PaleoWest

Dr. Todd Bostwick Joins PaleoWest

2010-12-15T01:28:28Z

Phoenix, Arizona – Recently retired Phoenix City Archaeologist Dr. Todd Bostwick joined the archaeological consulting firm PaleoWest on November 16.

Dr. Bostwick had served for 21 years as the Archaeologist for the city whose very name references its prehistoric past. In his post at Pueblo Grande Museum, he created and administered a comprehensive, City-wide archaeology compliance program while serving as the National Park Service’s coordinator for the Pueblo Grande National Historic Landmark.

According to Dale Larson, head of the City of Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department, Dr. Bostwick has “represented the department and the city with the highest level of professionalism and service. The Todd Bostwick Legacy will continue to be a vivid reminder of his genuine accomplishments on behalf of the historic and prehistoric resources of the park, museum and the city.”

“As a consulting archaeologist, I’ve worked under Todd’s innovative City program for two decades,” explained PaleoWest President Tom Motsinger. “He’s an outstanding research archaeologist and historian. But moreover, his style as City Archaeologist has been that of a creative pragmatist when it comes to balancing archaeology with other public concerns. This makes him a terrific fit for PaleoWest, and we’re delighted to welcome him to our firm.”

Holding both a Masters in Anthropology and a Ph.D. in History from Arizona State University, Dr. Bostwick has served as Faculty Associate at Arizona State University for seven years and at Northern Arizona University for five years. He has authored and co-authored a host of professional articles and books on Southwestern archaeology, archaeoastronomy, and history. Dr. Bostwick also served as the general editor for more than 25 volumes of the Pueblo Grande Museum Anthropological Papers and Occasional Papers series.

Dr. Bostwick’s work on Pueblo Grande’s prehistoric platform mound earned him two awards from the National Park Service. His service also twice garnered him the City Manager’s Excellence Award. And in 2005, he was singled out for the Arizona Governor’s Award in Public Archaeology.

Dr. Bostwick will serve as Senior Research Archaeologist for PaleoWest. He can be reached at tbostwick@paleowest.com.

Welcome to PaleoWest Archaeology

2010-12-13T17:37:15Z

PaleoWest Archaeology is dedicated to solution-driven cultural-resource consulting. We work on behalf of clients who need their projects shepherded through the regulatory challenges posed by prehistoric, historic, and ethnographic resources.

PaleoWest is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona with offices in Denver, Colorado, Flagstaff, Arizona, and Casper, Wyoming. Built in 2006, the firm has already carried out over 400 archaeological projects in 13 states. The firm’s work has gained the trust of government agencies such as the Department of the Army, Department of Energy, USDA Forest Service, National Park Service, and the Bureau of Land Management.

PaleoWest also serves a wide variety of private-sector clients in Architecture and Engineering, traditional and alternative energy development, land development, mining and exploration, and related industries.

Welcome to the PaleoWest blog and website. Our highly experienced team is here to serve you.

The Services

2010-12-07T20:45:53Z

PaleoWest provides state-of-the-art archaeology consulting services to plan your project around archaeological sites, historic properties, traditional cultural properties, and other cultural resource constraints.

Our approach is creative and professional, and our extensive experience and connections with regulatory agencies and tribes allow us to navigate you around potential pitfalls. If constraints are unavoidable, our experience and creativity ensure that your project stays on track. Our services include:

Consultation under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act
Archaeological surveys and cultural resource inventories
Ethnographic consultation
National Register eligibility assessments
Archaeological testing
Archaeological excavation, materials processing, cartography, analysis, and reporting
Planning for compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act
Planning for compliance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, and other federal, state and local regulations.
EA and EIS support for National Environmental Policy Act compliance.
Expert witness testimony

Accelerate the Project Permitting Process

PaleoWest has the most expert, creative and respected archaeology consultants in the Intermountain West and Southwest who understand that it’s all about keeping projects moving forward. Our cultural-resource professionals accelerate the project permitting process while they work with you to resolve potential conflicts and constraints related to cultural-resource regulatory compliance.

