Hostname: page-component-cb9f654ff-w5vf4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-08-08T00:49:08.894Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Status of Archaeological Research Design in Cultural Resource Management

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Albert C. Goodyear ,
L. Mark Raab  and
Timothy C. Klinger
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

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.

Information

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 43 , Issue 2 , April 1978 , pp. 159 - 173
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1978

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Ackerly, Neal and Rieger, Anne 1976 An archaeological overview of southwest Pinal County, Arizona. Arizona State Museum, Archaeological Series 104.Google Scholar
Anderson, David G. 1976 Excavation strategies at the Zebree site: 1975 field season. In Morse and Morse, pp. 30–43.Google Scholar
Arnold, Jeanne E. 1977 Early archaic subsistence and settlement in the River Raisin watershed, Michigan. In Peebles and Krakker,Appendix II, pp. 1–96.Google Scholar
Baker, Charles M. and Schiffer, Michael B. 1975 Archaeological evidence for the size effect. In Arkansas Eastman archaeological project, by Charles M.Baker, pp. 111–122. Arkansas Archaeological Survey, Research Report 6. Google Scholar
Binford, Lewis R. 1964 A consideration of archaeological research design. American Antiquity 29:425–441.10.2307/277978 S0002731600013974 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Binford, Lewis R. 1977a General introduction. In Binford, pp. 1–10.Google Scholar
Binford, Lewis R. 1977b (Editor) For theory building in archaeology: essays on faunal remains, aquatic resources, and systemicmodeling. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Binford, Lewis R., Binford, Sally R., Whallon, Robert, and Hardin, Margaret Ann 1970 Archaeology at Hatchery West. Society for A merican A rchaeology, Memoir 24.Google Scholar
Blalock, Hubert M. Jr., 1964 Causal inferences in nonexperimental research. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill.Google Scholar
Brown, James A. and Struever, Stuart 1973 The organization of archaeological research: an Illinois example. In Research and theory in current archeology, edited by Redman, Charles L., pp. 261–280. Wiley-Interscience, New York.Google Scholar
Canouts, Veletta and Struever, Stuart 1975 (Assembler) Archaeological resources of the Orme reservoir. Arizona State Museum, ArchaeologicalSeries 92.Google Scholar
Canouts, Veletta and Struever, Stuart 1977a Management strategies for effective research. In Schiffer and Gumerman, pp. 121–127.Google Scholar
Canouts, Veletta and Struever, Stuart 1977b Problem domains in the Santa Rosa Wash project, Arizona. In Schiffer and Gumerman, pp. 135–143.Google Scholar
Canouts, Veletta and Struever, Stuart 1972 An archaeological survey of the Santa Rosa Wash project. Arizona State Museum, Archaeological Series 18.Google Scholar
DeBloois, Evan I. 1975 The Elk Ridge archaeological project: a test of random sampling in archaeological surveying. U.S. ForestService, Intermountain Region, Archaeological Report 2. Google Scholar
Dethlefsen, Edwin and Deetz, James 1966 Death's heads, cherubs, and willow trees: experimental archaeology in colonial cemeteries. American Antiquity 31:502–510.10.2307/2694382 S0002731600091976 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Doelle, William H. 1975 Prehistoric resource exploitation within the CONOCO Florence project. Arizona State Museum, ArchaeologicalSeries 62.Google Scholar
Doelle, William H. 1976 Desert resources and Hohokam subsistence: the CONOCO Florence project. Arizona State Museum, ArchaeologicalSeries 103.Google Scholar
Doelle, William H. 1977 A multiple survey strategy for cultural resource management studies. In Schiffer and Gumerman, pp. 201–209.Google Scholar
Donaldson, Bruce R. 1975 An archaeological sample of the White Mountain planning unit, Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest,Arizona. U.S. Forest Service, Southwestern Region, ArcheologicalReport 6.Google Scholar
Dunnell, Robert C. 1971 Systematics in prehistory. The Free Press, New York.Google Scholar
Ferguson, Leland G. 1976 An archeological survey of a fall line creek: Crane Creek project, Richland County, South Carolina. Instituteof Archeology and Anthropology, University of South Carolina, Research Manuscript Series 94.Google Scholar
Dunnell, Robert C. 1977 (Editor) Historical archaeology and the importance of material things. The Society for Historical Archaeology, Special Publication 2. Google Scholar
Ferguson, Leland G. and Widmer, Randolph 1976 Archeological examination of a transect through the middle Savannah River Valley: the Bobby Jones Expressway,Richmond County, Georgia. Institute of Archeology and Anthropology, University of SouthCarolina, Research Manuscript Series 89.Google Scholar
Fish, Paul R. n.d. Salvaging the survey: a case study in Georgia. Journal of Field Archaeology (in press, ms. 1977).Google Scholar
