The Archaeological Resources Committee (Committee) of the State Historical Resources Commission (SHRC) was established in 2006. Currently, the Committee is comprised of two SHRC members: Trish Fernandez (Committee Chair) and Donn Grenda.
The purpose of the Committee is to increase awareness of archaeology and improve the quality of professional archaeological practice in California. To this end, the Committee is building upon previous decades’ work to meet the goals of the California Statewide Historic Preservation Plan 2006-2010.
Specifically, the Committee is working toward establishing best practices standards for professional archaeological investigations in California, particularly investigations undertaken as part of state and federal regulatory compliance work. This work by the Committee is consistent with the powers and duties of the SHRC, as spelled out in Public Resources Code 5020.5, which reads:
a) The Commission shall develop criteria and methods for determining the significance of archaeological sites, for selecting the most important archaeological sites, and for determining whether the most significant archaeological sites should be preserved intact or excavated and interpreted.
The first major step of this work is formulating position papers that address five policy areas: Conservation; Curation; Interpretation; Preservation; and Standards and Guidelines. The Committee has drafted these position papers and is in the process of soliciting comments from targeted interested groups, as follows:
• California professional archaeologists
• California Indians
• Local governments (cities, counties, and Certified Local Governments)
• The California building industry
The comment period is scheduled to close in October of 2008.
POSITION PAPERS
Introduction to Papers (2 pg PDF)
Conservation (3 pg PDF)
Curation (2 pg PDF)
Interpretation (3 pg PDF)
Protection (3 pg PDF)
Standards & Guidelines (3 pg PDF)
For more information or to register comments regarding the position papers, please email
SHRC_ARC@YAHOO.COM.
Please note that the papers are currently not position papers of the SHRC, the State Historic Preservation Officer, or the Office of Historic Preservation, nor is there any assurance these papers will ultimately be adopted by the SHRC or become policy of the Office of Historic Preservation.
