Despite the general preservation problems involving organic materials at most archaeological sites in western Canada, oftentimes small traces of utilized plants remain behind in certain types of features, such as basin hearths or boiling pits.

In many parts of western Canada, soil conditions and the passage of time destroy most of the organic materials left behind by ancient peoples. Wood, leather, fiber, and animal bones may all disappear and leave behind only durable stone artifacts. However, some microscopic organic residues can remain attached to stone tools, even under the most adverse conditions.

An important part of understanding archaeological sites is to understand a site’s timeframe or timeframes. Aside from relative techniques such as the use of projectile points to get a general idea of time, the single most useful absolute scientific technique is radiocarbon or carbon-14 dating.

While traditionally photography has been an important part of capturing data from the archaeological record, increasingly we are using 3-D Scanning to provide an important record of features and artifacts before they are lost to time or development.

Lifeways has always been a leader in the use of geoarchaeological information to understand archaeological sites, such as landform interpretation using geomorphology, surficial geology, LiDAR, glacial geomorphology, GIS modelling, high accuracy GPS mapping, in-depth understanding of soils and stratigraphy, XRF of stone tools, ultraviolet light on stone types, and even techniques such as metal detecting.