Some thoughts on cultural resource management archaeology in the United States

Abstract

The relations between rescue and research have been a lively issue in those many countries where salvage work has become the context for much, or most, funding for archaeological fieldwork. Nowhere has the debate been livelier than in the USA, where the last decade has seen the growth of cultural resource management (CRM), in part ‘as a rebellion against the connotations of the term “salvage archaeology”’ (Knudson 1986:400).The University of Pittsburgh is one of the most active anthropology departments in the field; here the CRM issues are explored, with examples from the Pittsburgh programme.