Archaeological Services Inc.


Archaeological Services Inc. is the largest private archaeological and cultural heritage consulting company in Ontario, with offices in Toronto and Burlington. The company is a part of the Cultural Resource Management (CRM) industry.

History

In Ontario, all land development projects, from urban condominiums and housing subdivisions, to highway expansions and infrastructure projects, require heritage assessment and mitigation of impacts before approvals are granted. Archaeological Services Inc. was established in 1980 to assist development proponents in meeting these requirements. The company was founded by chief archaeologist and managing partner, Dr. Ronald F. Williamson, with Debbie Steiss, Dr. Robert MacDonald, Robert Pihl and Martin Cooper joining as partners in 2002.
The company began primarily with archaeological consultations but expanded to include a Cultural Heritage Division in the late 1990s; the services of that division now are: Built Heritage and Cultural Heritage Landscape Technical Services; Heritage Content Development and Planning; and Heritage Policy, Protocol, and Program Development. ASI's services include Environmental Assessment, Stage 1 and 2 Planning Act Assessment, Stage 3 and 4 Excavation, Geomatics, Predictive Modeling, Laboratory Services, Archaeological Management Plans and cemeteries.
The company ownership was transferred to a new generation of owners on October 1, 2016. The current managing partner is Dr. Robert MacDonald, who is joined by Dr. Katherine Hull, Lisa Merritt, Dr. Andrew Riddle, David Robertson and Rebecca Sciarra to form the leadership team. Dr. Ron Williamson and the original partners Martin Cooper, Robert Pihl and Deborah Steiss have retained an important advisory role within the company.
As of 2019, ASI employs approximately 67 full-time staff members and hires approximately 100 seasonal staff each field season. Most of the company's full-time archaeologists and many of the seasonal archaeologists are registered and licensed with the Ontario [Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport], adhering to the ministry's licensing guidelines for consultant archaeologists.

Public outreach

ASI is the only major Canadian archaeological consulting company to liaise on a regular basis with film and television producers, such as the History Channel, YAP Films and Ballinran Productions, for the production of popular historical documentaries, such as Death or Canada, Explosion 1812, Curse of the Axe, and Hangman's Graveyard, which feature ASI archaeological projects. ASI is also a major advocate for public outreach archaeology and works closely with Heritage Toronto, The City of Toronto, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto Museum Project and The University of Toronto to engage the public in Ontario's heritage.

Clients

ASI's clients have included the Federal Government of Canada, the Ontario Provincial Government, Regional and Municipal Governments, First Nations, Environmental and Engineering Consultants, Planning Consultants, Architectural and Legal Firms, Land Developers, Utilities and Museum and Heritage Organizations

Major publications

  • The Mantle Site: An Archaeological History of a Sixteenth Century Huron-Wendat Community, AltaMira Press, New York, 2012, 194p.
  • Toronto: A Short Illustrated History of its First 12,000 Years.. Lorimer Press, 2008. 128p.
  • The Archaeology of Bruce G. Trigger: Theoretical Empiricism., McGill-Queens University Press. 2006. Montreal, 291p.
  • Bones of the Ancestors: The Archaeology and Osteobiography of the Moatfield Ossuary. , Mercury Series Paper No. 163, Canadian Museum of Civilization. 2003. 351p and CD ROM.
  • Government on Fire: The History and Archaeology of Upper Canada's First Parliament Buildings. Toronto: eastendbooks, 2001. 118p.
  • Taming the Taxonomy: Toward a New Understanding of Great Lakes Archaeology. Proceedings of the Joint Symposium of the 1997 Ontario Archaeological Society and the Midwest Archaeological Conference, North York, Ontario. Toronto: eastendbooks, 1999, 416p.
  • The Archaeology of the Parsons Site: A Fifty Year Perspective.. Ontario Archaeology, Volume 65/66,, Toronto, 1998, 212p.
  • Legacy of Stone: Ancient Life on the Niagara Frontier. . Toronto: eastendbooks, 1998. 168p. Second Printing, 2000.
  • The Myers Road Site : A Prehistoric Iroquoian Village, Cambridge, Ontario,. Occasional Publication of the London Chapter, Ontario Archaeological Society, Number 7, London, 1998. 216p.
  • Death at Snake Hill: The History and Archaeology of a War of 1812 Cemetery. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1993. 158p.
  • Snake Hill: An Investigation of a Military Cemetery from the War of 1812. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1991. 443p.

Major projects