MAP believes in working hand-in-hand with both developers and the Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC) to help identify and help developers fulfill their ENF requirements regarding historical and archaeological resources. We believe in progress and at the same time, we believe that CRM archaeology, when done professionally in a timely and efficient manner can provide developers with a better understanding and appreciation of their developments past. We do not believe in spurious surveys or an ineffective testing strategy that incurs excess expense for our clients. We have developed testing strategies, predictive models and excavation techniques that allow us to recover the maximum amount of quality information in a short amount of time.

I have been involved with archaeology for more than 12 years and I began this company because I believe that I can do it better and with fewer hassles than other companies that I have worked for. We have extensive archaeological connections at both a state and private level, we have done extensive research on the prehistory and early history of all the towns in southeastern Massachusetts, and because we are a small firm, we operate with very low overhead. Please feel free to look at our website, www.plymoutharch.com, to see the types of research that we are involved in and basically, what our company is, and contact us with any questions or for additional information.

I wanted to say that I understand and appreciate your concerns about who you hire to be your archaeological consultant. Being the owner of a small business myself, I know the importance of having the right person for the job. Through my years of working with developers via the archaeological firms I have worked for, I believe that I have learned what they want and what they don't want. Developers don't want hidden costs, high overheads or shoddy workmanship, they want an honest contractor who knows what they are doing, who can get it done quick and without hassle. I can tell you is that in the big scheme of things we don't know what is there but that we have developed methods and practices to make it easier and quicker to answer that question for you. The testing strategies that we employ are similar to those used by other companies but we have developed predictive models that help us to narrow down where we feel that material may be found. At the same time we design a testing strategy that, if an initial survey needs to go on to the next stage, we have already covered some of the aspects necessary. All this is done at a lower rate and a timely fashion. I am not going to recommend that a project go on to the next phase of investigation, a prospect that involves an additional outlay of resources on both our parts, unless I believe, through my own experience and in consultation with the MHC, that the site warrants it. Inversely, I have a high ethical standard and I am not going to write off a site or cover up findings to save me the trouble of doing more work and moving on to the next project. In the end, actions such as that would be more detrimental to you and your work, and I am looking to balance your needs with the federal and state mandates for historical protection. But, you say, you are small, do you have the resources readily available to complete the project in a timely fashion and not be held up by an equipment delay, won't I be better off with a larger more impersonal company with more stuff? Archaeological survey at this level does not involve a great deal of equipment or supply. When you deal with a larger company for a survey at this or the next level, the site examination, you are basically paying mostly for their overhead. These projects are fairly quick and simple. The time that we have estimated to accomplish the job and the proposal we have submitted reflects that. If we have misjudged how long something will take or how complicated research, fieldwork or analysis may be, it is up to me to make up the difference