The Role of Museums in Cultural Resource Management

Abstract

Cultural resource management is often considered to end when endangered resources are collected or excavated. Actually, this is only an early step in the process. An increasing proportion of our preserved cultural heritage is being managed in museums, and it is in museums that much future archaeological research will have to be done. This brief essay reviews the role of museums in cultural resource management and points to the need for a careful evaluation of the adequacy of current archaeological curation systems.