Project Archaeologist

Timothy Allan

Timothy Allan is a Project Archaeologist with Ember Archaeology. He has permit status in Alberta, and is able to manage projects in the Boreal, Parkland, and Eastern Slopes regions. Timothy also has experience in survey and small excavation projects particularly in the Eastern Slopes. He worked as an archaeology field technician in northeastern British Columbia for two years before joining Ember Archaeology. Timothy’s primary role is in forestry survey, for clients near Sundre, Rocky Mountain House, Edson, and Fox Creek, Alberta. He has directed small crews for forestry projects, in both pre-impact and post-impact historic resource assessments. Timothy’s secondary role is directing additional analysis for archaeology projects, such as radiocarbon dating, and raw materials analysis.

Timothy completed his master’s degree in Anthropological Archaeology from the University of British Columbia in 2018. His research focused on the analysis of a small pre-contact hunting camp in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains, FaPx-1. This research also focused on raw material analysis of stone artifacts found at the site, using Portable X-Ray Fluorescence and Raman Spectroscopy. The results indicated that pre-contact indigenous peoples intentionally ignored local materials, importing higher quality materials from other regions to make the tools used at the site. Timothy continues to keep up to date on these methods, and has been involved in an active research group, The Alberta Lithic Reference Project that studies exotic materials found at archaeological sites in Alberta using these methods. Timothy has authored publications on the analysis of stone materials that can be found at archaeological sites in Alberta. Timothy offers portable X-Ray Fluorescence testing as a service to help other archaeologists, museums and government agencies analyze obsidian, historic metals, and other artifacts.

Timothy enjoys travelling, camping, and hiking across Alberta and Northern Canada, and feels right at home in the mountains either for his job or for fun. In his spare time, Timothy enjoys playing video games, cross country skiing, walking his dog, and planning the next trip to explore a new park.