Introducing Reviews in Colorado Archaeology, a New Online Journal for Archaeological Research and Cultural Resources Management

Abstract

Decisions about which sites to preserve and study are among the most critical that archaeologists make. Sound preservation decisions depend on well-supported assessments of archaeological site importance, which in turn depend on agreed frames of reference or contexts. For archaeologists working in Colorado and adjacent regions, one of the most important frames of reference is a series of context documents published by the Colorado Council of Professional Archaeologists. As is true of any synthesis of archaeological data, those contexts are now in need of renewal, and in some cases revision. To provide one venue for context updates, Paleocultural Research Group has inaugurated an online, refereed journal called Reviews in Colorado Archaeology (RCA) that publishes authoritative and critical reviews, original research, National Register contexts, and methodological primers. RCA also publishes separately numbered, book-length contributions and distributes monographs or edited volumes produced by universities, federal or state agencies, or other organizations. RCA is one component of a new website designed to support research, cultural resources management, and public education in Colorado archaeology. Called “Online Resources for Colorado Archaeology and Historic Preservation,” or ORCA, the site is an open-access platform that integrates a reference library, a compendium of hyperlinks to online resources, a forum for community discussion and professional collaboration, and resources for educators, students, and avocationals.

Balancing the Scales: Harmonizing Heritage Management, Site-Specific Research, and the Mitigation of Adverse Effects

“…The most important task for any predictive or data refinement work at this initial stage is to help archaeologists, planners, and other concerned parties begin to create a long-term preservation priority list of sites and locales in this region. We do not like to admit it, but most of us have unspoken ways that we rank significant sites for research and preservation; as archaeologists who work in resource management we regularly make or implement decisions relative to the perceived value of different cultural resources (Mitchell 2018). Although we can recognize that structural sites and not-structural sites can equally have sufficient integrity and significance to be evaluated as historic properties, we still may have a tendency to protect or to target research at the structural site more often than at the non-structural site.…”

“…When those contexts were first seriously considered at a Colorado Council of Professional Archaeologists meeting focused on their design and implementation, many thought them to be overly ambitious, a bit of boondoggle, and an administrative nightmare that would not see timely completion. Yet, through careful oversight by an overall coordinator and awarding grants to proven teams of collaborators it was possible for five different teams to produce exemplary volumes that have proven surprisingly useful and been widely cited over the last two decades (Mitchell 2018).…”