Thomas E. Becker, M.A., RPA
Project Archaeologist
Applied Archaeological Research, Inc. (AAR)
Portland, Oregon
Tom Becker is a Project Archaeologist at Applied Archaeological Research, Inc. (AAR) in Portland, Oregon. He is a qualified archaeologist meeting all of the requirements of the Secretary of the Interior’s professional qualification standards. Tom was responsible for field mapping and environmental study, collection and preparation of artifacts for processing in the first year of the Kormantse Archaeological Research Project (KARP). Tom has also been a field director on the Maroon Heritage Research Project (MHRP) since 2000, specially directing the mapping and excavation Saramaka Maroon sites, including Kumako, and locating, surveying and mapping of Matawai Maroon sites in Suriname, South America.
Tom has experience working on an archaeology project in Israel in 1993 through Linfield College and has been a professional archaeologist since 1996. He received his M.A. in Anthropology from Portland State University in 2004 with a focus on Oregon Coast shell midden sites. Tom has primarily participated in archaeological projects throughout the Pacific Northwest, in addition to his experience in Israel, Nicaragua, Ghana and Suriname. He has headed all phases of work, including large scale survey and test excavations for transmission line, pipeline, and hydroelectric relicensing projects in the US. He has training in NEPA and Section 106 compliance, including writing Management Plans, and is currently managing the cultural resources for the Columbia River Crossing Project.
Mr. Becker has co-authored, or contributed to more than sixty major technical archaeological reports and is an active member of the Society for American Archaeology, Association of Oregon Archaeologists and Association for Washington Archaeology.