Program for Avocational Archaeological Certification
  Commonly Asked Questions
Program Information
   

Program Description

   

Records & Certification

   

Certification Requirements

   

Provisional Surveyor

    Certified Surveyor I
      Certified Surveyor II
      Speciality Surveyor I - Archaeology and Public Education
      Speciality Surveyor II - Designation of Properties to the State or National Registers
      Speciality Surveyor III - Rock Art Studies
      Certified Laboratory Trainee
      Certified Laboratory Technician
      Additional Laboratory Credit
      PAAC Scholar
  Class Schedule
  Local PAAC Coordinators
  Summer Training Survey
  Code of Ethics
  Candidate Application (PDF)
  Local PAAC Seminar Program
  Class Descriptions with Course Outline, Bibliography & Glossary
 

Provisional Surveyor

  1. Attendance and completion of 4 courses.  Each course of 20-25 hours length will have a final exam.  Minimal passing grade is 70%.
    1. Introduction to Archaeology, CAS and PAAC

    2. Basic Site Surveying Techniques

    3. Colorado Archaeology

    4. Historical Archaeology

  1. Record four sites (two prehistoric and two historical).  Must use standard Colorado site inventory forms; 2 of the four sites should be previously unrecorded.
    1. Individuals intimidated by the site forms should accompany and observe a more experienced PAAC participant in the field before attempting the forms.  Alternatively, one may volunteer for the PAAC Summer Training Survey to receive more direct instruction on a professionally-supervised inventory, after successfully completing the Basic Site Surveying Techniques course.

    2. The State PAAC Coordinator keeps a file of at least two certification sites (1 historic and 1 prehistoric) for each participating chapter.  All people striving for certification under Provisional Surveyor will record these sites before recording two previously unrecorded sites.  Any variation from the standard four sites must be cleared through the State PAAC Coordinator.  Requests must be in writing.  Contact the State PAAC Coordinator for the locations and restrictions on the certification sites.

    3. No more than one person can be credited with recording a single site at one time.  One signature per site form.  Two people signing one form receive half credit each.  Two people working together must record a total of 8 sites to get sufficient individual credit for certification.  This should be cleared through the State PAAC Coordinator.

    4. Rough drafts of all site forms should be reviewed by the State PAAC Coordinator prior to the completion of the final inventory form.  To help with the completion of draft site forms, workshops will be held at the Colorado History Museum, 1300 Broadway, Denver in the spring of 2006. Specific dates will be announced early in 2006.  Contact the State Training Coordinator for more information.

    5. All final submissions of site forms will be typed or printed legibly in black ink.  A computer diskette to produce the final forms by word processing is available from the Colorado Historical Society.

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