Thinking About CRM Altamira Press

Guide Rating -

King, Thomas F.
2002. Thinking About Cultural Resource Management: Essays from the Edge. Altamira Press, Walnut Creek, California.

Tom King's latest constribution to the education of archaeologists conducting commercial archaeology in the United States is entitled Thinking About Cultural Resource Management, and it includes around twenty of his diatribes, er, essays, on the ins and outs of the Section 106 process. The "Section 106 process" is that portion of the National Historic Preservation Act that governs federally-funded archaeological research done in the United States. It is a difficult and peculiar piece of legislation that needs all the help it can get to be interpreted usefully. Luckily for us, Tom King has the experience and credentials and plain old writerly ability to help.

If you've been working in CRM and listening into the email discussion lists patronized by archaeologists, you'll recognize several of King's essays. My favorite heresies include "process is better than preservation," "why we're all better off without Section 106," and "creating the designated Hester." The last one (which pun King had the decency to avoid) is an essay praising the efforts of Arkansas State Archaeologist Hester Davis to ensure that the public are part of the process in all cultural resource management. King argues that every State Historic Preservation Office, every Federal agency, every CRM firm should have an individual on staff that performs such a critical and often ignored function.

Written in King's cranky, approachable style (not necessarily a contradiction in terms), Thinking About Cultural Resource Management provokes thought--something I have to admit doesn't usually occur in the exercise of the Section 106 process. The book should be required reading for every graduate student planning on working in CRM, not to mention that idiot in your firm who just doesn't get how CRM works--oh, and you might want to look at it too.