US Army Corps
of Engineers
Construction Engineering
Research Laboratories

A Rationale for Technical Guidelines on Predictive Locational Modeling of Archaeological Resources on U.S. Army Installations

James A. Zeidler

Introduction

This technical note provides an overview of the objectives and rationale for the development of Department of the Army (DA) guidelines for predictive archaeological modeling in support of the Integrated Cultural Resource Management Plan (ICRMP), which is now required at all Army installations. The note includes a brief discussion of:
· the utility of GIS-based predictive modeling for cultural resource compliance planning and risk assessment,
· the complexity of the data requirements and analytical procedures involved, and
· the need for installation cultural resource managers to have a basic understanding of the modeling process.
Managers need this information in order to acquire predictive models (either through in-house development or out-of-house contracting) and to use the results in daily decision-making. These technical guidelines are currently under development as an applied research effort of the Cultural Resources Research Center (CRRC) of the U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories (USACERL).