Emergency Archaeology
Brockington’s Emergency Services Division is a team of archaeology and history specialists dedicated to providing our clients with state-of-the-art tools to prepare for and respond to disasters. A disaster-- whether a hurricane, tornado, flood, fire or vandalism-- can destroy or damage known and unknown historic buildings and archaeological sites. To assist recovery from such a disaster, we offer several services to state and federal agencies, municipalities, and individuals to prepare for and recover from natural or other disasters.
Brockington can provide our clients with the following:
- ARPA workshops and training seminars,
- Individual case-by-case ARPA violation investigations
- Structural and/or collections assessment reports, including evaluations of threats and high priority areas,
- Disaster preparedness and response workshops and training seminars,
- A written Disaster Plan tailored to your institution or company needs,
- HAZUS predictive models for earthquake effect, resource databases,
- Photo and video documentation of facility, site, and cultural resources, and
- Documentation and stabilization of archaeological and/or archival collections.
We also provide Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) workshops and training seminars as well as individual case-by-case ARPA violation investigations. The workshops and training seminars are designed to teach staff members about archaeological resources types, ARPA and other cultural resource regulations, and site damage assessment techniques. These workshops are appropriate for US Army Corps of Engineers staff, local game wardens, fish and wildlife personnel, park rangers and many others.
ARPA violation investigations on federal land require that we respond within 24 hours of the violation to assess the damage to the archaeology site, to estimate what portions have been vandalized, and to evaluate the significance of the removed materials. Additionally, if necessary, Brockington can consult with any appropriate Native American groups and State Historic Preservation Offices. Investigating archaeologists are available to provide expert testimony as necessary.
In the event of a disaster, our staff has the experience and the resources to quickly deploy to the scene to coordinate the documentation and assessment of damage to historic resources. All members of the Brockington Disaster Response Team are certified in first aid and CPR and trained in the federal Incident Command System (ICS). All members meet or exceed OSHA requirements for First Responder, Respirator use and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and Hazwoper Occasional Site Worker. Our staff is further trained in environmental monitoring and control for archives or research spaces, pest management, and mold or fungi identification. We use best practices for mitigation of the facility or site post-disaster to complete salvage and stabilization of all recoverable materials. Brockington will also provide post-disaster assessments for insurance purposes.
Drawing on all the resources available at Brockington to address your site-specific needs, Brockington is dedicated to providing the resources and personnel required to prepare your site, institution, structure, or collection to weather the storm.
Jeff Gardner conducts an ARPA investigation at West Point Lake, Alabama (1CH143).
Archaeologists Steve RabbySmith and Robert Price prepare blueprints and historic maps for archival curation at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.
