ABSTRACT

This chapter looks at the field of archaeology and the many publics who maintain an active interest in the study of the past. Historically, archaeology maintained an academic interest that often precluded the perspectives of the populations who had a direct relationship with the material culture unearthed by archaeologists. It really was not until the active participation of the federal government in protecting America’s cultural heritage that archaeologists were required to share the archaeological enterprise. While heritage management, community participation, and archaeology as a humanistic scientific enterprise are at a nexus globally, this chapter will focus primarily on the situation as it exists in the United States.