@article{3b21de0794064ea3a3759d249010b75f,
title = "Fostering Collaborative Synthetic Research in Archaeology",
abstract = "While our fascination with understanding the past is sufficient to warrant an increased focus on synthesis, solutions to important problems facing modern society require understandings based on data that only archaeology can provide. Yet, even as we use public monies to collect ever-greater amounts of data, modes of research that can stimulate emergent understandings of human behavior have lagged behind. Consequently, a substantial amount of archaeological inference remains at the level of the individual project. We can more effectively leverage these data and advance our understandings of the past in ways that contribute to solutions to contemporary problems if we adapt the model pioneered by the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis to foster synthetic collaborative research in archaeology. We propose the creation of the Coalition for Archaeological Synthesis coordinated through a U.S.-based National Center for Archaeological Synthesis. The coalition will be composed of established public and private organizations that provide essential scholarly, cultural heritage, computational, educational, and public engagement infrastructure. The center would seek and administer funding to support collaborative analysis and synthesis projects executed through coalition partners. This innovative structure will enable the discipline to address key challenges facing society through evidentially based, collaborative synthetic research.",
author = "Altschul, {Jeffrey H.} and Kintigh, {Keith W.} and Klein, {Terry H.} and Doelle, {William H.} and Hays-Gilpin, {Kelley A.} and Herr, {Sarah A.} and Kohler, {Timothy A.} and Mills, {Barbara J.} and Montgomery, {Lindsay M.} and Nelson, {Margaret C.} and Ortman, {Scott G.} and Parker, {John N.} and Peeples, {Matthew A.} and Sabloff, {Jeremy A.}",
note = "Funding Information: This material is based on a workshop held at the School for Advanced Research, Santa Fe, New Mexico, February 9-11, 2017. The workshop was sponsored by Arizona State University's Center for Archaeology and Society, the University of Arizona School of Anthropology and Office of the Vice President for Research, the SRI Foundation, and the School for Advanced Research. We are grateful to Patricia Crown for her insightful comments on an earlier version of this article and for her participation in the SAR workshop. The Advances in Archaeological Practice editors and three anonymous reviewers provided many helpful comments. This work is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant numbers 0433959, 0816400, 0827007, 0827011, 0819657, 1202413, 1347973, 1439516, 1439591, 1439603, 1637155, 1637171, and 1637189. Funding Information: Altschul Jeffrey H. Kintigh Keith W. Klein Terry H. Doelle William H. Hays-Gilpin Kelley A. Herr Sarah A. Kohler Timothy A. Mills Barbara J. Montgomery Lindsay M. Nelson Margaret C. Ortman Scott G. Parker John N. Peeples Matthew A. Sabloff Jeremy A. Statistical Research Inc. , PO Box 31865 , Tucson , AZ 85751 SRI Foundation , 333 Rio Rancho Dr. , Suite 103 , Rio Rancho , NM 87124 , USA ( jhaltschul@sricrm.com ) School of Human Evolution and Social Change , Box 872402 , Arizona State University , Tempe , AZ 85287–2402 , USA ( kintigh@asu.edu , mnelson@asu.edu , and Matthew.Peeples@asu.edu ) SRI Foundation , 333 Rio Rancho Dr. , Suite 103 , Rio Rancho , NM 87124 , USA ( tklein@srifoundation.org ) Archaeology Southwest , 300 North Ash Alley , Tucson , AZ 85701 , USA ( wdoelle@desert.com ) Department of Anthropology , Northern Arizona University , PO Box 15200 , Flagstaff , AZ 86011–5200 , USA ( kelley.hays-gilpin@nau.edu ) Desert Archaeology , 3975 N. Tucson Blvd. , Tucson , AZ 85716–1037 , USA ( sherr@desert.com ) Department of Anthropology , PO Box 644910 , Washington State University , Pullman , WA 99164–4910 Santa Fe Institute , 1399 Hyde Park Rd. , Santa Fe , NM 87501 Crow Canyon Archaeological Center , 23390 C R K , Cortez , CO 81321 , USA ( tako@wsu.edu ) School of Anthropology , University of Arizona , PO Box 210030 , Tucson , AZ 85721–0030 , USA ( bmills@email.arizona.edu and lmmontgomery@email.arizona.edu ) Department of Anthropology , University of Colorado , 1350 Pleasant St. , Boulder , CO 80309–0233 , USA ( scott.ortman@colorado.edu ) Barrett the Honors College , Box 871612 , Arizona State University , Tempe , AZ 85287–1612 , USA ( john.parker@asu.edu ) Santa Fe Institute , 1399 Hyde Park Rd. , Santa Fe , NM 87501 , USA ( jsabloff@santafe.edu ) 07 02 2018 02 2018 6 1 19 29 Copyright 2018 {\textcopyright} Society for American Archaeology 2018 Society for American Archaeology Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} Copyright 2018 Society for American Archaeology.",
year = "2018",
month = feb,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1017/aap.2017.31",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "6",
pages = "19--29",
journal = "Advances in Archaeological Practice",
issn = "2326-3768",
publisher = "Cambridge University Press",
number = "1",
}