Addressing Private Collections and the Results of Avocational Archaeology as a Cultural Resource That Enhances Our Understanding of Archaeological Landscapes

Documenting private collections, and reporting the associated sites, provides a means of enhancing the archaeological database that results from CRM-driven work. From one perspective, private collectors have explored geographical areas that have not been and may never be subject to archaeological compliance work. In this way, the information obtained through collaboration with private collectors and avocational archaeologists helps mitigate biases in our understanding of the archaeological record. Researchers from the Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse provide GIS maps generated with and without information provided by collectors to demonstrate the enhancement of the database through collaboration with nonprofessionals. Researchers from the Illinois State Archaeological Survey and the Illinois Department of Transportation provide an analysis of the data recorded from a single collection as an example of the value of large well-documented collections from repeatedly visited sites. The common thread that runs through both case studies lies in the value of collaboration with responsible collectors as a complement to current, standard CRM investigations.