From the Ice Age to the Cold War, the story of North America is written as much in the earth as it is on paper. The first people on the continent, the ancient cultures that thrived for centuries along the Mississippi, the wagon trains west, all left unequaled physical testimony to the reality of other eras.

But as forest and farm have given way to highway and city, much of this richness has disappeared. Still, an estimated 6 to 7 million sites remain under some legal protection-most on public land-plus artifacts and records from investigations done in advance of development and erosion. Preserving this legacy is the goal of the federal archeology program, an effort involving 40 U.S. agencies and their partners, whose policy arm resides in the office of the NPS Archeology Program.

	FEDERAL ARCHEOLOGY PROGRAM
	SITE DISCOVERY AND EVALUATION
	PREVENTING LOOTING AND VANDALISM
	CARING FOR COLLECTIONS
	SITE CONSERVATION
	ENHANCING PUBLIC OUTREACH
	PRESERVING A SUBMERGED LEGACY
	ARCHEOLOGICAL NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARKS