Digital data play an increasingly important role in how we understand the present and the past. The challenges inherent in understanding and using digital data are as intellectually demanding as any other archaeological research endeavor. For these reasons, data management cannot be regarded as a simple compliance or technical issue. For data to be meaningfully preserved and used in intellectually rigorous ways, they need to be integrated fully into all aspects of archaeological practice, including ethics, teaching, and publishing. In this review, we highlight some of the significant and multifaceted challenges involved in managing data, including documentation, training, methodology, data modeling, trust, and ethical concerns. We then focus on the importance of building data literacy broadly among archaeologists so that we can manage and communicate the data our discipline creates. This involves more than learning to use a new tool or finding a data manager for one's excavation or survey. Long-term, responsible stewardship of data requires understanding the workflows and human roles in data management. Putting effort now into thoughtful data management and broad data-literacy training means we will be able to make the most of the “bigger” data that archaeologists now produce. An important aspect of this reorientation will be to look beyond the boundaries of our own research projects and information systems. Future research, teaching, and public engagement needs will also compel us to explore how our data articulates with wider contexts—within and beyond our discipline.

Lidar has been revolutionary to the understanding of ancient Maya anthropogenic landscapes. This is no more apparent than in western Belize, where the scale and resolution of these images have identified vast networks of agricultural terrace systems, revealing their true extent and density. This paper moves beyond the initial identification of terrace distribution to use lidar imagery in combination with digital elevation models (DEM) and hydrological mapping programs (Arc Hydro) to explore the drainage catchments associated with agricultural terraces at the ancient Maya site Waybil, a minor center within the Minanha polity in the North Vaca Plateau. We specifically address how the builders of these relic agricultural features worked with the natural topography to manipulate and create more effective catchments and drainage routes. Results from hydrological modeling describe how terraces created smaller drainage catchments by increasing lower levels of flow accumulation and redirecting routes laterally across the topography. Over a decade of research within this sub-region provides the necessary survey, excavations, and chronological datasets to accurately assess the efficacy of the combined methods for relic terrace drainage analysis.

“Heritage interpretation” is generally conceived as the development and presentation of knowledge about the past for public audiences. Most obviously evidenced in descriptive signs, guides, and related media installed on archaeological and cultural sites, heritage interpretation has more than a half century of theory and applied practice behind it, yet it continues to sit uncomfortably within the typical archaeological workflow. While the concept can be criticized on many fronts, of concern is the lack of recognition that it is of equal relevance to both nonexpert and expert audiences (as opposed to nonexpert audiences alone). Our profession appears to rest on an assumption that archaeologists do their own kind of interpretation—and, separately, nonexperts require a special approach that heritage interpreters must facilitate but that field specialists have no need for—or from which little obvious expert benefit can be derived. For this reason, it is rare to find heritage interpreters embedded in primary fieldwork teams. Here I call for a rethinking of the traditional workflow, with a view to integrating the heritage interpretation tool kit and heritage interpreters themselves into our basic field methodologies. Their direct involvement in disciplinary process from the outset has the potential to transform archaeological interpretation overall.

With the advent of the Web, increased emphasis on “research data management,” and innovations in reproducible research practices, scholars have more incentives and opportunities to document and disseminate their primary data. This article seeks to guide archaeologists in data sharing by highlighting recurring challenges in reusing archived data gleaned from observations on workflows and reanalysis efforts involving datasets published over the past 15 years by Open Context. Based on our findings, we propose specific guidelines to improve data management, documentation, and publishing practices so that primary data can be more efficiently discovered, understood, aggregated, and synthesized by wider research communities.

The increasing importance of landscape-scale research and preservation goals within the archaeological profession coincides with expanded threats to the archaeological record through massive energy exploration and infrastructure projects and through the cumulative effects of smaller-scale development. It is further stimulated by the recognition that conservation strategies that span multiple resource classes and disciplines are best formulated at multiple and larger spatial scales. These are key drivers behind efforts to improve the ways that archaeological resources are considered in the context of development-related planning and implementation, including mitigation measures. In a prominent example, recent department-level direction from the Secretary of the Interior calls specifically for landscape-level planning as a critical component of responses to both large-scale development and climate change. This article reviews three current approaches to landscape-level planning in archaeology and calls for increased commitment to advancing their development and effectiveness.

