Rescue archaeology, sometimes called commercial archaeology, preventive archaeology, salvage archaeology, contract archaeology, developer-funded archaeology,^[1] or compliance archaeology, is state-sanctioned, archaeological survey and excavation carried out as part of the planning process in advance of construction or other land development.^[2] In Western Europe, excavation is the final stage in a sequence of activities that start with desk-based assessments of the archaeological potential through exploratory fieldwork: monument surveys, test pitting, shovel pitting, evaluations, and so forth. Other, less common causes for salvage digs can be looting and illegal construction.^[2]

Conditions leading to rescue archaeology could include, but are not limited to, road and other major construction, the floodplain of a proposed dam, or even before the onset of war. Unlike traditional survey and excavation, rescue archaeology must be undertaken at speed. Rescue archaeology is included in the broader categories of cultural resource management (CRM) and cultural heritage management (CHM).

Rescue archaeology occurs on sites about to be destroyed but, on occasion, may include in situ preservation of any finds or protective measures taken to preserve an unexcavated site beneath a building. Urban areas with many overlaid years of habitation are often candidates for rescue archaeology.

The focus of early work was to set up organisations to undertake rescue excavations shortly before an area was disturbed by construction equipment. Archaeologists relied on the goodwill of the developer to provide the opportunity to record remains. In the present day, an archaeological survey may be required by planning process or building law, as with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)^[3] in the UK. Common conditions required by planning authorities are archaeological field surveys, watching briefs, shovel test pits, trial trenching, and excavation. Guidance and standards of practice in the UK are largely monitored through the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA).^[4]

Contract or commercial archaeology services have sprung up to meet the needs of developers and to comply with local laws and planning regulations.

• Cultural heritage management
• Cultural resources management
• Garbology, the study of modern refuse and trash
• Rescue (British Archaeological Trust)
• Valletta Treaty

• American Cultural Resources Association. 2013. "The Cultural Resources Management Industry: Providing Critical Support for Building Our Nation's Infrastructure through Expertise in Historic Preservation". Electronic document. [1]
• Everill, Paul. 2009. The Invisible Diggers: A Study of British Commercial Archaeology. Oxbow Books. [2]
• Hutchings, Rich. 2014. "The Miner's Canary" – What the Maritime Heritage Crisis Says About Archaeology, Cultural Resource Management, and Global Ecological Breakdown". Unpublished PhD dissertation, Interdisciplinary Studies, University of British Columbia. [3]
• Hutchings, Rich and Marina La Salle. 2012. "Five Thoughts on Commercial Archaeology". Electronic document. [4]
• Hutchings, Rich and Marina La Salle. 2015. "Archaeology as Disaster Capitalism". International Journal of Historical Archaeology [5]
• King, Thomas F. 2012. Cultural Resource Laws and Practice: An Introductory Guide (4th edition). Altamira Press. [6]
• King, Thomas F. 2009. Our Unprotected Heritage: Whitewashing the Destruction of Our Cultural and Natural Environment. Left Coast Press. [7]
• King, Thomas F. 2005. Doing Archaeology: A Cultural Resource Management Perspective. Left Coast Press. [8]
• La Salle, Marina and Rich Hutchings. 2012. Commercial Archaeology in British Columbia. The Midden 44(2): 8–16. [9]
• Lavachery, P., MacEachern, S., Bouimon, T. & Mbida Mindzie, C. 2010. Komé-Kribi. Rescue Archaeology along the Chad-Cameroon Oil Pipeline, 1999–2004. Africa Magna, Frankfurt a. M. (ISBN 9783937248127)
• Neumann, Thomas W. and Robert M. Sanford. 2010. Cultural Resources Archaeology: An Introduction (2nd edition). Rowman and Littlefield. [10]
• Neumann, Thomas W. and Robert M. Sanford. 2010. Practicing Archaeology: A Training Manual for Cultural Resources Archaeology (2nd edition). Rowman and Littlefield. [11]
• Nissley, Claudia and Thomas F. King. 2014. Consultation and Cultural Heritage: Let Us Reason Together. Left Coast Press. [12]
• Parga Dans, Eva and Pablo Alonso Gonzalez. 2020. "The Unethical Enterprise of the Past: Lessons from the Collapse of Archaeological Heritage Management in Spain" Journal of Business Ethics. [13]
• Smith, Laurajane. 2004. Archaeological Theory and Politics of Cultural Heritage. Routledge. [14]
• Smith, Laurajane. 2001. "Archaeology and the Governance of Material Culture: A Case Study from South-Eastern Australia". Norwegian Archaeological Review 34(2): 97–105. [15]
• Smith, Laurajane. 2000. "A History of Aboriginal Heritage Legislation in South-Eastern Australia". Australian Archaeology 50: 109–118. [16]
• Stapp, Darby and Julia J. Longenecker. 2009. Avoiding Archaeological Disasters: A Risk Management Approach. Left Coast Press. [17]
• White, Gregory G. and Thomas F. King. 2007. The Archaeological Survey Manual. Left Coast Press. [18]
• Zorzin, Nicolas. 2014. "Heritage Management and Aboriginal Australians: Relations in a Global, Neoliberal Economy—A Contemporary Case Study from Victoria". Archaeologies: The Journal of the World Archaeological Congress 10(2): 132–167. [19]
• Zorzin, Nicolas. 2011. "Contextualising Contract Archaeology in Quebec: Political Economy and Economic Dependencies". Archaeological Review from Cambridge 26(1): 119–135. [20]
• Zorzin, Nicolas. 2010. "The Political Economy of a Commercial Archaeology: A Quebec Case-Study". Unpublished PhD dissertation, Faculty of Humanities (Archaeology), University of Southampton. [21]

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