Lifeways has a long history of creating models of archaeological potential. These are used by developers and government agencies to gauge the proper amount of historical resources fieldwork required before certain types of development occur.
Some of the earliest studies involved modelling archaeological potential in 1974 for Syncrude’s Lease 17 extension, and in 1980 for Alsands. Many of the latest projects have involved modelling potential for forestry clients such as West Fraser, and producing GIS databases of the results. The creation of these models involves many components including review of aerial photographs, topographic and hydrology information from GIS and other sources, archival and library research in Calgary and Edmonton, and report and site file searches at the Archaeological Survey of Alberta. These data are used in developing predictive models of site location based on locational and environmental variables that make use of the vast experience of Lifeways staff. These models are important for the long-term management of historical resources in many areas, and provide important information used in creation of Statements of Justification or other types of overviews.