Greetings all-

I think this is a very interesting question of preservation ...
especially since it brings to mind a bigger issue. In this age of rapid
development ... it seems that we are all too quick to write things off and
get mitigations done so as not to impede "progress." Yet ... as
professionals with a considerable amount of power when it comes to
stopping development ... archaeologists are poised to 'take a step back'
and evaluate development before it is implemented. When we talk about a
given property's "worthiness" for preservation aren't we also disguising
a discussion of our "willingness" to write it off. We will never know the
"interesting" research questions of the coming centuries ... and many of
us think that "interesting" must refer to a specific area of our own
interest anyways.

Perhaps these are just the ramblings of a guy who hates the 'strip
mall-ification' of America ... but it does seem that archaeologists can
help to (re)define the idea of sustainable development. Just another area
where the past meets the present with an eye towards the future ...

Kevin.