About Us
Statement of Qualifications | Structure, Objectives, and Coordination | Facilities | ASC Capabilities and Specialties | Staff
STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS
The Anthropological Studies Center (ASC) has been assisting environmental firms, non-profit organizations, private property owners, and government agency clients with cultural resources issues since 1974. ASC offers a proven team with the ability to undertake a wide range of complex cultural resources management tasks.
The ASC team is notable for the depth of its experience and training, with 17 salaried and hourly employees with M.A. or higher degrees. ASC senior staff includes 9 Registered Professional Archaeologists with specialties in prehistoric and historical archaeology.
Senior staff members are fully conversant with the requirements for cultural resources identification, evaluation, and mitigation under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). Since its founding in 1974, ASC has conducted hundreds of cultural resources inventories and evaluations for landowners, developers, and public agencies throughout California.
Read the complete Statement of Qualifications 2013 (1.7 MB PDF)
STRUCTURE, OBJECTIVES, AND COORDINATION
The Anthropological Studies Center (ASC) is composed of the Cultural Resources Facility (CRF), the David A. Fredrickson Archaeological Collections Facility (ACF), and the Office of Interpretive and Outreach Services (IOS). The functions of these offices include:
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The Cultural Resources Facility works on contract to federal, state, and local government agencies, as well as for private organizations and individuals. It contributes to the cost of operating the David A Fredrickson Archaeological Collections Facility, which houses archaeological materials from northern California as a public service and for scholarly research. The Collections Endowment Fund, set up in 1993 to provide for the long-term support of these artifacts, has already reached over $800,000.
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The Office of Interpretive and Outreach Services interprets archaeology, history, and the ethnography of native peoples of California to the general public by means of events, pamphlets, museum displays, videos, and presentations to school groups.
FACILITIES
ASC has nearly 10,000 square feet of well-equipped facilities. In addition to administrative and research workspaces, ASC maintains an Archaeological Laboratory for cleaning, sorting, cataloging, and photographing both prehistoric and historic archaeological collections. Our Computer Lab is continually upgraded for word processing, GIS/GPS, computer aided drawing, graphics production, and data analysis.
The Archaeological Collections Facility is the primary repository for San Francisco Bay Area and northwestern California artifact collections and associated documents. The Facility has completed a multi-year renovation and expansion to increase curation, laboratory, and research space.
topASC CAPABILITIES AND SPECIALTIES
ASC regularly undertakes all aspects of cultural resources planning and management as required under CEQA and Section 106, including:
- Records searches at the California Historical Resources Information Centers
- Historical documents research and oral history interviews
- Artifact identification and cataloging; faunal analysis
- Preparation of research designs, work plans, evaluation and mitigation plans
- Property inventory, evaluation, and data recovery
- Global Positioning System (GPS) recording of cultural resources properties and Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping and analysis
- Geoarchaeological analysis, predictive modeling, and testing
- Construction monitoring
- Coordination with government officials
- Consultation with Native American tribes
- Curation of prehistoric and historic archaeological collections
- Preparation of interpretive plans, museum exhibits, outreach literature, and Web sites. top
Our deep working knowledge of state and federal regulations coupled with solid scholarly research has earned ASC and its staff numerous awards: the American Society of Civil Engineers Award of Merit (1999), the California Governor’s Award for Historic Preservation (1999), Society for California Archaeology’s Thomas F. King Award in Cultural Resources Management (2003), and, the Society for California Archaeology’s Martin A. Baumhoff Special Achievement in Research Award (2006), and the SCA’s Harrington Award for preservation and public archaeology (2011).
For a partial list of government clients, click here.
Native American Consultation
ASC has long enjoyed a close working relationship with Native American communities in the California, as well as with the Native American Heritage Commission in Sacramento. ASC has partnered with local tribes on many occasions. The first effort was the Native American Advisory Council set up and coordinated by the ASC as a part of the Corps of Engineers' Warm Springs Dam–Lake Sonoma Project in the mid-1970s. In 2001-2002 ASC coordinated a training program that enabled members of three tribes to work alongside our staff in the inventory of the Lake Oroville project area conducted for California Department of Water Resources. ASC also conducts workshops for tribes on archaeology and historic preservation.
topGIS/GPS Capabilities
ASC maintains an up-to-date suite of electronic surveying equipment consisting of a Trimble Total Station and resource-grade GPS units, including Trimble GeoXH, GeoXT, and Juno handheld receivers. ASC can provide accurate, precise recording of cultural resources, with centimeter accuracy through the use of total stations and meter to sub-foot accuracy through the use of GPS receivers. Staff members have had extensive experience using these technologies during inventory surveys to evaluation and data recovery excavations for prehistoric and historic period sites throughout California.
ASC uses the latest ESRI ArcGIS software for analyzing artifact, feature, site, and regional level spatial data; preparing feature, site, project, and APE maps; developing site-predictive models based on environmental, cultural, geographical, and other variables; georeferencing historic maps to assist in identifying resources and potentially sensitive areas; and the developing cultural resource management databases for resource agencies. ASC staff also includes highly experienced graphics specialists who use Adobe and ESRI software packages for graphics preparation and report production.