Cultural Resource Management and Archaeological Research: The Cache Project [and Comments and Reply]

Cultural resource management studies, which provide archaeological information for planning purposes, are currently burgeoning in American archaeology. A general approach is developed which aims at bringing such studies into conformity with legal requirements and the high standards of modern archaeological research. This approach is founded on the precept that cultural resource management cannot attain its management goals without solid research effort; thus every contract project must obtain research results. Discussions of the Cache Project, an intensive survey undertaken by the Arkansas Archeological Survey in northeastern Arkansas, illustrate how management and research goals can be brought into harmony. Major results of the Cache Project and research designs, as well as other recent progress in cultural resource management studies, are briefly reviewed.