Abstract
The first quote is from a popular introduction to archaeology textbook, the second from a book published in an “Archival Fundamentals” publication series by the Society of American Archivists (the “other” SAA). Taken together these passages highlight a significant contradiction in archaeology that has contributed to the problems we have today with regards to collections—namely a research ideal of keeping everything that bumps up against the economic and managerial reality of finite resources to curate the archaeological collections that we have generated.
I want to say at the outset that the intent of this chapter is not to offer