Archaeologists have long been called on to use geophysical techniques to locate unmarked graves in both archaeological and forensic contexts. Although these techniques—primarily ground-penetrating radar (GPR)—have demonstrated efficacy in this application, there are fewer examples of studies driven by Indigenous community needs. In North America, the location of ancestors and burial grounds is a priority for most Indigenous communities. We argue that when these Indigenous voices are equitably included in research design, the practice of remote sensing changes and more meaningful collaborations ensue. Drawing on Indigenous archaeology and heart-centered practices, we argue that remote-sensing survey methodologies, and the subsequent narratives produced, need to change. These approaches change both researchers’ and Indigenous communities’ relationships to the work and allow for the inclusion of Indigenous Knowledge (IK) in interpretation. In this article, we discuss this underexplored research trajectory, explain how it relates to modern GPR surveys for unmarked graves, and present the results from a survey conducted at the request of the Chipewyan Prairie First Nation. Although local in nature, we discuss potential benefits and challenges of Indigenous remote sensing collaborations, and we engage larger conversations happening in Indigenous communities around the ways these methods can contribute to reconciliation and decolonization.

The long-term care of collected and created data is an ethical obligation in the fields of archaeology and cultural heritage management. With the growing application of digital methodologies in these fields and the complexity of the resulting data, this task has become complicated. Digital data preservation firms have emerged since this methodological shift, but their policies—championing the democratization of academic data—may conflict with the legal obligations dictated by the countries where data originate. Scholars thus face an inevitable choice between two obligations, one ethical and one legal. While the amount of digital data grows and the options for preservation remain fundamentally misaligned with research norms and project workflows, the digital dilemma places the integrity of data at risk of loss. This article addresses this dilemma by evaluating the existing data publication, archiving, and preservation repositories and considering how, as solutions to the digital dilemma, they can be integrated into multiple workflows. I also propose new directions for archaeological associations, suggesting that they should establish a means of evaluation and approval for third-party preservation firms managing the future of academic research prior to their inevitable ubiquity.

This special section stems from discussions that took place in a forum at the Society for American Archaeology's annual conference in 2017. The forum, Beyond Data Management: A Conversation about “Digital Data Realities”, addressed challenges in fostering greater reuse of the digital archaeological data now curated in repositories. Forum discussants considered digital archaeology beyond the status quo of “data management” to better situate the sharing and reuse of data in archaeological practice. The five papers for this special section address key themes that emerged from these discussions, including: challenges in broadening data literacy by making instructional uses of data; strategies to make data more visible, better cited, and more integral to peer-review processes; and pathways to create higher-quality data better suited for reuse. These papers highlight how research data management needs to move beyond mere “check-box” compliance for granting requirements. The problems and proposed solutions articulated by these papers help communicate good practices that can jumpstart a virtuous cycle of better data creation leading to higher impact reuses of data.

Two of the biggest challenges in public archaeology teaching are getting interlocutors' attention and getting them to feel connection to past people. Inspiring focus and empathy in the short interactions we have can be difficult, especially when the subjects are very distant in time. New and scholarly produced forms of virtual reality show particular promise for getting and keeping the attention of our publics. In this review, I discuss several forms of virtual or augmented reality and assess them as tools for public archaeology practice.

3D printing is a rapidly developing technology that has been championed as a revolutionary tool for the museums and heritage sector. Prints can provide innovative and engaging haptic experiences with objects in collections that cannot be handled, akin to craft replicas that have traditionally been employed. Large museums now regularly commission prints, yet evidence for the success of their deployment is largely anecdotal. This review considers how 3D prints have been utilized in museum contexts, with a focus on their successes and weaknesses as tools for public engagement.

