Let's celebrate US archaeology's best kept secret

Legislation may be unsexy, but I'd like to raise a glass to 50 years of a tiny but mighty act which has saved countless American cultural sites

In the wake of the second world war, the US embarked on a construction frenzy that began decimating the country's existing urban fabric. The federal government encouraged much of this Make-America-Shiny-Again activity through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Many people, however, were concerned with the onslaught of destruction, and rightfully so.

In response, in 1966 Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) in to law. The act attempted to keep federal agencies in check and ensure that they considered the impact of their actions on historic properties, including archaeological sites. This year the NHPA turned 50, and as 2016 comes to a close, I thought this tiny piece of legislation, what I often think of as archaeology's best kept secret, should be recognized and celebrated.