Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles by Jeff Altschul
Papers by Jeff Altschul
In heritage management, archaeologists are often asked to answer three basic questions: How many ... more In heritage management, archaeologists are often asked to answer three basic questions: How many sites are in a project area? Where are these sites located? And, which sites have to be mitigated? To answer these questions with any precision, archaeologists rely on existing information on culture and the environment to design surveys, which document the types and numbers of sites. They also conduct limited test excavations at a sample of sites to determine their potential scientific importance. As these new data are obtained from the field, they are used to assess survey adequacy and to infer cultural behaviors from settlement and resource locations. Predictive modeling and geographic information system (GIS) technology provide a single platform from which these three endeavors can be performed in an efficient, objective, and replicable manner.
The Playa Vista Archaeological and Historical Project provides an important opportunity for condu... more The Playa Vista Archaeological and Historical Project provides an important opportunity for conducting geoarchaeological research in the Ballona Wetlands. A detailed landscape reconstruction was made based on multidisciplinary paleoecological studies of core samples. This reconstruction is being used to explain how and why human land-use and settlement patters have shifted over the last 7,000 years.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2020
The authors note that references 1 and 2 appeared incorrectly. Reference 1 should have been the U... more The authors note that references 1 and 2 appeared incorrectly. Reference 1 should have been the United Nations (UN), Migration, which is currently listed as reference 2. The correct reference 2 was omitted from the article, and is included below. Additionally, the citation to ref. 2 on page 20342, left column, first full paragraph, line 3, should be omitted. The article has been updated online.
Entrevista /// Arqueologia para la proteccion del patrimonio cultural y social. Entrevista con el... more Entrevista /// Arqueologia para la proteccion del patrimonio cultural y social. Entrevista con el Dr. Jeff Altschul //// Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Facultad de Filosofia y Letras, Licenciatura en Desarrollo y Gestion Interculturales. //// Audio. Duracion: 52 minutos. //// Descarga: Pulse boton derecho del raton sobre el archivo de audio "mp3" que elija y seleccione "Guardar Destino Como...
Keith W. Kintigh, Jeffrey H. Altschul, Mary C. Beaudry, Robert D. Drennan, Ann P. Kinzig, Timothy... more Keith W. Kintigh, Jeffrey H. Altschul, Mary C. Beaudry, Robert D. Drennan, Ann P. Kinzig, Timothy Kohler, W. Fredrick Limp, Herbert D.G. Maschner, William K. Michener, Timothy R. Pauketat, Peter Peregrine, Jeremy A. Sabloff, Tony J. Wilkinson, Henry T. Wright, and Melinda A. Zeder. (2014). Forum: Grand Challenges for Archaeology. American Antiquity 79(1):5-24.
Ex Novo: Journal of Archaeology
Landholding agencies in the United States are under increasing pressure to integrate cultural and... more Landholding agencies in the United States are under increasing pressure to integrate cultural and natural resource management approaches at a landscape level and to do so earlier and more comprehensively in planning processes. How to integrate management practices is poorly understood, however. An impediment to integration is that the laws, methods, and tools used in cultural and natural resource management differ significantly. Natural resource management protects or rehabilitates habitats and ecosystems that support endangered species, while cultural resource management focuses on identification and protection of individual sites. Agencies need to shift the focus from managing sites to defining cultural landscape elements and their relationship to natural resource management units and concerns. We suggest that agencies use archaeological predictive modeling, resource classes, and paleoenvironmental and cultural historical information to geospatially define cultural landscapes, pre...
Advances in Archaeological Practice: <br> A Journal of the Society for American Archaeology, 2013
Archaeologists have traditionally collected artifacts during survey in order to analyze them in a... more Archaeologists have traditionally collected artifacts during survey in order to analyze them in a laboratory setting and curate the artifacts and associated documentation for future analysis, interpretation, and preservation. In recent decades, however, there has been a trend in the western United States to avoid collection during survey and to relegate most artifact analysis to the field, typically conducted by field crew. Despite heavy reliance on in-field analysis to characterize sites during survey, very little is known about how accurate and adequate in-field analysis is for site interpretation and management. This article presents the findings of a pilot experiment that tested in-field analysis and digital photograph analysis at two sites in the western United States using multiple quantitative measures and qualitative assessments. The results of the analysis show that in-field analysis has a strong potential to yield inaccurate and highly variable results that can lead to the...