Fitting, James E. 1977 Mitigation of adverse effects to archaeological resources on the Foote Wash Conservation and DevelopmentProject, Graham County, Arizona. Report No. 1786. Commonwealth Associates Inc., Jackson, Michigan.Google Scholar
Flannery, Kent V. 1968 Archeological systems theory and early Mesoamerica. In Anthropological archeology in the Americas, edited by Meggers, Betty J., pp. 67–87. Anthropological Society of Washington, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Flannery, Kent V. 1972 The cultural evolution of civilizations. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 3:399–426.10.1146/annurev.es.03.110172.002151 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glassow, Michael 1977 Issues in evaluating the significance of archaeological resources. American Antiquity 42:413–420.10.2307/279065 S0002731600092659 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodyear, Albert C. 1975a A general research design for highway archeology in South Carolina. University of South Carolina, Instituteof Archeology and Anthropology, The Notebook VII:3–38.Google Scholar
Goodyear, Albert C. 1975b Hecla II and III: An interpretive study of archaeological remains from the Lakeshore project, PapagoReservation, south central Arizona. Arizona State University, Department of Anthropology, Research Papers 9.Google Scholar
Goodyear, Albert C. 1975c A research design for the study of Dalton settlement-subsistence activities in the Cache River Basin. InSchiffer and House, pp. 205–215.Google Scholar
Goodyear, Albert C. 1977a Regional model building in the contract framework: the Hecla projects of southern Arizona. In Schifferand Gumerman, pp. 413–426.Google Scholar
Goodyear, Albert C. 1977b Research design in highway archaeology: an example from South Carolina. In Schiffer and Gumerman,pp. 157–165.Google Scholar
Goodyear, Albert C. and Dittert, Alfred E. Jr., 1973 Hecla I: a preliminary report on the archaeological investigations at the Lakeshore project, Papago Reservation,south central Arizona. Arizona State University, Department of Anthropology, Research Papers 4.Google Scholar
Goodyear, Albert C., Ackerly, Neal W. and House, John H. n.d. Regional settlement models in the South Carolina Piedmont: a survey of the Laurens-Anderson connectorroute. University of South Carolina, Institute of Archeology and Anthropology, Research Manuscript Series (in preparation).Google Scholar
Grady, Mark 1976 Aboriginal agrarian adaptation to the Sonoran Desert: a regional synthesis and research design. Ph.D.dissertation, University of Arizona. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Green, Dee 1977 Comment. Current Anthropology 18:56–57.Google Scholar
Gumerman, George J. 1971 (Editor) The distribution of prehistoric population aggregates. Prescott College, Anthropological Reports 1.Google Scholar
Gumerman, George J. 1973 The reconciliation of theory and method in archeology. In Research and theory in current archeology, edited by Redman, Charles L., pp. 287–299. Wiley-Interscience, New York.Google Scholar
Haury, Emil W., Bryan, Kirk, Colbert, E. H., Gabel, N. E., Tanner, C. L. and Buehrer, T. E. 1950 The stratigraphy and archaeology of Ventana Cave, Arizona. The University of Arizona Press, Tucson,and the University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Hill, James N. 1972 The methodological debate in contemporary archaeology: a model. In Models in archaeology, edited by Clarke, David L., pp. 61–107. Methuen, London.Google Scholar
Hole, Frank and Heizer, Robert F. 1973 An introduction to prehistoric archeology. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York.Google Scholar
House, John H. and Ballenger, David L. 1976 An archeological survey of the Interstate 77 route in the South Carolina Piedmont. Institute of Archeologyand Anthropology, University of South Carolina, Research Manuscript Series 104.Google Scholar
House, John H. and Schiffer, Michael B. 1975a Significance of the archeological resources of the Cache River basin. In Schiffer and House, pp. 163–186.Google Scholar
House, John H. and Schiffer, Michael B. 1975b Archeological survey in the Cache River basin. In Schiffer and House, pp. 75–80.Google Scholar
House, John H. and Smith, James W. 1975 Experiments in replication of fire-cracked rock. In Schiffer and House, pp. 75–80.Google Scholar
Jerman, Jerry V. and Dunnell, Robert C. 1976 Computer-aided mapping in archaeology: the case for SYMAP. Paper presented at the 41st annualmeeting of the Society for American Archaeology, St. Louis.Google Scholar
Jochim, Michael A. 1976 Hunter-gatherer subsistence and settlement: a predictive model. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Judge, W. James, I. Ebert, James, and K. Hitchcock, Robert 1975 Sampling in regional archaeological survey. In Mueller, pp. 82–123.Google Scholar
King, C. D. and King, L. B. 1973 General research design: Bay Area Archaeological Cooperative. In The southern Santa Clara Valley: ageneral plan for archaeology, edited by T. F. King and P. P. Hickman. San Felipe Archaeology 1 :III, 1–4.Google Scholar