Data collection takes up much of the already limited time archaeologists have to excavate and often requires additional time to digitize. Moreover, despite efforts to standardize data, archaeologists often find errors such as blank or incorrectly recorded fields. To avoid these issues, several projects have made use of tablet computers to streamline and digitize data, but this process can be opaque, specialized, and expensive. Previous research has addressed neither the general feasibility of developing and utilizing mobile devices for data collection nor the quality and quantity of these data. In this article, I review existing methods and practices for integrating data collection on mobile devices in order to evaluate the costs and feasibility of transitioning to a mobile-based data collection system. Through a case study using OsteoSurvey, a series of bioarchaeological data collection forms for Android tablets, I assess the efficacy of data collection on mobile devices. An experiment comparing OsteoSurvey to traditional paper forms demonstrates that participants saved time and made fewer mistakes using the OsteoSurvey forms, resulting in the collection of 21–32 percent more data. Consequently, data collection with mobile devices can significantly increase the overall productivity and quality of archaeological research

With generous support from the National Science Foundation, we have spent the past four years developing an archaeological radiocarbon database for the United States. Here, we highlight the importance of spatial data for open-access, national-scale archaeological databases and the development of paleodemography research. We propose a new method for analyzing radiocarbon time series in the context of paleoclimate models. This method forces us to confront one of the central challenges to realizing the full potential of national-scale databases: the quality of the spatial data accompanying radiocarbon dates. We seek to open a national discussion on the use of spatial data in open-source archaeological databases.

For two decades, the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office has worked with archaeologists to co-create knowledge about the past and document contemporary values associated with heritage sites. Much of this work has been accomplished within the framework of research mandated by the National Historic Preservation Act and National Environmental Policy Act. Here we describe a case study that illustrates the processes of this community-based participatory research, including research design, implementation of fieldwork, peer review of research findings, and reporting. The case study is a project conducted in 2014 by the Hopi Tribe in partnership with Anthropological Research, LLC, to investigate traditional cultural properties associated with an Arizona Public Service Company transmission line. The Hopi Tribe’s collaborative research with archaeologists provides intellectual benefits for the management of archaeological resources and the humanistic and scientific understanding of the past.

Commingled and fragmentary remains are found in numerous contexts worldwide. These assemblages typically require large scale, long term study to fully extract and contextualize meaningful data. However, when uncovered in CRM and foreign settings where remains cannot leave their country of origin, there is a need for quick, reliable data collection. Presented here is a recording system for use in field- and research-based laboratory settings. Utilizing visual forms and a minimal set of observations for skeletal elements from the cranium to the foot, the database facilitates data collection of fragment identification, age at death and sex estimation, dental observations, trauma recording, and taphonomic observations. A data dictionary is also provided, with definitions and value lists used in the database itself. The database has been used in field labs throughout the old world and by numerous researchers who have modified it to meet their own research needs. By presenting a minimal standard of data in a highly adaptable database, the recording system described here provides consistent baseline data in a user-friendly, quick-access format

This article employs comparative Bayesian chronology building to formally evaluate the quality of a legacy radiocarbon dataset from the southern Appalachian region of the southeastern United States and to interrogate the assumptions that form the basis of the extant chronological narrative for the region. By incorporating alternative assumptions into Bayesian models, a number of alternative chronological frameworks are developed and compared to one another to yield insights into the development of sociopolitical complexity across southern Appalachia between AD 600 and 1600. The treatment of alternative chronological models as working hypotheses concerning the timing, tempo, and nature of sociopolitical transformations makes use of legacy radiocarbon datasets in developing new research trajectories including the encouragement of renewed field- and lab-based investigations. As such, this article provides a case study to illustrate the value of Bayesian chronological modeling in assessing legacy radiocarbon datasets and reevaluating extant chronological frameworks. Beyond initial evaluation of extant datasets and narratives, the methods and procedures outlined below can be used to form baseline models against which newly acquired data can be formally incorporated and interpreted.

