Dave Carlson has kindly provided the following:
Guidelines and Standards for Academic Archeological Field Schools
In 1974, the Society of American Archeology passed the following
resolution:
Whereas each archeological site contains evidence of specific
human activities and is therefore a unique source of data about past
socio-cultural behavior, no site can be written off in advance as
unimportant or expendable. No site deserves less than professional
excavation, analysis and publication, and whereas the training of
students in archeological skills is an important part of an
anthropological curriculum, and whereas such training is likely to
be grossly inadequate and misleading to the student if it is not
given in the context of a serious research commitment on the part of
the instructor to the archeological resources in question.
Therefore be it resolved that the practice of excavating or
collecting from archeological sites solely or primarily for
"teaching" purposes is contrary to the provision against
indiscriminate excavation of archeological sites contained in
Article I, Section 2 of the by-laws of the Society for American
Archaeology. Such activities are to be deplored, whether conducted
by anthropologists who are not adequately trained in archeological
field techniques, or by trained archeologists who do not have
continuing research interest in the resources in question.
Be it further resolved that such activities are unethical as
defined in Article III, Section 4 of the by-laws of the Society for
American Archaeology and by the guidelines of the ethics committee
of the American Anthropological Association, and that members of
these organizations who engage in such practices are subject to
appropriate sanctions.
In accordance with these principles, and by virtue of its role in
providing guidance and standards for the performance of archeological
research, the Society of Professional Archeologists recommends that an
academic archeological field school meet the following minimal criteria:
A. Purposes.
1. The primary objective of an academic field school must be the training
of students; explicitly, that the field school give the initial field
experience required as the first step in student career progress in her/his
development as a professional (in accordance with SOPA standards)
archeologist. Other goals (such as employment, contract work or salvage or
threatened resources) must be secondary.
2. The field program and recovered data must be part of an explicitly
designed research or cultural resource management program, which includes
evidence of conservation of resources, curation, and publication of
results.
3. The field program and curriculum design should include an explicit,
detailed schedule of instruction and supervision, evidence of adequate
facilities (see E.1.), and provision for early analysis and reporting of
data generated by the program. This should be provided to all
participants.
B. Personnel.
1. The Director of the field program should meet SOPA qualifications in
field research, and have dominant responsibility for direct supervision in
the field and in the laboratory.
2. Assistant(s)/Supervisor(s) must be qualified by completion of at least
one field school which meets these guidelines or by an equivalent
combination of field and laboratory experience.
3. Other specialized instructors and lectures should be used as
appropriate.
C. Operational procedure should include:
1. Prefatory formal lectures on field excavation and survey observations,
excavation procedures and hazards (stratigraphy, arbitrary versus "natural"
levels, intrusions, reuse or rebuilding of structures), descriptive note
writing, interpreting cross sections, survey, camp and dig logistics,
administration, etc. Films, slides, models, and other techniques should be
used as available and appropriate. At least 12 hours of lecture
instruction should be devoted to this introduction prior to actual field
excavation and survey.
2. Formal small group field instruction in topographic and plane table
mapping, including nomenclature and terms by an experienced instructor who
should be a professional topographer or an archeologist skilled in
topographic mapping.
3. Formal small group field instruction by a photographer skilled in
archeological field photographic techniques and problems (lighting, angles,
wide angle lens, closeup, etc.).
4. Formal lectures in field or laboratory including but not limited to
research plan, long-range goals, culture(s) being investigated, field
problems, curation and reporting plans, etc.
5. Formal laboratory instructions and supervision in cleaning, labeling,
sorting, identification of artifacts, and limited flotation exercises,
mammal bone identification, etc., as appropriate. Field supervisors to
alternate as lab supervisors, preferably scheduled so that field personnel
process their own field data.
6. Some time devoted to reconnaissance level survey, not only to instruct
in finding and recording data but also for instruction in the use of such
data for defining archeological problems.
D. Field procedures/structures.
1. All students should be instructed in the use of all tools, equipment,
and vehicles (as qualified), rotating as assistants with photography, grid
mapping, provenience control, sketching, sampling of soils, and other
specialized functions. All steps in procedures and evaluation of
appropriate techniques should be repeatedly explained.
2. All students should be required to keep daily systematic notes as
parts of the permanent record. All notes and records must be reviewed and
critiqued daily by supervisors. Additional notebooks, photo records, etc.,
shall be maintained as necessary, under systematic supervision.
3. All field procedures should be guided by the concept of data and
record responsibility as an integrated component of professional fieldwork,
with responsibility and authority for field decisions and record keeping
clearly defined.
4. All students should have access to type collections and relevant
library materials (including maps, photographs, site reports and literature
on the archeology and environment relevant to the fieldwork). In most
cases, this will require maintenance of such resources in both field and
laboratory.
E. Sponsor.
1. The institution sponsoring the field school must, by virtue of
available resources, meet the minimal SOPA specifications for institutional
support, including appropriate space for laboratory work, for storage,
appropriate accessioning and cataloging procedures, adequate curation, and
support for publication/distribution of the research results.
2. The institution sponsoring the field school must provide for the
safety and health of participants.
F. A ratio of six to ten students per supervisor is optimal.
forwarded by:
William H. Adams
P.O. Box 1177
Philomath, OR 97370-1177 USA
503-929-3102 -3264 fax
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