Consultation Under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act

PaleoWest Archaeology is interested in helping to preserve historic properties while supporting project progress. Many of our clients’ projects require consultation under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. Our balanced approach on progress and preservation helps resolve most conflicts before they materialize and mitigate conflicts that do arise. That’s where our unique experience helps clients succeed.

Archaeology and Related Consulting Services

PaleoWest provides a full range of professional archaeology, anthropology and historical consulting services. Our team is both experienced and fully up-to-date with the latest technologies to get the work done quickly and productively. For instance, our field staff uses iPad tablet computers to incorporate locational, descriptive, photographic, and cartographic archaeological site data when recording sites in the field. Synced from the field into PaleoWest’s central server, this iPad-based system then outputs agency-customized site forms and the narrative portions of survey reports. This proprietary data-collection system has reduced site-recording time in the field by 40 percent, eliminated transcription errors, and streamlined report production, site-card preparation, and cartographic drafting time.

The Successes

2010-12-07T20:46:43Z

PaleoWest consistently provides outstanding professional archaeological, ethnographic, and historical consulting services that establish compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act and other regulations. We provide precise, meticulous, error-free, timely, creative, budget-conscious, and cost-effective archaeology services that get the job done. Please read some example success stories that illustrate how we work.

Lake Powell Pipeline – Arizona Strip, AZ

Overland Pass Gas Pipeline Monitoring – Rawlins and Laramie, WY

North Rim Roost Survey – Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

Willow Lake Site Excavations – Prescott, AZ

U.S. Forest Service Region 3 On-Call Services – Arizona and New Mexico

The Team

2012-03-02T00:11:59Z

PaleoWest was founded on the principle of providing the very best cultural-resource consultants to our clients. We pride ourselves on being the most creative team of problem-solvers in the business.

Following is highlighted the expertise of our most senior and valued staff members. Full vitae of these professionals are available upon request, as is additional information on the remainder of PaleoWest’s extensive stable of technical and administrative support staff.

Tom Motsinger, M.A., RPA
President and Senior Archaeologist

Tom Motsinger founded PaleoWest after he spent 25 years providing archaeology consulting services. He carries an unsurpassed understanding of national cultural regulations and how to apply them to meet our clients’ needs. Tom has successfully managed some of the largest and most complex archaeology projects in the U.S. His direct experience in archaeology and regulatory consulting has been extensive in the Four Corners states, Nevada, Wyoming, and California, though he also carries expertise in other western states, Hawaii, and overseas.

As an archaeologist, Tom has published scientific articles in professional archaeological journals such as Kiva and Journal of Field Archaeology, contributed chapters to edited volumes for major publishers, and co-edited such volumes himself. This combination of scientific credentials, business acumen, and proven success in solution-oriented consulting were poured as the foundation of PaleoWest and continue to guide the firm’s approach.

Tom currently serves on the Board of Directors for the American Cultural Resources Association, the national trade organization for cultural-resource firms.

Douglas R. Mitchell, M.A., RPA
Vice President – Southwest Region

Before joining PaleoWest as a Principal and Partner in 2008, Doug Mitchell had served as the Director of Arizona Cultural Resources at Phoenix-based SWCA Environmental Consultants, where he had spent 16 years building their Phoenix and Arizona-wide archaeology programs.

A Registered Professional Archaeologist and noted expert on the prehistoric cultures of Arizona and the American Southwest, Mitchell has authored numerous articles for scientific journals such as American Antiquity, Journal of Field Archaeology, Journal of Archaeological Science, North American Archaeologist, and Kiva and has contributed chapters or served as editor for several books on the archaeology of the Southwest. From 1985 to 1992, he directed archaeological projects for Soil Systems, Inc., including important ones at Pueblo Grande and other large Hohokam villages along what is now Phoenix’s Loop 202 Freeway.