King, Thomas F. 1971 A conflict of values in American archaeology. A merican Antiquity 36:255–262.10.2307/277713 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, Thomas F. 1977 Resolving a conflict of values in American archaeology. In Schiffer and Gumerman. pp. 87–95.Google Scholar
Klinger, Timothy C. 1976 The problem of site definition in cultural resource management. Proceedings of the Arkansas Academy ofScience 30:54–56.Google Scholar
Klinger, Timothy C. (Assembler)n.d.a Village creek: an explicitly regional approach to the study of cultural resources. Arkansas ArcheologicalSurvey, Research Report (in press, ms. 1977).Google Scholar
Klinger, Timothy C. (Assembler)n.d.b New Hope: an archeological assessment of a strip mine tract in Southern Arkansas. Arkansas Archeological Survey, Research Report (in preparation).Google Scholar
Lewis, Kenneth E. 1976 Camden: a frontier town in eighteenth century South Carolina. Institute of Archeology and Anthropology,University of South Carolina, Anthropological Studies 2. Google Scholar
Lipe, William D. 1974 A conservation model for American archaeology. The Kiva 39:213–245.10.1080/00231940.1974.11757792 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lipe, William D. and Lindsay, Alexander J. Jr., Editors 1974 Proceedings of the 1974 cultural resource management conference, Federal Center, Denver, Colorado. Museum of Northern Arizona, Technical Series 14.Google Scholar
Lovis, William A. 1976 Quarter sections and forests: an example of probability sampling in the northeastern woodlands. American Antiquity 41:364–371.10.2307/279526 S0002731600076071 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGimsey, Charles R., III 1972 Public archeology. Seminar Press, New York.Google Scholar
McGimsey, Charles R., III and Davis, Hester A. (Editors) 1977 The management of archeological resources, theAirlie House report. Special publication of the Society forAmerican Archaeology.Google Scholar
McMillan, Bruce, Grady, Mark, Lipe, William, Anderson, Adrian, Davis, Hester, Pierson, Lloyd, and Weide, Margaret 1977 Cultural resource management. In McGimsey and Davis, pp. 25–63.Google Scholar
Merton, Robert K. 1968 Social theory and social structure. The Free Press, New York.Google Scholar
Moratto, Michael J. and Kelly, Roger E.n.d. Optimizing strategies for evaluating archaeological significance. In Advances in archaeological method andtheory, Volume 1, edited by Schiffer, Michael B.. Academic Press, New York (in press, ms. 1977).Google Scholar
Morse, Dan F. and Morse, Phyllis A. (Editors) 1976 Zebree 1975, new approaches to contract archeology in Arkansas. Arkansas Archeological Survey,Research Report 8.Google Scholar
Mueller, James W., Editor 1975 Sampling in archaeology. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
National Park Service, Editor 1976 A status report to the archeological community. Interagency Archeological Services Division, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Peebles, Christopher S. and Krakker, James J. 1977 The River Raisin archaeological survey season 2, 1976; a preliminary report. Division of the Great Lakes,Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Percy, George 1976 Use of a mechanical earth auger as a substitute for exploratory excavation at the Torreya site (8Li8),Liberty County, Florida. The Florida Anthropologist 29:24–32.Google Scholar
Perlman, Stephen M. 1977 The sandy point site: an analysis of materials excavated to fulfill environmental impact statement requirements. Department of Anthropology, University of Maine, Portland-Gorham. Typescript.Google Scholar
Phillips, Bernard S. 1966 Social research, strategy and tactics. MacMillan, New York.Google Scholar
Plog, Fred T. 1974 The study of prehistoric change. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Plog, Fred T. 1975 Archaeology and cultural resource management: issues in archaeological training. Paper presented at the75th annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Plog, Fred and Hill, James N. 1971 Explaining variability in the distribution of sites. InGumerman, pp. 7–36.Google Scholar
Plog, Fred, Weide, Margaret, and Stewart, Marilyn1977 Research design in the SUNY-Binghamton contract program. In Schiffer and Gumerman, pp. 107–120.Google Scholar
Price, James E., Price, Cynthia R., Cottier, John, Harris, Suzanne, and House, John H. 1975 An assessment of the cultural resources oj the Little Black Watershed. University of Missouri, Columbia.Google Scholar
Raab, L. Mark 1973 Research design for investigations of archaeological resources in Santa Rosa Wash: Phase 1, Arizona StateMuseum, Archaeological Series 26.Google Scholar
Raab, L. Mark 1976 The structure of prehistoric community organization at Santa Rosa Wash, Southern Arizona. Ph.D.dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe. University Microfilms, AnnArbor.Google Scholar
Raab, L. Mark 1977 The Santa Rosa Wash project: notes on archaeological research design under contract. In Schiffer andGumerman, pp. 167–182.Google Scholar
