ABSTRACT

To use Cultural Resource Management (CRM) data for research and management purposes, archaeologists must compile their vast holdings, save it for posterity, and develop procedures to use it effectively. Turning back to big picture research, at present excellent work is being done at the installation and in some cases at the state level. Data-driven big picture archaeology can provide unparalleled insights into long-term human-environmental interactions. Documenting and accessing data online, and using geophysical and remotely sensed data at increasingly larger scales, are examples of the kind of efforts in the service of big picture research that are becoming more and more common in American archaeology. Research thrives best when there is freedom for experimentation, and critical to linking disparate datasets and approaches are to do so while allowing for the maintenance of diversity. Efforts have been underway for decades, as exemplified by program like NADB, and a host of other research projects collecting and collating data at large scales.