Register of Professional Archaeologists

Register of Professional Archaeologists
Name	Register of Professional Archaeologists
Formation	1975
Type	Professional association
Headquarters	United States
Region served	International
Membership	Archaeologists

Register of Professional Archaeologists

The Register of Professional Archaeologists is a professional body formed to promote standards among practitioners such as Mortimer Wheeler, Lewis Binford, Kathleen Kenyon, Gordon Childe, and James Mellaart. It interacts with institutions like Smithsonian Institution, British Museum, Penn Museum, National Park Service (United States), and ICOMOS while engaging with sites such as Stonehenge, Çatalhöyük, Mohenjo-daro, Tikal, and Pompeii.

History

The organization emerged during debates involving figures like Flinders Petrie, Helene Kantor, Alison Sheridan, Julian Steward, and V. Gordon Childe about professionalism, paralleling developments at University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, and University College London. Early milestones referenced policies from National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, rulings such as NAGPRA disputes, and conferences at Society for American Archaeology, European Association of Archaeologists, World Archaeological Congress, American Anthropological Association, and International Union for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences. Influential practitioners including Kathleen Kenyon and Gavin de Beer shaped initial codes debated alongside conservation cases at Machu Picchu, Pompeii, and Lascaux.

Purpose and Functions

The body articulates professional responsibilities invoked by leaders like Mortimer Wheeler and Lewis Binford and partners with organizations including UNESCO, World Monuments Fund, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Getty Conservation Institute, and Archaeological Institute of America. It sets criteria used in contract negotiations with agencies such as Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service (United States), Parks Canada, English Heritage, and Australian Heritage Council and provides guidance informed by research from V. Gordon Childe, Ian Hodder, Marija Gimbutas, Donald Johanson, and Mary Leakey.

Membership and Certification Criteria

Applicants are evaluated against standards influenced by methods championed by Mortimer Wheeler, Gordon Childe, Lewis Binford, Ian Hodder, and David Clarke and may cite fieldwork at sites like Çatalhöyük, Knossos, Altamira, Gobekli Tepe, and Çatal Höyük. Qualification paths reference training at University College London, Stanford University, University of Cambridge, University of York, and University of Chicago and publications in venues such as Antiquity (journal), American Antiquity, Journal of Archaeological Science, World Archaeology, and Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society. Certification examines compliance with cases involving NAGPRA, Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, Venice Charter, Burra Charter, and professional precedents from Society for American Archaeology.

Governance and Organizational Structure

Governance reflects models used by Royal Archaeological Institute, Archaeological Institute of America, European Association of Archaeologists, World Archaeological Congress, and ICOMOS with boards drawing on expertise comparable to scholars such as Barry Cunliffe, Colin Renfrew, Paul Bahn, Richard Bradley, and Bruce Trigger. Committees coordinate with entities like UNESCO, Getty Conservation Institute, National Park Service (United States), English Heritage, and Parks Canada to manage accreditation, ethics, and disciplinary panels, and to liaise with tribunals akin to those in World Heritage Committee proceedings.

Standards, Ethics, and Professional Conduct

The ethical code references landmark documents such as the Venice Charter, Burra Charter, NAGPRA, UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, and guidelines from ICOMOS, Society for American Archaeology, Archaeological Institute of America, European Association of Archaeologists, and World Archaeological Congress. Standards address responsibilities highlighted in controversies involving Machu Picchu, Elgin Marbles, Iraq War (2003) looting debates, Palmyra destruction, and repatriation disputes involving Benin Bronzes, Kennewick Man, and NAGPRA cases, balancing conservation approaches advocated by Cesare Brandi, John H. Evans, and Sir Mortimer Wheeler.

Activities and Programs

Programs include professional development, continuing education, fieldwork oversight, and publication support connecting with journals and organizations such as American Antiquity, Journal of Field Archaeology, Antiquity (journal), Society for American Archaeology, Archaeological Institute of America, and World Archaeological Congress. Outreach engages museums and research centers like Smithsonian Institution, British Museum, Penn Museum, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, and Museo Nacional de Antropología (Mexico), and training initiatives reference methodologies from Lewis Binford, Gordon Childe, Ian Hodder, David Clarke, and Kathleen Kenyon.

Criticisms and Controversies

Critiques echo debates involving NAGPRA, Benin Bronzes, Elgin Marbles, Iraq War (2003) looting, Palmyra, and repatriation matters seen with Kennewick Man and Mauao (Mount Maunganui) cases, and engage with methodological disputes between proponents like Lewis Binford and Ian Hodder. Critics cite tensions similar to those at Society for American Archaeology, World Archaeological Congress, ICOMOS, Archaeological Institute of America, and national heritage bodies over issues of enforcement, cultural heritage sovereignty exemplified by UNESCO Convention (1970), and conflicts between preservation advocates such as Getty Conservation Institute and commercial developers.

Category:Archaeological professional associations