Is Archaeological Data Labor Sustainable? Only through Ethical and Policy Reforms, Open Data Emphases on Public Engagement, and Indigenous Data Sovereignty

Abstract The proliferation of information and communication technologies in US archaeology has created myriad expectations for professional labor throughout the life cycle of data. Technological adoption has outpaced the development of professional and ethical frameworks, leaving archaeological data labor unsustainable in our under-resourced discipline. This article reviews traditional Western paradigms underpinning legal and intellectual property models that have shaped archaeological data standards and contribute to problematic outcomes for archaeological data labor, alienate publics from primary data of publicly mandated heritage preservation, disregard Indigenous Data Sovereignty, and enable the extractive commodification of heritage for AI enterprises. To address these tensions, archaeologists must reshape data labor and its products by centering public goods and Indigenous rights in all aspects of their work. As scientific and cultural professionals, archaeologists should embrace best practices in data ecosystems to create, guide, and enforce governance principles that inform and promote labor sustainability and accountability. This article illuminates the current state of archaeological data labor across the discipline through a critical review of policies, legislation, and ethics surrounding data governance (e.g., CARE, FAIR, and the US OPEN Government Data Act) and describes how archaeologists can integrate these efforts into technological initiatives across the full spectrum of archaeological practice.