Archeological sites are an important component to fostering a sense of our national identity and mutual experience. The Ottery Group strives to advance our understanding of the past through a research-oriented approach, considering the need for development as well as the requirements for understanding and conserving important cultural resources.

• Compliance Archeology
• Construction Monitoring
• Cemetery Removal Projects
• Forensic Archeology/Applied Archeology
• Public Education and Interpretation
• Archeological Resource Management on Contaminated Properties
• Project Management for Compliance-Related Studies

Cultural resource investigations for federally licensed or funded projects are generally required by Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, while cultural resource investigations for other types of development projects are typically required under state and local counterpart regulations. The Ottery Group provides a range of cultural resource management services for development projects. The Ottery Group's professional staff provides expert technical services to reconcile the conservation of cultural resources with the needs of federal, state, and local undertakings. The Ottery Group has the technical expertise to implement Phase I inventory, Phase II site evaluation, and Phase III mitigation and site treatment projects as required by the National Historic Preservation Act as well as state and local counterpart regulations. The Ottery Group staff have conducted numerous archeological investigations of all types for public and private clients throughout the eastern United States.

Occasionally, other types of investigations may be required:

Construction monitoring is generally conducted to monitor ground-disturbing activities taking place near known archeological sites. This is a very useful manner for preventing or limiting impacts to archeological sites during trenching operations that impact a relatively small volume of soil, but are located within close proximity to known archeological sites. Construction monitoring can be a cost-effective alternative to the more expensive and time-consuming effort involved in performing archeological data recovery projects, and has been used for waterline and sewer installation and during the laying of fiber-optic cable.

The Ottery Group has experience in locating, recording, and mapping historic cemeteries, including the locations of individual graves and architectural elements. The Ottery Group staff have also provided oversight during the excavation and removal of cemeteries prior to development of the parcel.

Several team members have an interest and various levels of work experience in areas of applied archeology, including the recovery of the remains of U.S. servicemen listed as MIA from aircraft crash sites, and the recovery of material and human remains from crime scenes.

The Ottery Group has designed and implemented public education programs involving archeology and has conducted interpretive projects for museums, historic foundations, and other interested parties. The firm's senior staff are routinely invited to serve as guest lecturers or speakers at community events. Most of our technical staff are active in professional organizations and routinely present papers at professional meetings.

As a full-service environmental firm, The Ottery Group staff has regularly been consulted on issues related to the protection of archeological sites prior to the remediation of contaminated properties. Most often the Scope of Work during remediation of contamination involves the on-site monitoring of ground-disturbing activities during the removal of contaminated soils and the decontamination of recovered artifacts based on the type of contaminants present at the site. Archeological staff performing such activities meet the OSHA-required 40-hour hazardous site worker health and safety training with annual re-certification.

The Ottery Group is regularly contracted to provide project management and oversight for compliance-related investigations. In once instance, The Ottery Group provided a client with Scope of Work statements developed in conjunction with project review staff at various State Historic Preservation Offices for dissemination to consultants to prepare bids for the work. More often, this type of work involves coordinating the cultural resource compliance component within the context of large multi-disciplinary NEPA projects (Environmental Assessments and Environmental Impact Statements, or state-level equivalents). In these cases, The Ottery Group has managed the cultural resources investigations, prepared the report sections summarizing the consultant reports and recommendations, and coordinated the cultural resource components with project managers and legal staff responsible for the overall NEPA documentation effort.

 
Archeology Brochure