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Main Office – Davis, CA (530) 756-3941
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Great Basin Branch – Carson City, NV (775) 847-0223
Far Western
Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., is a leader in cultural resources management services. Since 1979, Far Western has consulted in archaeological projects for private industry, government agencies, tribal organizations, and non-profit groups, to achieve the broader goals of the environmental review and compliance process.
Main Office – Davis, CA (530) 756-3941
Bay Area Branch – Sausalito, CA (415) 413-1450
Desert Branch – Henderson, NV (702) 982-3691
Great Basin Branch – Carson City, NV (775) 847-0223
a film created by Phil Gross and Far Western’s Brian Byrd, to be aired on PBS stations around the country as part of Native American Heritage Month, tells the story of the modern-day people of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area who partnered with Dr. Byrd and Far Western, in the excavation of Sii Túupentak, a pre-contact Ohlone village in the Sunol Valley of California.
Since 1979, Far Western has worked in partnership with private industry, government agencies, tribal organizations, and non-profit groups, to achieve the broader goals of the environmental review and compliance process. Today, we are recognized as one of the leading cultural resources consulting firms in the United States.
Main Office
(530) 756-3941
Bay Area Branch
(415) 413-1450
Desert Branch
(702) 982-3691
Great Basin Branch
(775) 847-0223
Brittany is a Staff Archaeologist with Far Western. She has archaeological experience in bioarchaeology in the U.S. and internationally and has 10 years of experience in cultural resource management in England, the Midwest, California, and Nevada. This work built upon fundamentals gained during her doctoral dissertation analysis of Romano-British human-animal commingled cremation burials and their expression of medicine, socio-economic identity, memory, and the afterlife.
Since joining Far Western in 2022, Brittany has analyzed unidentified skeletal remains for NAGPRA repatriation for the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. She also worked as the osteological lead for Caltrans work in the eastern Sierra Nevada, the U.S. Navy in the Channel Islands, and Santa Clara Valley Water District in central California. Additionally, she conducted workshops with tribes to provide introductory osteological training for those working as monitors.
Brittany is an active member of the Register of Professional Archaeologists, American Association of Biological Anthropology, Society of American Archaeology, and Society of California Archaeology. She is currently working towards achieving American Board of Forensic Anthropology Diplomate status.
Brittany’s Featured Projects:
Brittany’s featured Publications:
Hill, Brittany E.
2024 Analysis of Osteological Materials Recovered from Fourteen Archaeological Contexts on behalf of Lassen National Forest, Hat Creek Ranger District, California. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. Prepared for U.S. Forest Service, Lassen National Forest, Hat Creek Ranger District, California.
2023 Analysis of Osteological Materials Recovered from Six Archaeological Sites Administered by the Applegate Field Office Branch of the Bureau of Land Management, California. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. Letter report prepared for Bureau of Land Management, California, Applegate Field Office, Alturas, California.
2022 Osteological Analysis of Materials Recovered from CA-LAS-937, Lassen County, California. Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., Davis, California. Letter report prepared for Bureau of Land Management, California, Applegate Field Office, Alturas, California.
2017 Birds, Beasts and Burials: A Study of the Human-Animal Relationship in Romano-British St. Albans. Archaeopress.
Cristina Purice · ·
Charlene Nimjeh (Muwekma Ohlone Tribe Leader), Monica Arellano and Brian Byrd examine artifacts at Far Western’s lab
Time Has Many Voices, a film created by Phil Gross and Far Western’s Brian Byrd, to be aired on PBS stations around the country as part of Native American Heritage Month, tells the story of the modern-day people of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area who partnered with Byrd’s firm, Far Western Anthropological Research Group, in the excavation of Sii Túupentak, a pre-contact Ohlone village in the Sunol Valley.
Using cutting edge archeological science to reveal details about individual Muwekma ancestors, the documentary brings to life new discoveries of how the tribe flourished in the East Bay for millennia as part of a vast network of California Native peoples who thrived from the bay marshes to the coastal ranges. The arrival of the Spanish in the late 1700s brought enslavement, colonial rule, starvation and disease, and, in 1925, the United States government declared the Ohlone extinct. Despite that declaration, the film emphasizes that the Muwekma Ohlone survive and thrive to this day. With the help of science, the Muwekma hoped not only to discover stories of their ancestors and honor their past, but to lay claim to their existence and pave the way for the future of this Ohlone tribe.
This is the third film collaboration between Davis based Far Western and director Phil Gross to be offered to PBS. In 2003, their film The Obsidian Trail was presented by KVIE in Sacramento and aired on more than 40 stations nationwide. A more recent film, A Point in Time (2019), chronicling the archaeological search for the earliest inhabitants of the Nevada Great Basin is currently streaming on PBS via KLVX Las Vegas.
Time has Many Voices premiered locally on Monday, Nov. 7, at 10 p.m. on KVIE Sacramento. It will be shown on other regional PBS stations and will have nationwide distribution later this month. It is currently streaming on PBS.org and can be accessed on that site by typing “Time Has Many Voices” in the search window.
Cristina Purice · ·
Following the 2017 Nuns Fire in the Napa region, a PG&E forester uncovered artifacts that are currently being used to help educate the members of the Visually-impaired community about the regions past. In a joint effort, PG&E partners and Far Western Principal Investigator Eric Wohlgemuth and Art Director Tammara Norton delivered artifacts and educational materials to Enchanted Hills Camp, where adults and children who are blind, Deafblind, or have low vision will be able to interact with them.
“The artifact collection will live here rather than an academic or museum setting. It will be used in different ways. Parts will be used in a touch box, where we made replicates that students can handle, with Braille tags explaining what they were used for. We will put the collection in a display case, with a resource guide in Braille that explains and describes the findings and gives information about the Wappo Tribe,” said Dr. Eric Wohlgemuth, Far Western Anthropological Research Group.
“This is an unparalleled opportunity for students who are blind or have low vision to learn about archaeology in a tactile way,” he added.
In addition to the tags, an educational book about the excavation is provided both in Braille and in print. Together the tags and educational book provide the students with information about the Wappo Tribe.
The items uncovered point to the site being used as a family summer camp, with artifacts including tools for cutting, scraping, and grinding, spearpoints, arrowheads, animal bones, and beads made from ocean shells, all dating from 200-400 years ago. During the excavation process, archaeologists uncovered a larger obsidian dart point that was used with atlatl (spear-thrower), which is estimated to be 920-750 years old.
The camp is located in the forest of Mount Veeder, on what is the traditional land of the Mishewal Wappo Tribe of Alexander Valley.
To read the full PG&E article: https://www.pgecurrents.com/2022/08/24/pieces-of-the-past-cultural-artifacts-uncovered-by-pge-help-educate-visually-impaired-community/
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Main Office – Davis, CA (530) 756-3941
Bay Area Branch – Sausalito, CA (415) 413-1450
Desert Branch – Henderson, NV (702) 982-3691
Great Basin Branch – Carson City, NV (775) 847-0223