American Antiquity, 2005
sequences particularly challenging. Thus, the only tabulation of radiocarbon dates from all of th... more sequences particularly challenging. Thus, the only tabulation of radiocarbon dates from all of the different sites comes in a single table entitled "Regional Chronology" (pp. 234-235), almost at the end of the book. Where tables do exist in these chapters, they frequently duplicate data already presented in the text: for example, the same information on stratigraphic sequences is presented twice for each site, once in the text and once in tabular format. The latter would be entirely sufficient. While some of these data are summarized in the final chapters of the book, these summaries are usually by cultural phases across the area as a whole and not by archaeological horizons in each site. Organization of more of these data into a series of standardized tables for each excavation would have been very helpful.
American Antiquity, 2014
This article represents a systematic effort to answer the question, What are archaeology’s most i... more This article represents a systematic effort to answer the question, What are archaeology’s most important scientific challenges? Starting with a crowd-sourced query directed broadly to the professional community of archaeologists, the authors augmented, prioritized, and refined the responses during a two-day workshop focused specifically on this question. The resulting 25 “grand challenges” focus on dynamic cultural processes and the operation of coupled human and natural systems. We organize these challenges into five topics: (1) emergence, communities, and complexity; (2) resilience, persistence, transformation, and collapse; (3) movement, mobility, and migration; (4) cognition, behavior, and identity; and (5) human-environment interactions. A discussion and a brief list of references accompany each question. An important goal in identifying these challenges is to inform decisions on infrastructure investments for archaeology. Our premise is that the highest priority investments s...
The director of public programs will work with soum and aimag culture centers, museums, and schoo... more The director of public programs will work with soum and aimag culture centers, museums, and schools to implement the public programs identified in the CHP. Such programs include an oral-history program, training and promotion of traditional practices, museum exhibits and displays, traditional festivals, curriculum development, and teacher and museum training. The director should hold an M.A. in education, museum studies, public programs, or a related field. He/she should have 5 years of experience delivering public programs in Mongolia. Curator, Repository: The curator will be responsible for the SGCHC repository. Duties will include collections management, artifact conservation, document restoration and archiving, and facilities management. The curator will interface with the National Museum on standards and operations. The curator will assist as needed with soum and aimag museums that are actively managing collections recovered during cultural heritage compliance studies. The director should hold an M.A. in museum studies or a related field and have 5 years of museum experience. Technical Assistants: As needed, the SGCHC should add technical assistants to implement public programs and operate the repository. Ideally, these individuals would hold a B.A. in some field related to cultural heritage. However, these positions can be filled by local residents who are willing to receive specialized training. Information Technology Manager: The information technology manager is charged with purchasing, installing, and maintaining the software and hardware required by the SGCHC. He/she needs to be proficient with communication devices (e.g., cell phones, smart phones, etc.), GPS units, storage devices, servers, etc. GIS Analyst: The GIS analyst must be proficient in GIS technology. Ideally, this person would be crosstrained in database management. He/she will be responsible for choosing and upgrading software, creating visual displays and field maps, and maintaining databases for tangible and intangible resources. Translators: The SGCHC will be in need of translation services, primarily from Mongolian to English and vice versa. Translators can be hired as needed in Ulaanbaatar or, if possible, Dalanzadgad. Clerical Support: The ED and other staff members of the SGCHC will be in need of clerical support. These individuals can be hired locally as needed. Personnel Standards and Qualifications In addition to the staff members of the MAS and the SGCHC listed above, other institutions, such as the National University and private contractors, may be required to provide cultural heritage services. Such individuals must be qualified and meet the professional standards described below. Archaeologists Archaeologists performing cultural heritage studies need to meet professional academic requirements as well as have sufficient experience in research and compliance work. We have separated the discussion into two categories: supervisory archaeologists and archaeological technicians. Supervisory Archaeologists: Archaeologists in charge of compliance studies must have a range of skills. They must be adequately trained to lead field efforts, oversee laboratory processing and analyses, assess specialized tests, evaluate resources, write reports, and engage the public. All compliance projects need to have an archaeologist in charge who meets the criteria below for a supervisory archaeologist. This individual is
Advances in Archaeological Practice, 2015
Archaeological data and research results are essential to addressing such fundamental questions a... more Archaeological data and research results are essential to addressing such fundamental questions as the origins of human culture; the origin, waxing, and waning of civilizations and cities; the response of societies to long-term climate changes; and the systemic relationships implicated in human-induced changes in the environment. However, we lack the capacity for acquiring, managing, analyzing, and synthesizing the data sets needed to address important questions such as these. We propose investments in computational infrastructure that would transform archaeology’s ability to advance research on the field’s most compelling questions with an evidential base and inferential rigor that have heretofore been impossible. At the same time, new infrastructure would make archaeological data accessible to researchers in other disciplines. We offer recommendations regarding data management and availability, cyberinfrastructure tool building, and social and cultural changes in the discipline. W...
