Since the creation of the National Register of Historic Places, determining eligibility for listing on it has become the fundamental process driving archaeology in the United States. This process affects how archaeological sites are identified, recorded, evaluated, and ultimately how they are protected. Yet less than 6% of properties on the National Register are archaeological sites. Although scholars often lament the rigidity of the National Register and its eligibility criteria, notable revisions in National Park Service guidance pave the way for important changes. One of the National Register's most pervasive and fundamental concepts—the historic context—remains deeply undertheorized when compared to more familiar terms like “significance” and “integrity.” In this article, we argue that archaeologists are well positioned to reinvigorate the National Register by using historic contexts as a mechanism for recognizing layered relationships to places. Using an example from the multivocal nomination of the Inscription Rock Archaeological District as a case study, we argue that the oft-neglected concept of the historic context can be used to commemorate multivocality, moving from one national history to the production of multivocal national histories.

自从国家史迹名录创建以来，确定是否有资格列入其名录已成为推动美国考古学的基本过程。这一过程会影响考古遗址的识别、记录、评估方式以及最终的保护方式。然而，国家名录中只有不到 6% 的财产是考古遗址。尽管学者们经常感叹国家登记册及其资格标准的僵化，但国家公园管理局指南中的显着修订为重要变化铺平了道路。与“重要性”和“完整性”等更熟悉的术语相比，国家登记册中最普遍和最基本的概念之一——历史背景——仍然缺乏理论基础。在本文中，我们认为，考古学家可以通过使用历史背景作为识别与地方的分层关系的机制来重振国家名录。以铭文岩考古区的多语种提名为例，我们认为历史背景这一经常被忽视的概念可以用来纪念多语性，从一个国家历史转向多语国家历史的产生。