Our Mission

• To learn archaeological and historical facts, and processes of cultural change, interaction, and evolution;
• To report our findings to professional colleagues and participate in scholarly and scientific dialogs;
• To use our special knowledge to help individuals understand their shared past and live more fulfilled lives, and to help cultures and peoples of the world build successful and peaceful futures;
• To advocate for cultural heritage preservation, study, interpretation, and education;
• To treat our employees, our clients, our colleagues, and our fellow citizens with respect; and
• To contribute to our clients’ success.

Letter from Paul Brockington

In our early days, we talked a lot about what kind of company we wanted to have. We had all worked at universities and at independent firms, and we had seen things we liked and things we didn't like. First, we knew we had to strive for excellence in everything we did: field work, analyses, and reports. We knew we had to be honest at all times with ourselves and with our clients; our work and our recommendations had to have integrity. We also dedicated ourselves to focusing on the needs of our clients, both short term needs and long term needs. If a client's needs turned out to be in slight conflict with our needs, we had to be sure we put the client first. This sounds simple and obvious, but we all knew institutions and firms that considered their clients just to be funding sources for research and study the firms were interested in.

I think we have really incorporated these basic principles into our company culture. We really do think about these principles, and we still talk about how important they are to us. We all think that this philosophy is the basis for the growth and success we have enjoyed over the last 18 years.

We have tried hard to make the company a great place for our people, so that everyone can feel proud of his and her work, but still have fun. We have tried to be fair to all our staff, to have good salaries and wages, and to provide benefits to all employees. We are proud that we have full time field and lab technicians, and that so many of our staff have gone off to graduate school and returned to us with advanced degrees.

One of the company's strong goals is to push to innovate and then to incorporate useful ideas. We have to get better, all the time. We are always evaluating new technology that might assist us and make us more effective. We were early adopters of cell phones and PDAs for all project managers; now we email photos from the field to the office using telephones and their built in cameras. We carry out routine teleconferences between offices. But we also use mechanical screens to speed the sifting of excavated soils. Laboratory work uses computers, databases, and networking. GIS use has spread to virtually all projects. Financial management systems have also been evolved to provide more useful information, faster, and with less tedious input work.

Even better, we work to innovate how we organize our field and lab work, how we present our reports, and what consultation services we provide. We have worked hard in recent years to develop a public involvement program, focusing especially on tribal consultation. Our History Workshop program, launched last year, formalizes a long term interest in public education and interpretation. We have several new ideas we are working on right now. Keep watching our News section!

Finally, we have always believed that we have a duty to the resources to preserve and manage them well. We strongly support university and agency programs by speaking and lobbying to help them with these missions. Another duty is to report to the profession and to the public the findings and contributions of our scientific and scholarly work. Our staff members have served as officers and board members of numerous councils, societies, and professional organizations. We present formal papers and organize symposia at professional meetings, we talk to amateur groups and clubs, and we work frequently with teachers and students through presentations, workshops, and curriculum programs. We believe we can help the world by supporting interest in history, archaeology, and cultural heritage, and we aim to make this happen.

Paul Brockington
President

Field Technician James Page adjusts the Total Station laser transit. We use laser transits to accurately map sites and excavation locations.

Senior Project Manager Christy Pritchard meets with state and community leaders at the dedication of the Mount Olive Cemetery in Clarksville, Tennessee. The cemetery serves as the final resting place for a number of Civil War Colored Troops.

Historian Patricia Stallings examines building locations on USGS maps. After field survey, records checks, and map analysis, our historians encode all recorded data into GIS databases.