Archaeological Impact Assessment Guidelines
Appendix A (Part 2 of 3): Guidelines for Report
Content
Impact Assessment Report
The title page should include:
- the official project name and location,
- the type of archaeological resource assessment,
- the number of the permit or ministerial order
under which the research activities were authorized,
if applicable,
- the name and address of the agency for which the
report was prepared,
- the report date, and
- the author's signature and title.
The credit sheet should contain the names, addresses
and professional affiliations of the principal
contributors to the overview study including:
- the director or supervisor,
- researchers, and
- report author.
The management summary should contain a brief
overview of the study. Important findings and major
recommendations should be emphasized.
The table of contents should be arranged in
accordance with the sequence of topical headings and
their corresponding page numbers.
All figures, tables and appendices should be
referenced by title and page number, and listed
according to the order in which they appear in the text
of the report.
The introduction should include:
- the proponent's name and general nature of the
project,
- the objective and scope of the impact
assessment,
- the persons conducting the assessment and the
kinds of professional expertise involved,
- the dates and duration of the study, and
- the organizational format of the report.
This section should contain a progress report on
project planning. Engineering plans, photos and other
illustrative materials should be used to discuss:
- project design planning and archaeological
resource assessment to date,
- any changes in the original project design or in
the level of development,
- precise boundaries of the project area including
locations of all ancillary activities and
facilities,
- the projected extent and level of land
alteration or disturbance, and
- project scheduling.
This section should contain a brief description of
the project area. Emphasis should be placed on relating
the project area to the natural and cultural
environments. The area of project impact may have been
sufficiently described in the overview report, in which
case a brief summary of and proper reference to the
document will suffice. Description of the project area
should include:
- biophysical features such a physiography,
drainage, fauna, and flora,
- a discussion of past and present ecological
conditions that bear upon human settlement and land
use,
- past and present land use practices
- the condition of the land, particularly the
extent of alteration from agricultural activity,
forest harvesting, or other intensive land uses, and
- weather conditions and patterns, particularly as
they relate to or affect the conduct and scheduling
of fieldwork.
The basic research plan and the precise methods and
equipment used to implement the plan should be outlined
in this section. Each assessment activity (inventory,
site evaluation, and impact identification and
assessment) should be described individually. The
discussions should include:
- a thorough account of the sampling design,
particularly sample selection and size,
- the rationale underlying any stratification of
the project area according to the archaeological
potential, and the level of survey intensity in
these strata,
- the number of surveyors, the manner in which
they were deployed over the survey area including
distance intervals and direction of travel, and the
amount of time spent surveying any one area,
- location of areas exempt from survey,
- where and how often subsurface testing was
employed, and the particular techniques or practices
used including test frequency, interval spacing and
unit dimensions,
- site recording practices, and
- sources consulted in designing the site
inventory strategy.
- information sources used such as evaluative
testing, surface collecting, direct consultation and
documentary research,
- evaluative testing procedures including unit
sampling or selection, test frequency, unit
dimensions, mapping, recording and data recovery
practices,
- surface collecting procedures including sampling
design, recording and collection practices,
- the process used to derive a measure of relative
site significance including the system of ranking or
weighting various significance criteria and the
rationale underlying the process,
- the kinds of professional expertise involved.
- how project impacts were identified, and
- the process used to assess impacts on
archaeological resources including assessment
criteria, their relative weighting, and the
rationale underlying the process.
This section should contain results of the
archaeological site inventory including:
- maps showing areas surveyed, including the
locations of survey transects and subsurface tests,
as well as the ranking of archaeological site
potential where appropriate,
- maps showing all recorded archaeological sites
in relation to the proposed project,
- the number of archaeological sites recorded and
the total anticipated in the project area,
- a brief narrative or tabular description of each
site including present condition and use,
distinguishing features, and its general
relationship to the regional environment and
cultural setting,
- a qualitative and quantitative summary of all
cultural material or features observed or collected,
- an interpretation of the archaeological resource
inventory including observed spatial patterning of
sites in the project area, temporal, functional and
contextual characteristics, and comparisons with
other local or regional resources,
- an explanation of negative results, such as
where and why archaeological sites were absent in
areas suspected of having moderate to high resource
potential, and
- any further predictions concerning potential
resource variability, density, distribution and
importance in the project area.
The relative significance of each evaluated site
should be present here. The discussion should include:
- specific criteria used to measure relative site
significance,
- site-specific assessments in tabular form, and
- a map illustrating archaeological sites of high,
medium, and low significance in relation to the
proposed project.
This section should contain a comprehensive statement
of impacts and a thorough assessment of their
level-of-effect. An impact matrix relating development
actions to recorded archaeological resources is
recommended. The impact assessment should include:
- a map of the project delineating areas of direct
and indirect impact, and showing all recorded
archaeological sites,
- impacts which have occurred to date from
exploration, engineering and other feasibility
studies,
- the level of effect of project impacts on
archaeological values,
- areas of uncertainty regarding the impact
assessment,
- a schedule relating the timing of impacts to
development stages, and
- impacts and the rate of resource depletion
expected without the proposed project.
This section should contain a critical evaluation of
the impact assessment study. The discussion should
address:
- the accuracy of overview predictions regarding
archaeological resource density, distribution,
variety and significance in the project area,
- the suitability of the inventory strategy and
site survey techniques employed, and the level of
confidence that can be placed on the survey results,
- the suitability and reliability of the site
evaluation and impact assessment methods employed,
- the relationship between the results and the
stated objectives of the assessment study, including
problem-oriented research objectives if applicable,
and
- appropriate research goals, objectives or
opportunities for any subsequent archaeological
studies in the project area.
The proponent's recommendations for managing
unavoidable adverse impacts on archaeological sites are
presented here. Mitigation measures should be
recommended for each impacted site. Recommendations
should be presented in sufficient detail to allow the
Branch to comment on their appropriateness. This section
should also include:
- a reference to those archaeological sites which
can be avoided by project design modifications,
- a discussion of the process used to select an
impact management action from among various possible
alternative actions for any specific site,
- justification for not recommending site-specific
action,
- archaeological compensation recommendations, and
- recommendations or a tentative schedule for
conducting surveillance and/or monitoring during
project implementation and operation.
A comprehensive list of all literary sources cited in
the report such as publications, documents and records
should be presented in this section. The reference list
should also include names and dates of all personal
communications.
A variety of items should be appended to the report
including:
- a copy of the consultant's terms of reference
for the impact assessment study,
- appropriate tables, charts, graphs, maps, photos
and other supportive materials, and
- a list of all recorded archaeological sites,
referenced by their appropriate "Borden" number and
arranged according to either adverse impact or no
adverse impact.
A detailed proposal for implementing mitigation or
compensation studies may also be appended to the report.
However, the proposal may require supervision if
deficiencies in the report are identified.
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