Avoiding Archaeological Disasters: Risk Management for Heritage Professionals(Techniques & Issues in Cultural Resource Management)

You think it can’t happen to you, but it can. One day, months into your construction project, your front end load operator runs into bones and wooden slats. Your county coroner says it is not a crime scene, and refers you to the local archaeology department. The archaeologist tells you that it is a very important discovery. Work stops. Archaeological discoveries happen all the time in the course of projects. Most are manageable, some are less so, and some are mismanaged, wasting time and money. If you are not prepared, the consequences can be disastrous. This book is for project engineers, project managers, construction managers, the staff of affected government agencies, and archaeological consultants. In its pages you receive enough information, enough archaeological perspective, to intelligently work with the various parties involved in your project and avoid an archaeological disaster.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 Introduction; Chapter 2 The Anatomy of Archaeological Disasters; Chapter 3 Addressing Archaeological Risks During Early Project Planning; Chapter 4 Implementing Archaeological Measures to Reduce Risks; Chapter 5 The Risk Matrix: A Tool for Managing Archaeological Risks; Chapter 6 Case Studies; Chapter 7 Human Burials; Chapter 8 Principles for Avoiding an Archaeological Disaster; Afterword: Sacramento City Hall Expansion Project: Another Inconvenient Truth, Adrian Praetzellis;

About the Author :
Darby C Stapp, Julia Longenecker

Review :
"...Avoiding Archaeological Disasters is appropriate for all audiences and should be required reading for all archaeologists. [This book] is written specifically for project managers and archaeologists, both applied and academic. [Its] strength lies in its ability to communicate in an accessible way what are otherwise complex and rarely discussed issues, particularly in the context of Northwest Coast archaeology."...-- Rich Hutchings, The Midden "Avoiding Archaeological Disasters is a useful tool for the stated audience of construction project managers and engineers. It gives the reader a recipe to follow when managing large construction projects with cultural resource and heritage concerns. It will be informative for archaeologists and agency people as a view into the process from the authors' perspective of working through big projects with problems and high public profiles. The strength of this book lies in its problem-oriented focus and in the detail provide by a small number of case studies that receive careful treatment throughout the text, including the introduction. It is also easily understood and accessible, written with project managers in mind, and provides a model that can be implemented to avoid many of the problems described."-- Douglas J. Perrelli, Anthropology Review Database "Darcy Stapp and Julia Longenecker's new book from Left Coast Press called Avoiding Archaeological Disasters: A Risk Management Approach, is an important book for construction project managers and for the archaeologists they hire [it] looks to be a quite useful tool for construction project managers to get a sane handle on what could happen, to get the spadework done before the construction starts, and to be prepared for unavoidable eventualities. Further, it might also be a useful book for cultural resource managers who work with construction managers, to be able to assist in their decisions. Read the complete review at: http://archaeology.about.com/od/culturalresource/fr/stapp2009.htm."-- K. Krist Hirst, About.com: Archaeology "Everywhere archaeology is now part of the planning process and dealing with archaeological resources is one of the conditions to be managed in projects. This book is a successful attempt to provide guidance for project managers from around the world on how to deal with the risks and potential benefits of archaeology. Legal systems vary in different countries, but project development is similar everywhere and Stapp and Longenecker provide illuminating case studies and comparative overviews."-- Willem J.H. Willems, Dean of the Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University; former State Archaeologist of The Netherlands "This book provides critical practical assistance to governments, businesses and corporations in one of the major challenges of our time--that of marrying development and the sustainable stewardship of cultural heritage of global significance."-- Claire Smith, President, World Archaeological Congress, and Department of Archaeology, Flinders University "This is a well written book that would do well in construction management courses. The basic principles identified are applicable to both the developers and the client or owner. The land owners are the ones who would really benefit from this book because they have the most risk--they pay for the damages."-- Dick French, Owner, Federal Engineers and Constructors