Multiple federal laws assign to the Secretary of the Interior broad responsibilities and duties related to archeology and historic preservation carried out by the federal government. They encompass responsibilities for administering and/or promulgating regulations for a variety of archeological and historic preservation activities. These include management of the National Register of Historic Places, grants-in-aid programs for historic preservation, developing standards for state historic preservation programs, and providing technical assistance. All these activities are components of the Federal Archeology Program.
The Secretary delegates general responsibilities to the Director of the National Park Service. The Associate Director for Cultural Resources, Partnerships, and Science administers the program through the NPS Bureau Archeologist, who also serves as the Departmental Consulting Archeologist (DCA). Staff from the National Park Service's Archeology Program assists the DCA in carrying out these functions.
The DCA position was created in 1927. From its inception the DCA's activities included a range of functionssuch as review of Antiquities Act permit applications and oversight of permitted investigations; advocating for better protection of archeological sites on Department of the Interior lands, mainly in the Southwest; preventing unlawful excavation and gathering of objects of antiquity on federal and tribal lands; and encouraging the publication of archeological reports from studies done under early Antiquities Act permits.
Today, the Secretary continues to delegate responsibilities to the DCA. The Secretary continues to have responsibility for reporting on federal archeological activities under the Archaeological Resources Protection Act. The DCA coordinates the Federal Archeology Program, which includes all land-managing agencies across the federal government and hundreds of archeologists in national forests, parks, districts, agencies, and other offices throughout the country.
The Secretary’s Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic Preservation were prepared in 1983 under the authority of NHPA, as amended, specifically sections 101(f), (g), and (h); and section 110. These standards are currently under revision.
The standards and guidelines aid project planning efforts by advising on archeological evaluation and documentation activities and the professional qualifications needed to carry work to completion.
Professional Qualifications Standards for Archeologists: The qualifications define minimum education and experience required to perform identification, evaluation, registration, and treatment activities. Notably, individuals with specialized expertise may be necessary to effectively plan for and assess resource management needs, depending on the nature and complexity of the archeological resources involved. Archeological collections management is one example, where a curation subject matter expert might be a necessary participant.
Standards and Guidelines for Archeological Documentation: The standards section provides minimum expectations for professional archeological planning and documentation, and address research design content, identifying data needs, project costs, appropriate methodologies, analysis, curation, reporting, and making results available to the public.
Last updated: March 24, 2023