ABSTRACT
Transportation archaeologists have made and continue to make important contributions to archaeological research. Transportation archaeology programs and projects are practiced by federal and state organizations. The first transportation archaeology projects were executed by a State's archaeologist or State museum. Transportation archaeologists are compelled by preservation and environmental laws and regulations to consider public input regarding the identification, evaluation, and resolution of adverse effects to sites and to act in the public interest. Transportation enhancement funds authorized by these laws and similar ones supported broader distribution of the results of transportation archaeology projects and curation and research on existing archaeological collections from past highway projects. Highway transportation departments are among the most active public agencies in wrestling with and providing solutions to the curation problem in archaeology. Transportation archaeology has had its share of "bad" and "ugly" projects or situations. The first transportation archaeology projects were executed by a State's archaeologist or State museum.