Raab, L. Mark and Goodyear, Albert C. 1973 On the value of middle range theory in archaeological research strategies. Circulated paper.Google Scholar
Raab, L. Mark and Klinger, Timothy C. 1977 A critical appraisal of “significance” in contract archaeology. American Antiquity 42:4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Redman, Charles L. 1973 Multistage fieldwork and analytical techniques. American Antiquity 38:61–79.10.2307/279311 S0002731600088284 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reid, J. Jefferson, Rathje, William L. and Schiffer, Michael B. 1974 Expanding archaeology. American Antiquity 39:125–126.10.2307/279227 S0002731600090260 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodgers, James B. 1974 An archaeological survey of the Cave Buttes dam alternative site and reservoir, Arizona. Arizona StateUniversity, Department of Anthropology Research Papers 8.Google Scholar
Rogge, A. E. and Fuller, Steven L. 1977 Probabilistic survey sampling: making parameter estimates. In Schiffer and Gumerman, pp. 227–328.Google Scholar
Roper, Donna C. 1976 Lateral displacement of artifacts due to plowing. American Antiquity 41:372–375.10.2307/279527 S0002731600076083 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schiffer, Michael B. 1975a Archeological research and contract archeology. In Schiffer and House, pp. 1–7.Google Scholar
Schiffer, Michael B. 1975b The effects of occupation span on site content. In Schiffer and House, pp. 265–269.Google Scholar
Schiffer, Michael B. 1976 Behavioral archeology. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Schiffer, Michael B. 1977 Toward a unified science of the cultural past. In South, pp. 13–40.Google Scholar
Schiffer, Michael B. and Gumerman, George J. (Editors) 1977 Conservation archeology: a guide for cultural resource management studies. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Schiffer, Michael B. and House, John H. (Assemblers) 1975 The Cache River archeological project: an experiment in contract archeology. Arkansas ArcheologicalSurvey, Research Series 8.Google Scholar
Schiffer, Michael B. and House, John H. 1977 Cultural resource management and archaeological research: the Cache Project. Current Anthropology 18:43–68.10.1086/201847 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Bruce D. 1974 Middle Mississippi exploitation of animal populations: a predictive model. American Antiquity 39:274–291.10.2307/279588 S0002731600090776 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
South, Stanley 1977a (Editor) Research strategies in historical archeology. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
South, Stanley 1977b Method and theory in historical archeology. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
South, Stanley and Widmer, Randolph 1977 A subsurface sampling strategy for archeological reconnaissance. In South, pp. 119–150.Google Scholar
Stephenson, Robert L. 1977 A strategy for getting the job done. In South, pp. 307–322.Google Scholar
Stewart, Yvonne G. and Teague, Lynn S. 1974 An ethnoarcheological study of the Vekol Copper Mining project. Arizona State Museum, ArchaeologicalSeries 49.Google Scholar
Struever, Stuart 1968 Problems, methods and organization: a disparity in the growth of archeology. In Anthropological Archeologyin the Americas, edited by Meggers, B. J., pp. 131–151. Anthropological Society of Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Struever, Stuart 1971 Comments on archaeological data requirements and research strategy. American Antiquity 36:9–19.10.2307/278019 S0002731600084882 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, David H., 1973 An empirical test for Steward's model of Great Basin settlement patterns. American Antiquity 38:115–176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, David H., 1975 Nonsite sampling in archaeology: up the creek without a site. In Mueller, pp. 61–81.Google Scholar
Trubowitz, Nealn.d. The persistence of settlement pattern in a cultivated field. Manuscript on file, State University of NewYork, Buffalo.Google Scholar
Vivian, Gwinn, Anderson, Keith, Davis, Hester, Edwards, Rob, Schiffer, Michael B., South, Stanley 1977 Guidelines for the preparation and evaluation of archeological reports. In McGimsey and Davis, pp.64–77.Google Scholar
Watson, Patty Jo, LeBlanc, Steven A. and Redman, Charles L. 1971 Explanation in archeology: an explicitly scientific approach. Columbia University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Whitlam, Robert 1976 Archaeology in the Williams Lake area, British Columbia: part 2—the Farm 8 SYMAP project. OccasionalPapers of the A rchaeological Sites A dvisory Board of British Columbia 1.Google Scholar
Wyant, Jeffrey R. and Bayham, Frank E. 1976 An experimental study of lithic use wear. In Doelle, pp. 231–243.Google Scholar
Zubrow, Ezra B. W. 1971 Carrying capacity and dynamic equilibrium in the prehistoric Southwest. American Antiquity 36:127–138.10.2307/278666 S0002731600084511 CrossRefGoogle Scholar