Hey! I really like your blog! I want to become an archaeologist, but one thing that's been bothering me is the cultural sensitivity aspect of it. Are there a lot of people that get angry when certain sites are "disturbed?" If so, how do you handle that both physically and morally? I feel I would be really reluctant to excavate, for example, burial sites that belong to communities that still exist like those of first nations americans. Sorry if that's a really loaded question!
This is a totally reasonable concern to have, especially since, historically speaking, archaeologists have not always been very sensitive toward indigenous cultures.
Nowadays, archaeology in the U.S. is governed by laws, telling us where we can and can’t dig, who has to be notified, and what happens to any sites, artifacts, or burials we might uncover. The federal regulations are laid out in Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (usually just referred to as “Section 106″) and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). Some states and local jurisdictions will have their own laws in addition to these.
Archaeologist are usually hired by clients who want to build something, but need to make sure they are in compliance with relevant legislation. We work with local tribes to identify any sites which might be disturbed or destroyed by construction work, and decide how to proceed.
For example, if a site is identified, and is deemed “significant”, the tribe might come to an agreement with the client to have the site recorded and excavated, and have any artifacts removed and curated. Sometimes, though, the client doesn’t want to be on the hook for the extra expense this involves, and will just decide to build elsewhere, at which point the whole process starts over again.
In effect, although clients pay for our work, we work for the tribes, to make sure their culture and needs are respected, and their history is preserved.
Hope that answers your question!
