 22). Roads to somewhere: the highways that have changed America’s social and economic face. Chicago and St. Louis.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Polk, M.R. (2013). Resource Transformation: The History and Status of the Cultural Resource Management Industry in the United States. In: Jameson, J., Eogan, J. (eds) Training and Practice for Modern Day Archaeologists. One World Archaeology, vol 1. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5529-5_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5529-5_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-5528-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-5529-5
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawSocial Sciences (R0)