Significance in Archaeology

Optimizing Strategies for Evaluating Archaeological Significance

“…In this amplification of an earlier paper (Moratto and Kelly 1977), we emphasize that a broadly based strategy for appraising significance is needed to maximize the preservation and wise use of cultural resources. Here we use the terms "archaeological resources" and "cultural re-sources" interchangeably to refer to both historic and prehistoric cultural properties.…”

“…Obviously, neither extreme is a viable stance for those seeking a reasonable balance between domesticating the landscape and conserving the nation's partrimony (Moratto and Kelly 1977). Ideas on the matter range from the academic conviction that all sites were created significant (and are therefore worthy of eternal salvation) to the planners' view that sites were made to be "ranked" so that "expendable" ones can be consigned to the bulldozers while some of the "important" ones are preserved as monuments to their enlightened civic and ecological aware-ness.…”

“…In circumstances where acculturation was severe and traditional lore has been forgotten, archaeology may provide the only access to the patrimony of an ethnic group (Moratto and Kelly 1977). This kind of value often transcends the others, but there are also many cases where ethnic and historical or public significance are the same (say, when a society's heritage is enriched through the archaeological discovery of ancestral life ways).…”

“…Another difficulty, of course, is that new theory, better research designs, and more sophisticated methods will come with the future, and this means that we cannot presently evision what the "total data" potentials of a given site might be, much less arrive at the estimated cost of recovery (Moratto and Kelly 1977). And, although it may be possible to calculate data recovery costs based on current methods, etc., it is never possible actually to recover all the data potentially available, partly because the destruction of some kinds of information is an unavoidable result of collecting other kinds.…”

“…At issue is the fact that the nation's archaeological remains are being methodically conserved or obliterated, depending on their adjudged significance (Moratto and Kelly 1977). Perceived significance influences such research decisions as which sites to investigate and what kinds of data to collect.…”