Archaeological Inventory of the California Desert: a Proposed Methodology

The California Desert includes a considerable quantity of archaeological resources along with its many other values. As the Bureau of Land Management seeks to meet the challenge of managing its desert lands for the common good, it is appropriate that the archaeology of the area be numbered among its considerations. Not only does the BLM have a legal responsibility to protect archaeological remains under Federal law, but archaeology constitutes a public resource in several respects. Understanding and enjoyment of the desert as a recreational area is enhanced by understanding the ways prehistoric man lived in this environment that strikes many as harsh and sterile. Archaeology is the raw material for the unwritten history of several of the California Indian peoples and is of special concern to them. It is also a scientific resource, a proving ground where archaeologists can test and revise their ideas about how man's long years as a hunter and gatherer shaped his modern lifeways, and through what socio-economic arrangements and technological developments man adapted to a wide variety of environments. Basic to archaeological resource management is inventory, and inventory of archaeological resources on the scale of the California Desert is not easily accomplished. this report describes a proposed sampling design to discover the patterns of location of archaeological resources in the desert and to make these patterns and projections derived from them available as a data base for management planning. The proposed survey has six objectives: 1. The discovery and recognition of patterns of ethnographic and prehistoric use of the California Desert area; 2. Identification of the biotic, topographic or hydrologic variables, or combinations thereof that form the most accurate predictors of archaeological locations; 3. Investigation of how well the variables employed in the Desert Study will predict the location of archaeological resources; 4. Development of projections of expected density and distribution of archaeological resources in the California Desert; 5. Delineation of areas of high archaeological sensitivity requiring maximum protection; and, 6. Delineation of areas with a high probability of lower archaeological sensitivity where development for economic or recreational activities should endanger relatively few archaeological resources, resulting in minimal costs for protection and/or salvage of what resources are present. Originally the information in this record was migrated into tDAR from the National Archaeological Database Reports Module (NADB-R) and updated. In 2014, as part of its effort to improve tDAR content, the Center for Digital Antiquity uploaded a copy of the document and further improved the record metadata.加利福尼亚沙漠（California Desert）拥有大量考古资源，同时兼具诸多其他价值。美国土地管理局（Bureau of Land Management, BLM）正致力于为公共利益妥善管理沙漠土地，在此过程中，该区域的考古工作理应被纳入考量范畴。依据联邦法律，BLM不仅负有保护考古遗存的法定责任，同时考古资源在多个层面均属于公共资源：当人们了解史前人类如何在这片被多数人视为严酷贫瘠的环境中生存时，对这片沙漠作为休闲胜地的理解与体验也会随之加深；考古资料是加利福尼亚印第安多族群无文字历史的原始素材，因此受到这些族群的特别关注；此外，考古资源也是科研载体，考古学家可借此验证、修正相关理论，例如人类作为狩猎采集者的漫长岁月如何塑造了其现代生活方式，以及人类通过何种社会经济组织与技术发展适应了多样的环境。 考古资源管理的核心工作是资源清查，而加利福尼亚沙漠范围内的考古资源清查绝非易事。本报告提出了一套抽样设计方案，旨在探明沙漠内考古资源的分布模式，并将该模式及其衍生的预测结果作为管理规划的数据库予以支撑。 本次拟开展的调查共有六项目标： 1. 探明并识别加利福尼亚沙漠区域的民族志与史前使用模式； 2. 确定可最精准预测考古资源分布的生物、地形或水文变量，及其组合因子； 3. 评估本沙漠研究中所采用的变量对考古资源分布的预测效能； 4. 构建加利福尼亚沙漠考古资源的预期密度与分布预测模型； 5. 划定考古敏感度高、需实施最高级别保护的区域； 6. 划定考古敏感度较低的区域：在此类区域开展经济或休闲开发活动时，对考古资源的影响相对有限，仅需投入极低成本即可完成相关遗存的保护与抢救工作。 本记录的原始信息源自国家考古数据库报告模块（National Archaeological Database Reports Module, NADB-R），并已迁移至tDAR平台且完成更新。2014年，为提升tDAR平台的内容质量，数字古物中心（Center for Digital Antiquity）上传了该文档的副本，并进一步优化了本记录的元数据。