Mission Statement
The Southern California Archaeological Research Institute exists to advance the understanding of Southern California's deep past through a combination of rigorous, field-tested archaeological methods and next-generation data science. We believe the discipline's vast body of published research—decades of journal articles, monographs, and archival data—represents an underutilized resource that, when systematically analyzed, can reshape our understanding of prehistoric lifeways across the region.
SCARI is committed to producing rigorously reviewed, publication-quality research that bridges the gap between cultural resource management and academic archaeology, making the full scope of Southern California's archaeological record accessible to researchers, land managers, and the public.
Our Team
Holly Drake, MA, RPA
Holly Drake brings over 15 years of professional experience spanning academic research and cultural resource management across Southern California and the American Southwest. She holds a B.A. in Anthropology from California State University, Long Beach and an M.A. from Washington State University, with specializations in lithic analysis, shell bead exchange networks, and desert archaeology.
Her fieldwork has taken her from coastal midden sites to remote desert rockshelters, with extensive experience in survey, excavation, laboratory analysis, and report preparation. She founded SCARI to bridge the gap between CRM data and academic research, leveraging modern computational tools to extract new insights from the region's vast archaeological record.
Aurelius
Aurelius is SCARI's AI-powered research associate, purpose-built for archaeological literature analysis. Operating on a locally hosted large language model, Aurelius maintains and analyzes a curated digital archive of over 2,000 archaeological publications focused on Southern California and the American Southwest.
His capabilities include systematic literature review, citation cross-referencing, thematic synthesis across large document collections, and draft preparation for internal review. Aurelius's work is always subject to human oversight and editorial review by SCARI's principal investigator.
Hypatia
Hypatia serves as SCARI's internal review system, providing thorough evaluation of research papers before publication. Running on a separate AI model to ensure independence from the drafting process, Hypatia reviews manuscripts for methodological soundness, citation completeness, argument coherence, and identifies relevant literature from the archive that may have been overlooked.
Her reviews are grounded in the same curated archive, ensuring that feedback is evidence-based and specific to the Southern California archaeological context.
Institutional Scope
SCARI's research territory spans the full environmental and cultural diversity of Southern California—from the Channel Islands and coastal strand to the Transverse Ranges, inland valleys, and the Colorado Desert. This geographic scope reflects the interconnected nature of prehistoric exchange networks, seasonal migration patterns, and resource procurement strategies that linked these diverse environments across millennia.