Cultural Heritage Management: A Global Perspective

Preface

Preface The genesis of this book can be traced to events, projects, and publications beginning in the late 1980s. The first was the Save the Past for the Future Working Conference held in Taos, New Mexico, in 1989 under the leadership of the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) with the support of numerous organizations and U.S. federal agencies. The conference addressed three major areas dealing with preventing the destruction of archaeological resources—understanding the problem, preventing the problem, and combating the problem. The resulting publication, Save the Past for the Future: Actions for the ’90s, addressed these three areas and made recommendations on how to deal with the issues (Society for American Archaeology [SAA] 1990). Key outcomes of those efforts were the establishment of the Public Education Committee of SAA, and enhanced understanding and cooperation among archaeologists, resource managers, and law enforcement agencies in the United States. In 1994 the SAA again organized a working conference—Save the Past for the Future II—to assess achievements since the working conference of 1989 and make further recommendations for protecting and managing the past. The agenda was expanded beyond the issue of site looting to include not only law enforcement but education and integrated resource management as means of protecting archaeological sites. A conference report, Save the Past for the Future II: Report of the Working Conference (SAA 1995), presented the results of the conference and recommendations for the future. Based on several of the recommendations from this working conference, the SAA and partner organizations organized a workshop to assess the needs and opportunities for developing education and training for students and professional archaeologists. The resulting publication, Teaching Archaeology in the Twenty-ἀrst Century (Bender and Smith 2000), made recommendations for incorporating core principles addressing stewardship, diverse pasts, social relevance, ethics and values, written and oral communication, fundamental archaeological skills, and problem solving using real world issues into the curriculum, beginning with undergraduate education. In a multi-year SAA project, “Making Archaeology Teaching Relevant in the XXI Century” (MATRIX), funded by the National Science Foundation and directed by Anne Pyburn (Indiana University), faculty at eight American colleges and universities developed a set of undergraduate anthro- xiv Preface pology courses designed to provide a wide range of opportunities for students to learn about archaeology in all its diverse applications. The MATRIX courses have been reviewed and tested and are available online (see Making Archaeology Teaching Relevant in the XXI Century in the references cited). An expansion of the project to include more indigenous and global perspectives is being undertaken. The ongoing review and rethinking about archaeology in the larger context of cultural heritage led to plans for another gathering in 2005 that would focus on resource management and public policy issues in a more global context. It was clear that a successful dialogue needed to be multidisciplinary and geographically diverse. Invited participants were asked to look at the study, management, and preservation of archaeological and heritage sites around the world from multiple perspectives, taking into account politics, laws, tourism, and economic development among other conditions that make heritage management a global issue that cannot be adequately addressed by means of existing regional or national strategies and practices. The working conference, Preserving the World’s Heritage Resources, was organized by George Smith and Phyllis Messenger and held at Cumberland Island National Seashore, Georgia, in November 2005. Participants were divided into two working groups, focused on public policy and resource management. The public policy group was chaired by William Jansen, with participants including María Luz Endere, Patrick O’Keefe, Barbara Miller, Patty Gerstenblith, Anne Pyburn, and Lori Jahnke (recorder). The resource management group was chaired by Hester Davis, with participants including Willem Willems, Kirk Cordell, David Morgan, Neil Brodie, Brijesh Thapa, and Erin Kuns (recorder). Through the sharing of position papers, dialogues, and informal collaboration, each working group identified and examined areas in which archaeologists can work more effectively with their colleagues in other disciplines and institutions to manage heritage resources and participate in public policy making and implementation . Outcomes from the working groups included drafts of recommendations, best practices, and proposed action items to be discussed and further refined in multiple venues, including professional conferences and other international gatherings, with the hope that these recommendations might help identify and shape future steps by individuals, organizations, and governmental agencies, as well as influence future research questions and training programs. Papers and symposia related to the Preserving the World’s Heritage Resources working conference...