ethics are needed not just for everyday living, but they are extremely important in the field of anthropology, ethics are needed because often times the archaeologist may be working in foreign countries and are working on indigenous lands. Which is where The Society for American Archaeology’s principle number eight comes into play, principle number eight states: “Given the destructive nature of most archaeological investigations, archaeologist must ensure that they have adequate training, experience, facilities, and other support necessary to conduct any program of research they initiate in a manner consistent with the foregoing principles and contemporary standards of professional practice.”
It is also important to report any and all objects, artifacts or burials that are found by archaeologist, otherwise what is the objective of the archaeologist if he or she does not report what he or she has discovered. The archaeologist must record and publish her or his findings to as many publication as possible. as it states in principle number 6 “The documents and materials on which publication and other forms of public reporting… archaeological sites must be taken into account when publishing and distributing information about their nature and information.” For this reason we need ethics and principles in archaeology, because the public needs to know and learn what public or any type of archaeologist are doing.
Another principle is the respect of intellectual property. For example archaeologist discovers a tomb or a buried artifact he or she has the right to claim the principle founder of the object or place this is principle number five, however it follows principle number six very close. In doing so the archaeologist should not perceive it as personal possession of the objects or place in the ethics of archaeology it quotes the following about principle number five: “Intellectual property, as contained in the knowledge and the documents created through the study of archaeological resources, is part of the archaeological record. As such it should be treated in accord with the principles of stewardship rather than as a matter of personal possession. If there is a compelling reason, and no legal restrictions or strong countervailing interest, a researcher may have primary access to original materials and documents for a limited and reasonable time, after which materials and documents must be made available to others.” Principle number five is closely related to principle number 5, because both principle require for findings to be publicly published.
The last principle in the ethics of archaeology is principle number nine, Safe Educational and Workplace Environments. Archaeology is a job/profession, obviously there must be rules in the workplace such as no sexual harassment. Furthermore, their should be no scrutiny on people based on their sexual orientation, religion, and ethnicity. In addition ” Archaeologist in all work, educational, and other professional settings, including fieldwork and conferences, are responsible for training the next generation of archaeologist.” this i believe it to be one of the most important principles because i believe that upcoming archaeologist should be properly trained by well experienced archaeologist to pass on the great skills to keep up the excellent work this fairly new field of study.
I definitely agree with the concept that ethics is an important characteristic to have when being an archaeologist, or even an everyday human. There are a lot of times in our day-to-day life that we see people being disrespectful to others. An example of this could be the YouTuber Logan Paul. In his scenario he found a deceased individual and posted it on his YouTube channel. There was huge controversy in his doing so that he was dropped from YouTube and gained a lot of negative attention. Viewing this same scenario as an archaeologist is potentially even worse than what Logan Paul experienced. As a professional, the backlash will be terrible without a sort of ethics that is applied. All sorts of outcomes could come about. One of which will counter principle nine, that was mentioned. If an archaeologist conducted something as disrespectful as Logan Paul there would be a lack of safety and respect. Ethics is certainly an important characteristic to have in many sensitive situations.
Ethics is a key part of society and it varies from region to region, so understanding the basic principles of Ethics as you have stated in your post is crucial in all forms of Archaeology because are entering foreign communities and cultures that might not coincide with your own. I agree completely with the respect of intellectual property because no one should individually own information about Archaeological findings because that would slow down the learning process. They saved the best for last because Principle number nine is crucial in Archaeology because otherwise it would be counterproductive if you an Archaeologist went around judging a culture they don’t understand or agree with. You want the community to be comfortable sharing their ways with team and referring back to Principle 5, the information is not for you but the world and you don’t have the right to be picky or disrespectful.
This post brings up great points about public archaeology needing a backbone or values to sort of stop them from being harmful to the communities culture or members. Ethics is a factor that can help stop archaeologists and think what is it that they are doing and how can they move past from being disrespectful. Being apart of a public archaeology project, I started to recognize ethics and how our team understood the cemetery wasn’t theirs to disrespect of mess with. People walked around grave markers instead of through or over. If our team didn’t value the cemetery or show their respect, then we wouldn’t have the opportunity to see the community from a different perspective.
The laws of ethics can be applied anywhere and very well should be. The best way archaeological work can be portrayed and appreciated is if there is a universal understanding of what it means to work ethically. This means being honest and respectful, in any place or towards a historical material thing. In order for us to preserve and teach generations to come, we must first represent ourselves with the same principles so that others may likely follow. What’s in the public should belong to the public and be protected. Anything we get to engage in is done in a way that does not destroy but keeps us informed. If there wasn’t any ethics put into place, many valuable things/places would be gone before ever getting a chance to explore and understand the world and people before us.