PAAC Summer Training Survey
Each year the Office of the State Archaeologist of Colorado (OSAC) sponsors an archaeological inventory ("survey") on a parcel of state property, typically during the June-August period when few classes are scheduled. The purposes of the survey are to provide field training in surveying techniques for PAAC volunteers, applicable toward certification requirements, and to help OSAC meet its statutory obligations to inventory land within Colorado. Previously undocumented archaeological and historical sites are discovered during the inventory, and added to OSAC’s data base for use in future research. 
Field training involves
hiking across undeveloped lands in search of artifacts and features
more than fifty years old. When such sites are discovered, volunteers
are instructed in the production of sketch maps, filling out standard
recording forms, plotting site locations on topographic maps, artifact
illustration, etc. Credit toward certification is earned for the
days spent under professional supervision (Certified Surveyor I),
and for each site form which volunteers complete following the inventory
(Provisional Surveyor). Final technical reports on the summer surveys held at Pike’s Stockade in Conejos County and Hermit Park in Larimer County describe the training survey program in greater detail as well as providing interpretations of the results of the inventories. |
