In 1974, Washington State University archaeologist Bill Lipe published “A Conservation Model for American Archaeology” in Kiva, a small southwestern journal. It elegantly set forth a new foundation for the management of America’s rapidly dwindling archaeological resources. The new field of “cultural resource management” was just getting underway, and Lipe expressed the underlying philosophy that is as valid today as it was 32 years ago—that it is always better to preserve archaeological resources in place. “Conservation archaeology” is the dominant philosophy in the field today.
The Kiva article also drew attention to the systematic attack on the archaeological record by looters and development. Lipe called for a national system of public preserves to protect archaeological treasures for future generations; this was the inspiration for The Archaeological Conservancy, which was founded six years later to establish a national system of privately owned preserves. So influential is the Kiva article that one of the contributors to this volume, W. James Judge, calls it the “handbook, if not the bible, for archaeological research.”
In Tracking Ancient Footsteps, nine of Lipe’s colleagues analyze and critique his remarkable contributions as an outstanding field archaeologist and as a visionary leader in the profession. Trained at Yale, Lipe participated in major research projects in the Southwest at Glen Canyon, the Red Rock Plateau, Cedar Mesa, and the rich Mesa Verde region of the Four Corners. He has also been a key figure in the development of the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center in Cortez, Colorado. Lipe’s career is an inspiration to all of us involved in American archaeology and Tracking Ancient Footsteps is a testament to that calling.
