Information Bulletin Number 17 - Revised May 23, 2007

Field Director Qualifications

The Archaeology Branch’s “Operational Procedures – Heritage Permits” describes the criteria the branch expects a permit holder (or field director if different from the permit holder) to meet when conducting work that is authorized under a resource management permit, i.e., heritage inspection permits for archaeological impact assessments and heritage investigation permits for systematic data recovery. The purpose of this bulletin is to clarify the requirements for a field director who is not the permit holder. In this context, a field director is defined as the person authorized by the permit holder to direct the permitted work in the field so that appropriate expertise is available to make key methodological decisions, e.g., shovel test sampling, the need to excavate evaluative units, the need to screen excavated soils.

For an individual who is a field director but not the permit holder, the following requirements and conditions apply:

Requirements

• MA degree in archaeology, or anthropology with a specialty in archaeology, or BA degree with an equivalent combination of post-graduate training and experience (exceptions may be considered upon request to the branch);
• experience in archaeological resource management (approx. 360 working days) that includes approximately 40 days supervising archaeological impact assessments in the general culture area for which the permit is sought (e.g., Northwest Coast, Interior Plateau, Sub-Arctic/Boreal Forest);
• experience conducting archaeological excavations (approx. 60 working days) that includes approximately 20 days supervising the systematic recovery of data (heritage investigation permits only);
• When calculating the above noted 40 days experience supervising AIAs, days during which a supervisor is in the field in the presence of a permit holder or field director may be counted provided: 1) the supervisor is in charge of the crew, 2) the permit holder or field director is acting in a mentoring capacity only (i.e. providing guidance, advice and correction as necessary), and 3) the number of training days will be reported in interim reports.

Conditions

• All fieldwork being conducted under a Heritage Conservation Act permit must be directed by the permit holder and/or authorized field directors who are present at at least one of the locations where work is being conducted under their direction, on the day it is being conducted. Permit holders and/or field directors must be able to reach every one of the fieldwork locations they are directing on the day the work is being done. That is, if a field director is directing work at, for example, four locations, on a given day, he or she must be present at least one of those, and must be able to visit all four on that day, not just any one of the remaining three.

The Archaeology Branch will consider exceptions to these requirements that would allow a permit holder or field director to direct work at more than one location under more than one permit, if the permit holder can demonstrate that adequate direction will be provided (for example because the project locations are close together and/or because key methodological decisions are not likely to be required at some locations).

Please see the detailed rationale  [37kb] for the above changes to Conditions.

• permit reports (interim and final) must describe how the field director(s) participated in the fieldwork on a day-by-day and project-by-project basis;
• in cases where a permit application provides for the addition or replacement of a field director(s), the permit holder must submit a written request to the branch archaeologist responsible for the permit file for a change in field director(s), and must include information demonstrating how the new field director(s) meets the above noted academic and experiential qualifications;
• a permit amendment, involving referral to a First Nation(s), is required in cases where the application does not provide for the addition or replacement of a field director(s), and a change in field director(s) is required;

The use of unapproved field directors is a breach of permit, and may affect the permit holder’s ability to hold future permits, as well as the branch’s ability to provide impact management direction to the permit holder’s client(s).