Register of Professional Archaeologists

The Register of Professional Archaeologists (RPA) is a professional organization of (primarily North American) archaeologists headquartered in Baltimore, MD. Members of the RPA agree to follow a standard code of research ethics and conduct and must be formally approved for membership by a panel of elected colleagues. Similar to organizations elsewhere, such as the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists or Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists, the Register is a mechanism for enforcing archaeological standards, particularly among the large numbers working in cultural resources management.

To be accepted into the RPA, applicants must hold a graduate degree in anthropological archaeology (or related discipline) from an accredited institution and have completed a thesis focused on an archaeological topic. Once approved, members who pay their annual dues are granted the title of Registered Professional Archaeologist (RPA), the initials of which are typically placed as post-nominal letters after their surname (e.g., Jane Doe, MA, RPA). This certifies that they meet the accepted training and experience to lead archaeological projects on their own (and are current with their annual membership). At the start of 2019, the RPA's directory contained 3012 RPAs worldwide, with 2811 located in the United States.^[1]

Aside from maintaining the Code of Conduct (below), the RPA also maintains a list of certified archaeological field schools, a database of archaeological ethics (e.g., codes adopted by other archaeological organizations), and adjudicates on member misconduct (a process called the "grievance procedure"). As discussed below, the grievance procedure is a mechanism for holding archaeologists accountable for their conduct in the field (triggered by complaint only).^[1]