Oxtotitlán Cave paintings have been considered among the earliest in Mesoamerica on stylistic grounds, but confirmation of this hypothesis through absolute dating has not been attempted until now. We describe the application of advanced radiocarbon strategies developed for situations such as caves with high carbon backgrounds. Using a low-temperature plasma oxidation system, we dated both the ancient paint and the biogenic rock coatings that cover the paint layers at Oxtotitlán. Our research has significantly expanded the time frame for the production of polychrome rock paintings encompassing the Early Formative and Late Formative/Early Classic periods, statistically spanning a long era from before ca. 1500 cal B.C. to cal A.D. 600.

One of the biggest problems faced by archaeologists engaged in flaked stone experiments is that of control. Controls are universally accepted as a way of ensuring reliability of experimental results used to interpret the archaeological record. Here, the use of a new and tightly controllable material in flaked stone experiments is proposed: porcelain. Unlike traditional approaches using stone, porcelain—while demonstrating comparable properties and fracture mechanics—can be more tightly controlled. As such, we suggest that its use ensures greater reliability in results derived from studies of tool manufacture and use and more potential for repeatability of experimental studies. A critique of previous approaches is followed by an assessment of porcelain as a suitable material for experimentation, in which two case studies that piloted the material are discussed. The first demonstrates its use in experiments regarding tool manufacture and skill. The second demonstrates its success in experiments dealing with observations of use-wear, such as projectile point impact fractures. The varied nature of these two studies aptly demonstrates the benefits of using porcelain as a controllable, moldable material.

In a recent American Antiquity forum (Pitblado 2014), I argued that not only is it possible for archaeologists to engage in ethical collaborations with members of the artifact-collecting public, but that the Society for American Archaeology’s “Principles of Archaeological Ethics” stipulates that we should do so. This is not a message, however, that has fully permeated the archaeological community, which has led to a schism between populations who are often natural allies. This paper starts with that premise: that archaeologists should actively pursue collaborations with the artifact-collecting community with the goal of advancing research agendas, public education, and long-term care of collections in private hands. The paper offers guidelines for establishing and nurturing professional-collector relationships in a way that furthers the directives of legal and ethical archaeological codes. I begin with an overview of the changing nature of professional-collector relationships during the twentieth century, exploring reasons for the divisiveness that has characterized recent decades. I next suggest five steps for establishing appropriate relationships with artifact collectors—and avoiding inappropriate ones. Finally, I describe how I followed those steps to establish a network of collector-collaborators to build the foundation for a Paleoamerican research program in southeastern Idaho and northern Utah.

This paper reports on the first and highly effective use of Light Detection and Ranging (lidar) technology to document Chaco roads, monumental linear surface constructions of the precolumbian culture that occupied the Four Corners region of the American Southwest between approximately AD 600 and 1300. Analysis of aerial photographs supplemented by ground survey has been the traditional methodology employed to identify Chaco roads, but their traces have become increasingly subtle and difficult to detect in recent years due to the impacts of natural weathering, erosion, and land development. Roads that were easily visible in aerial photography and on the ground in the 1980s are now virtually invisible, underscoring the need for new, cutting-edge techniques to detect and document them. Using three case studies of the Aztec Airport Mesa Road, the Great North Road, and the Pueblo Alto Landscape, we demonstrate lidar's unprecedented ability to document known Chaco roads, discover previously undetected road segments, and produce a precise quantitative record of these rapidly vanishing features.

Public agencies at all levels of government and other organizations that manage archaeological resources often face the problem of many undertakings that collectively impact large numbers of individually significant archaeological resources. Such situations arise when an agency is managing a large area, such as a national forest, land management district, park unit, wildlife refuge, or military installation. These situations also may arise in regard to large-scale development projects, such as energy developments, highways, reservoirs, transmission lines, and other major infrastructure projects that cover substantial areas. Over time, the accumulation of impacts from small-scale projects to individual archaeological resources may degrade landscape or regional-scale cultural phenomena. Typically, these impacts are mitigated at the site level without regard to how the impacts to individual resources affect the broader population of resources. Actions to mitigate impacts rarely are designed to do more than avoid resources or ensure some level of data recovery at single sites. Such mitigation activities are incapable of addressing research question at a landscape or regional scale.