A past President of the Arizona Archaeological Council, Mitchell serves as Vice President – Southwest Region for PaleoWest in our Phoenix, Arizona headquarters.

Kevin Thompson, M.A., RPA
Vice President – Rocky Mountain Region

Kevin Thompson brings more than 30 years of high-level experience in cultural resource management across the western United States and the Pacific to PaleoWest’s Denver office. He has focused on complex, multi-year, multi-state projects demanding substantial managerial oversight. His lengthy record of success for clients includes the $14 million Animas-La Plata Water Storage Project in Colorado, the Entrega/REX pipeline and the Exxon LaBarge Project across Wyoming, and several large environmental impact statements.

Before joining PaleoWest as a Principal and Partner in 2010, Kevin served in senior roles for 11 years at SWCA Environmental Consultants, including Corporate Director of Cultural Resources, Energy Business Line Corporate Principal, and Managing Principal for the Rocky Mountain Region. The Denver/Rocky Mountain Region of SWCA grew from Kevin’s founding of it to an $8 million annual operation during his tenure.

Kevin has authored scientific articles, technical documents, and professional peer-reviewed papers concerning the archaeology of the Northern Colorado River Basin and the Intermountain West. Thompson has been an instructor for classes in anthropology and archaeology in both field and laboratory settings for the University of Colorado, Colorado State University, Colorado College, and Western Wyoming College. He has also served as the Executive Director of Western Public Research, a not-for-profit entity overseeing the operation of the Natural History Museum, the Archaeological Repository, and the Herbarium at Western Wyoming College.

Kevin now serves as Vice President – Rocky Mountain Region out of our Denver, Colorado office.

Cory D. Breternitz, M.A., RPA
Principal and Senior Archaeologist

Cory Breternitz is the founder and former President of Soil Systems, Inc (SSI). Its staff and expertise absorbed into PaleoWest in 2009, SSI was a 25-year-old archaeological consulting firm that enjoyed one of the finest reputations for scientifically outstanding archaeology in the American Southwest. Under Cory’s direction, SSI’s projects included paradigm-shifting excavations across the Hohokam core villages in Phoenix, including Pueblo Grande, La Lomita, La Lomita Pequena, and Grand Canal Ruin, as well as the comprehensive East Papago Canal Study that rewrote our understanding of North America’s largest ancient irrigation system. Cory’s and SSI’s work also ranged across other Four Corners states, including the multi-year Ute Mountain Ute Excavations in southwestern Colorado.

Author of a multitude of professional publications centered on various aspects of archaeology, Cory has been a Board member and Past President of the American Cultural Resources Association, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Society for American Archaeology. Following the merger of SSI into PaleoWest, Cory serves as Senior Archaeologist in our Phoenix office.

Dr. Todd Bostwick
Senior Research Archaeologist

Prior to joining PaleoWest in 2010, Dr. Bostwick served for 21 years in the prestigious position of City Archaeologist for Phoenix, the city whose very name references its prehistoric past. In his post at Pueblo Grande Museum, he created and administered a comprehensive, city-wide archaeology compliance program while serving as the National Park Service’s coordinator for the Pueblo Grande National Historic Landmark.

Dr. Bostwick has served as Faculty Associate at Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University in recent years. He has authored and co-authored a host of professional articles and books on Southwestern archaeology, archaeoastronomy, and history. Dr. Bostwick also served as the general editor for more than 25 volumes of the Pueblo Grande Museum Anthropological Papers and Occasional Papers series of Hohokam-focused publications.

Dr. Bostwick’s work on Pueblo Grande’s prehistoric platform mound earned him two awards from the National Park Service. His service also twice garnered him the Phoenix City Manager’s Excellence Award. And in 2005, he was singled out for the Arizona Governor’s Award in Public Archaeology.

