How to Fix the Inventory Survey Rule

These brief comments argue that it is in the public interest for the Society for Hawaiian Archaeology to debate changes in the Hawaiʻi State Historic Preservation Division inventory survey rule. Two fundamental changes to the rule are proposed. First, strip the rule of its preoccupation with site function so that a greater proportion of archaeological energy and funds can be spent on data recovery investigations. Second, rewrite the rule so that it does not prescribe archaeological practice per se; this is necessary if Hawaiian archaeology is going to track progress in the discipline as a whole. These changes will simplify the inventory survey rule and strengthen the role of research in archaeological work.

Download PDF View HTML