Digging for Dollars: American Archaeology and the New Deal

This volume explores the creation of archaeology as a modern professional science through cooperation with state and federal governments during the Great Depression. New Deal relief programs and money offered American archaeologists, loosely organized before the 1930s, a unique opportunity to expand their ranks and to practice their science. They formed professional organizations, defined and refined their science, standardized training programs, developed organizational leadership, and created effective political organs. The first part of Digging for Dollars discusses the relationship of archaeology to the government and academia, while the second part explores the practice of archaeology across the wide spectrum of state and federal relief programs. The author demonstrates how archaeology's close ties to government agencies both stimulated and hamstrung its professional and scientific development.