ABSTRACT
Archaeological ethics can be complex and confusing. Responsibilities extend to the archaeological record, many different publics, and one's colleagues. As Randall McGuire points out, the development of cultural resource management over the last few decades has turned archaeology into a business, something that it really had not been before. In the academic realm, ethical issues surround teaching and treatment of students. Archaeology as cultural resource management (CRM) done under public law does not often result in the preservation of sites in place. Instead many sites are identified and judged insignificant according to legal standards and professional judgment. If judged insignificant, then sites are destroyed to make way for roads, pipelines, or other public projects. Archaeological places and the collections that come from their study are not simply resources full of data, but are places and objects of cultural heritage to living people. The Hague Convention of 1954 resulted from long-standing international efforts to protect cultural heritage in times of war.
