Information Bulletin Number 19 - February 14, 2007
Minimum Content and Format Requirements for Recording Archaeological
Sites
The Province, through the Archaeology Branch, maintains an inventory of records for archaeological sites protected under the
Heritage Conservation Act. The information necessary to record archaeological sites is detailed in the
British Columbia Archaeological Site
Inventory Form Guide 
[2.5mb] and requires the use of the
British Columbia Archaeological Site
Inventory Form
[336kb]. This bulletin contains the minimum information needed to submit site information to the Province by:
- qualified professional consulting archaeologists working under permit
- the general public
- archaeological researchers submitting information outside of the permitting process
Recording Archaeological Sites under a Heritage Conservation Act Permit
Archaeological site recording using the site form and site form guide is a standard condition of a Heritage Conservation Act permit. All site form fields must be addressed and all requirements in the site form guide met to satisfy permitting conditions.
Alternatives to these recording requirements must be specifically addressed as an additional condition of permit.
Archaeological Site Information Submitted by the General Public The Archaeology Branch encourages archaeological site information to be submitted for the British Columbia Archaeological Site Inventory. Observations regarding individual sites may be reported to the Branch. Archaeological Site Inventory staff will assist in the required site documentation. The Archaeology Branch can be contacted at
(250) 953-3334. Contact information for specific staff members is available on our website.New Site Record Requirements for Non-permitted Submissions by Archaeological Researchers
In an increasing number of cases, work outside the permitting process is
resulting in the compilation of archaeological site records for
previously unrecorded sites. To facilitate protection of these sites, these records should form part of the provincial site inventory. However, these records must meet minimum content and format standards to be entered into the inventory. These minimum standards ensure that enough information is contained in the site record to form a basis for appropriate archaeological resource management action. Minimum standards focus on knowing the size and location of the site, the accuracy of this spatial information and a cursory description of the site type and contents. Further, the Branch can only accept these records if:
- The site location and type has been recently confirmed by field observation
- They are for sites automatically protected by the Heritage Conservation Act, Section 13
- The information is sent as ESRI shapefiles (at least ArcView 3.2 required) accompanied by required site maps or orthophotography
Submission content and format requirements may be found in
Appendix A .
Researcher Submissions Requirements for Additional Information to be added to Existing Site Records
Updating information for site records previously recorded in the British Columbia Archaeological Site Inventory is discussed on page 21 of the
British Columbia
Archaeological Site Inventory Form Guide
[2.5mb].
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