Archaeological Principal Investigator
Technical editing and writing of archaeological reports.
Professional Archaeologist
Maybe all the archaeologists in your company are already buried in work. Perhaps you have just a little bit of cultural resources work now and then but not enough to hire an archaeologist. Or maybe your firm doesn’t provide cultural resource services at all, but you’d like to accommodate a long-term client.
My Qualifications
I can help. Here’s the short version of my qualifications. (Go to my About Me page if you’d like more details.)
- I meet the Secretary of the Interior’s standards for a principal investigator on archaeological projects.
- I earned my PhD in anthropology with a specialty in archaeology from the University of Chicago.
- I am Registered Professional Archaeologist 15236.
- I am currently permitted by the Utah Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office as a Principal Investigator (permit #36).
- I have credentials on file with State Historic Preservation Offices in multiple states.
File Searches and Literature Reviews
I don’t do fieldwork anymore. But I do a lot of cultural resource literature reviews and file searches. I prepare short memos detailing the results of my review or write longer reports that include a summary of the available literature relevant to the prehistory and history of your project area. These types of reports deal with sensitive archaeological data, so we’ll usually share information via a secure file-sharing site.
This type of work typically includes a review of publicly available data from numerous sources, when available and relevant to the project area:
- The National Register of Historic Places database
- Data maintained by the relevant State Historic Preservation Office, which typically includes previously identified sites, structures, and isolated finds; previously conducted projects; and properties on registers and lists maintained by the state
- General Land Office maps maintained by the Bureau of Land Management
- U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps
- Sanborn fire insurance maps
- Historic atlases, maps, and other files available from the Library of Congress
- Publicly available aerial imagery
- Other atlases, maps, imagery, or reports available online
Historic Contexts
Sometimes you have an archaeologist on staff, but you still need a little extra help. I can write a historic context for you, with very little guidance and oversight. We’ll work together so you have quality text that meets the needs of your project and the demands of your agency reviewer.