Ha Leem Ro and Frank Matero
Abstract
Cultural heritage is increasingly at risk from climate change, yet translating climate threats into actionable strategies remains a challenge for site managers, who often lack the time, resources, data, and technical expertise to develop practical responses. This project presents the case study of Wupatki Pueblo, the largest free-standing Ancestral Puebloan structure in northern Arizona, to demonstrate how a data-driven, index-based approach can bridge the gap between climate research and day-to-day archaeological site management.
Our methodology adapts the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s definition of vulnerability, combining exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity, into an operational tool for cultural resources. In contrast to the prevailing National Park Service (NPS) practice of excluding adaptive capacity from vulnerability assessments, this study argues for its inclusion, highlighting management preparedness and institutional capacity as critical determinants of resilience. By integrating empirical data (e.g., on-site weather station monitoring, historical climate records, and condition surveys) with expert and local knowledge, we developed a scoring system that quantifies vulnerability across four architectural units at Wupatki Pueblo: North and South Pueblos, the Community Room, and the Ballcourt.
This index-based framework offers three key innovations: (1) it translates multidisciplinary data into comparable, actionable vulnerability scores; (2) it embeds “vulnerability-thinking” into routine preservation workflows, reducing reliance on external assessments; and (3) it allows for iterative updates, enabling site managers to track changes, evaluate the effectiveness of interventions, and adapt strategies as climate conditions evolve.
The results of this pilot application underscore both the power and limitations of quantification. While scoring remains partially subjective, the approach provides a replicable model for prioritizing stabilization efforts, aligning resource allocation with highest-risk features, and strengthening long-term resilience planning. This case study ultimately seeks to advance vulnerability assessment as a practical tool for archaeological site management, offering a scalable, cost-effective model for other heritage sites facing climate uncertainty.