What is a contractual archaeologist?

The contractual archaeologist is a consultant who is hired to provide expert advice on the impact of public and private development on cultural resources or to minimize what has already happened. These types of consultants are closed to assess impacts before governments approve development projects and are often left to monitor and manage the impact of the project on the archaeological place. This type of applied archeology is also known as management of cultural resources (CRM), archeology of public archeology and rescue.

The traditional list of jobs for an archaeologist describes someone who finds and studies material remnants of past civilizations. Most people would assume that an archaeologist spends their time digging in distant areas, finding buried treasures and writing academic documents about its finding. Alternatively, many would expect archaeologists to spend their time studying artifacts discovered by others in the field and learning.

In addition to commercial jobs of jobs, existedis an developing area of ​​archaeological counseling that employs experts in the field of cultural resources from the negative impact of the surrounding development and helps manage or restore resources that are endangered or damaged. Many countries rely on their culturally important historical places to control tourism. To allow corporations and public agencies to continue development projects near these sources without first determining the probable impact of the project, it can cause irreparable damage.

Governments often require a professional impact assessment before approved development projects near cultural resources, as they usually require an environmental impact study before the project approval that will affect natural resources. A contractual archaeologist is an expert who is left to evaluate the potential of the impact on the development before the project approval, provide ongoing afterDPOR, while the project is going on and sometimes determine the extent of damage to cultural resources if something goes wrong. Consultants can also be invited to assess damage caused by cultural resources other than development, such as climate change or natural disaster, and to design a plan for protection and recovery.

Contractual archaeologist can work either in non -profit or non -profit capacity. Many universities and museums offer contract archaeologists that generate income for institutions. Individual consultants work alone or as part of a profit company. Some large corporations have CRM divisions that manage cultural resources on the basis of a contract and employ archaeologists to work.