Assessing Site Significance: A Guide for Archaeologists and Historians [Paperback]

One of the most important decisions a cultural resource manager can make involves assessing site significancea decision that often determines, at least in the US federal preservation system, if a site merits further consideration as a historic property. In the second edition of this important book, veteran preservationists Don Hardesty and Barbara Little offer an updated primer on the complex process of determining significance, especially for sites occupied in the relatively recent past. The authors discuss the role and history of significance in the preservation process, and present compelling case studies. A must-read for the 21st-century preservationist!Hardesty and Little provide the most up-to-date guide for assessing the historical significance of archaeological sites that may be eligible to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places. In this second edition, all laws, regulations, and references have been entirely updated. New material on landfills, Japanese internment camps, landscapes, and military properties has been added, along with special case studies on 17th- and 18th-century historical sites and additional chapters on heritage tourism, traditional cultural places, and shipwrecks.Assessing Site Significance is an invaluable resource for archaeologists and others who need guidance in determining whether sites are eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Because the register's eligibility criteria were largely developed for standing sites, it is difficult to know in any particular case whether a site known primarily through archaeological work has sufficient historical significance to be listed. Hardesty and Little address these challenges, describing how to file for NRHP eligibility and how to determine the historical significance of archaeological properties. This second edition brings everything up to date, and includes new material on 17th- and 18th-century sites, traditional cultural properties, shipwrelÏ