Public Archaeology, 2014
The range of organizations involved in some way with cultural heritage management stand in proxy ... more The range of organizations involved in some way with cultural heritage management stand in proxy for an equally wide range of concerns and viewpoints. While these viewpoints differ considerably in detail, we suggest that a fundamental objective of all these organizations is to ensure that an appropriate kind and degree of cultural heritage work occurs within development contexts. The last twenty years has witnessed such progress in the underlying principles of economic development (in &#39;developed&#39; or &#39;develop-ing&#39; world countries) that the notion of heritage and economic development as equally necessary in order for a sustainable future is shared by all the major participants. We explicitly include the &#39;developers&#39; as a participant in cultural heritage management. Our experience is that private companies sponsoring development are rarely opposed to undertaking heritage work, although they desperately want clear guidance on what this work is supposed to entail. Both heritage and development organizations have a valuable role to play in promoting sustainable economic development, but our experiences in the very differing desert fringes of Senegal and Mongolia suggests that neither alone, nor the two in concert, are truly effective, and that the role of individuals and organizations acting with professional and ethical responsibility is pivotal in this endeavour. keywords heritage management, sustainable economic development, professionalism, professional associations, consultants and national heritage agencies
Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, 2014
This report was produced by the Curation Subcommittee of the Governor's Archaeology Advisory Comm... more This report was produced by the Curation Subcommittee of the Governor's Archaeology Advisory Commission (GAAC), a statutory body that advises the Governor and the State Historic Preservation Officer regarding archaeological issues. The goals of this document are to communicate to policymakers and to the general public the importance of archaeological curation, the crisis now threatening archaeological collections in Arizona, and possible solutions to the problem. The body of the report includes eight major sections: •a short discussion of the scientific and ethical issues surrounding the curation of artifacts and records; •a review of the legal context of archaeological curation; •a history of the curation crisis and national responses to the problem; •a status report on curation in Arizona based on a survey of major archaeological repositories in the state; •a summary of information gathered through a series of public hearings; •policy recommendations •a list of references cited; and •appendices The information included was compiled from published sources, interviews with museum professionals, questionnaires submitted to local archaeological repositories, and oral and written testimony delivered at four public hearings held by the subcommittee, in Tucson, Phoenix, and Flagstaff, between January and September 2005. In this report, we document a lack of adequate space and funding for curation of objects and records in the state of Arizona. A key indicator of the severity of this problem is the recent year-long moratorium on accessions by the Arizona State Museum, the official repository for archaeological materials recovered from state lands in Arizona and the only institution currently accepting collections from all areas of the state (Appendix A). Three general policy recommendations are presented: •Space available to repositories for curation must be increased. This can be accomplished in large measure through more efficient use of space currently suitable for this task, rehabilitation of space not suitable for curation, rental of additional space, and new construction. Limited and ethical deaccessioning of materials inconsistent with the mission of a given institution, through permanent transfer to another institution, exchange with another institution, or return to a donor, is also recommended. •Funding for curation must be increased, through the use of interest-bearing accounts (endowments) and fee structures that realistically meet the costs of curation in perpetuity (including annual fees). In addition, federal agencies and the other entities that own the collections curated in Arizona's repositories must be convinced to take financial responsibility for materials accessioned in the era before curation standards and curation fees were developed. •Collections growth must be effectively and aggressively managed through long-term strategic planning by repository staffs and the archaeologists who create collections. Each repository must determine the types of collections it will accept and under what conditions. The archaeological community must develop standards for in-field analysis and encourage non-destructive alternatives to excavation. Such alternatives include avoidance of archaeological sites, better use of remote-sensing technologies, and encouraging or even requiring more use of existing collections rather than new fieldwork. Under some circumstances, collections should be culled before accession, based on professional standards to be developed locally. Excavation plans that incorporate more limited but representative sampling (i.e., preserving more material from fewer contexts and/or from smaller portions of sites) must be encouraged.
Ex Novo Journal of Archaeology, 2019
Landholding agencies in the United States are under increasing pressure to integrate cultural and... more Landholding agencies in the United States are under increasing pressure to integrate cultural and natural resource management approaches at a landscape level and to do so earlier and more comprehensively in planning processes. How to integrate management practices is poorly understood, however. An impediment to integration is that the laws, methods, and tools used in cultural and natural resource management differ significantly. Natural resource management protects or rehabilitates habitats and ecosystems that support endangered species, while cultural resource management focuses on identification and protection of individual sites. Agencies need to shift the focus from managing sites to defining cultural landscape elements and their relationship to natural resource management units and concerns. We suggest that agencies use archaeological predictive modeling, resource classes, and paleoenvironmental and cultural historical information to geospatially define cultural landscapes, pre...
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Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles by Jeff Altschul
Papers by Jeff Altschul