Commissioner of Administration Dana Badgerow announces appointment of Dr. Scott Anfinson as State Archaeologist

(ST. PAUL) – Commissioner of Administration Dana B. Badgerow has announced the appointment of Dr. Scott F. Anfinson as Minnesota State Archaeologist. The appointment is effective January 2006.

Anfinson has been serving as acting state archaeologist since mid-August 2005 following the resignation of Mark Dudzik. Anfinson is currently the archaeologist for the Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) at the Minnesota Historical Society. He also teaches in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis.

Anfinson is a native of Benson, Minn., and a 1968 graduate of Benson High School. He received a BA degree from the University of Minnesota in 1972, an MA degree from the University of Nebraska in 1977, and a PhD degree from the University of Minnesota in 1987. All three degrees are in anthropology with a specialty in archaeology. He was hired in 1975 by the Minnesota Historical Society to lead a program of municipal and county highway survey archaeology. In 1990, he was hired as the archaeologist for the Minnesota SHPO. His duties have included reviewing archaeological nominations to the National Register of Historic Places and recommending archaeological surveys on developments that may harm archaeological sites.

The State Archaeologist position was created in 1963 with the passage of the Field Archaeology Act.  The duties outlined in that act include providing leadership for archaeological research, education and site protection, reviewing state agency construction plans that may harm archaeological sites and approving the licensing of archaeologists to work on non-federal public land. The State Archaeologist also has duties specified in the Minnesota Private Cemeteries Act, which entail authenticating unmarked burial grounds and determining the ethnic affiliation of burials.

The position has been affiliated with the Department of Administration since 1996. Offices for the State Archaeologist are located at the Fort Snelling History Center.