Dr. James Potter
Senior Research Archaeologist

Holding a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley and a Ph.D. fromArizona State University, Dr. Potter came to PaleoWest from SWCA in 2011,where he had served as a Principal Investigator since 1997. Among his research and managerial accomplishments was his success as the Principal Investigator of the complex and archaeologically high-profile Animas-La Plata Cultural Resources Project in southwest Colorado. The 7-year, $14 million NHPA compliance project included the excavation of 73 archaeological sites, NHPA and Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act consultation with 26 Native American tribes, extensive public outreach, and Native American student internship and archaeological training programs. The project was completed on-time and on-budget in 2010.

Dr. Potter has authored and coauthored numerous book-length monographs. Besides publishing the multi-volume ALP report series, he has also published articles in American Antiquity, Kiva, and the Journal of Field Archaeology,
and is co-editor of The Social Construction of Communities: Structure, Agency,and Identity in the Prehispanic Southwest, published by AltaMira Press in 2008.

Dennis Gilpin, M.A., RPA
Senior Archaeologist, Ethnographer, and Historian

Dennis Gilpin carries more than 30 years of experience with all phases of archaeology. He has directed archaeological testing and data recovery at Paleo-Indian, Archaic, Pueblo, Navajo, and Euroamerican sites. He is particularly adept with Archaic period archaeology, Pueblo architecture, prehistoric agriculture, and historical archaeology. He is well known for his discoveries of early maize in the Chinle Valley, his research on the Chacoan system and the transition to modern Puebloan settlement, and his studies in Navajo archaeology and history.

Also a highly regarded applied ethnographer, Dennis has conducted ethnographic research among the Navajo, Hopi, Apache, Yavapai, and Tohono O’odham. He has conducted ethnographic and tribal consultation with the Hopi, Zuni, Navajo, White Mountain Apache, San Carlos Apache, Hualapai, Havasupai, Southern Paiute, Colorado Ute, and Yavapai-Apache tribes. He was principal investigator for a cultural affiliation study for Canyons of the Ancients National Monument that entailed consultation with 25 Native American groups in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. He also served as Project Historian, Historical Archaeologist, and Ethnographer on the enormous Animas–La Plata Project in southwestern Colorado, helping develop a historic sites research design, a consulting tribes plan, a tribal involvement plan, and a cultural affiliation study, while also directing historic sites research for the project.

Since joining the PaleoWest staff in 2009, Dennis has served as Senior Archaeologist, Ethnographer, and Historian in our Flagstaff, Arizona, office.

Ted Roberts, M.A., RPA
Project Director – Director of Field Procedures

A seasoned archaeologist with expertise across the U.S. and Latin America, Ted Roberts serves an important dual role at PaleoWest, acting both as our senior-most Project Director and as the firm-wide Director of Field Procedures. Before joining PaleoWest, Ted was a Project Archaeologist for SWCA Environmental Consultants and as a National Park Service Archaeologist. In this latter role, he played a central role in managing the Cultural Resource Division at Navajo National Monument,including the development of that Park’s successful Condition Assessment Program.

As Director of Field Procedures, Ted has headed up the development and implementation a near-paperless system for survey and site recording based on the use of the iPad tablet computer. The now-well-tested and refined system allows PaleoWest archaeologists to collect data, render digital field maps, and produce report-ready site narratives ready for upload to our server in near-real time.

PaleoWest

Dr. Todd Bostwick Joins PaleoWest

Welcome to PaleoWest Archaeology

The Services

Accelerate the Project Permitting Process

Consultation Under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act

Archaeology and Related Consulting Services

The Successes

The Team

Tom Motsinger, M.A., RPA President and Senior Archaeologist

Douglas R. Mitchell, M.A., RPA Vice President – Southwest Region

Kevin Thompson, M.A., RPA Vice President – Rocky Mountain Region

Cory D. Breternitz, M.A., RPA Principal and Senior Archaeologist

Dr. Todd Bostwick Senior Research Archaeologist

Dr. James Potter Senior Research Archaeologist

Dennis Gilpin, M.A., RPA Senior Archaeologist, Ethnographer, and Historian

Ted Roberts, M.A., RPA Project Director – Director of Field Procedures