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Why is Archaeology Important?
Unlike standing timber, a load of logs, or an acre of forested ground, you cannot put a dollar value on an archaeological site. It is equally hard to assess the value of other cultural intangibles such as art, music, literature, amateur sports, local or family history, and so forth and so on, but these are the things that enrich our lives in modern society. The understanding of our past is one of those priceless things. Archaeological sites contain the irreplaceable evidence to reconstruct the past. Without archaeological sites, we would be ignorant of the very long and diverse archaeological record that makes California stand apart from its neighbors, and helps us locate ourselves in time and space within our state.
Our own lifetimes are but a drop in the bucket compared to the total time human beings have lived in what we now call California. California has a uniquely varied archaeological record, and one as old as anywhere else in North America. Hundreds of different prehistoric cultures have been and are still being found within our state, most of them discoverable only through archaeological methods. However, unless we can recognize the fragile traces left behind by these earlier peoples and take steps to protect and preserve them, we can accidentally destroy the only remaining evidence of those who came before us.
California's timberlands are the last great treasure-trove of reasonably intact archaeological sites within the state. Most of the biggest and most spectacular sites in our state's valleys have already been damaged or destroyed through agricultural operations; those along the coastal strip have in most cases been covered over by development. In the deserts, most sites were located near reliable sources of water, just where modern settlements have also grown up, similarly damaging or destroying them.
In most cases, the preservation and wise management of an archaeological site, feature, or artifact is accomplished with little or no outlay of funds and minimal diminution of timber harvest yield, often none whatsoever. The only constant investment in archaeological preservation is the staff time expended by archaeologists and archaeologically-trained foresters and other resource professionals that search for archaeological sites and make determinations regarding the best way to protect them.
Unlike trees, our favorite "renewable" resource, archaeological sites are finite and once gone, can never be replaced. Unless they are identified and protected, they are likely to be destroyed, sooner or later by some project. Once identified, they must be protected, not just once, but every time they are threatened with destruction, or else we will lose the most precious links we have to California's prehistoric and historic past.
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