CRM Training
Cultural Resource Management (CRM) accounts for the majority of archaeological field research in the United States. With the federal government controlling 640 million acres (28%) of U.S. land area[1] the preponderance of NAGPRA compliance falls to federal agencies. Another 55 million acres constitute tribal land. NAGPRA guides the archaeological process when human remains, funerary objects and objects of cultural patrimony are recovered intentionally or inadvertently on federal and tribal land. Therefore, knowing how and when NAGPRA applies and what is necessary for both compliance and ethical practice is critical for CRM archaeologists. Still, this provision of NAGPRA has proved challenging for federal managers and contractors who work on federal and federally-funded projects (Powless and Freiwald 2019).