Senior Staff

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nluccketti@jriarchaeology.com

(757) 810-4536

Nicholas M. Luccketti, M.A., RPA, has been surveying and excavating Virginia sites since 1974 for institutions such as the Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission (now the Virginia Department of Historic Resources), the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (APVA). At the James River Institute for Archaeology, Inc. (JRIA), Mr. Luccketti is responsible for preparing and managing budgets, directing Phase I, II, and III excavations, managing field crews, monitoring construction, creating predictive models, preparing reports, and representing clients.  As JRIA's Principal Archaeologist, Mr. Luccketti has overseen the successful completion of more than 150 Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III projects which have been approved by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.  Previously, Mr. Luccketti served as the senior research archaeologist for five years at the APVA Jamestown Rediscovery Project that discovered the 1607 James Fort at Jamestown, Virginia. He was responsible for supervising and recording the excavations, writing the annual field reports, and was a co-author of three booklets produced by the APVA. In addition to his employment with the APVA, Mr. Luccketti was an adjunct faculty member at Christopher Newport University for four years where he taught a class on Historical Archaeology. As an archaeologist with the First Colony Foundation, Mr. Luccketti continues to play an important role in the search for the "Lost Colony" of Roanoke Island, North Carolina.

Research Associate Matthew R. Laird earned a Ph.D. in American History with a specialization in Early American History from the College of William & Mary in 1995. While pursuing graduate studies, he completed an internship program in historical archaeology with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and worked as a field archaeologist with Colonial Williamsburg and the Jamestown Rediscovery Project.  Since 1995, Dr. Laird has pursued a career in cultural resource management as a principal investigator and historian. He has directed hundreds of CRM projects involving the full range of prehistoric and historic archaeological sites, standing structures, and cultural landscapes, and has authored hundreds of technical reports, research designs, and historic contexts.  Dr. Laird produces historical research to support JRIA’s projects, and develops interpretive material for both popular and scholarly audiences, including stand-alone historical studies, lectures, and exhibits.  He has taught university-level courses and archaeological field schools, served as a freelance historical consultant, and authored a number of articles for academic and popular history publications.  With his varied experience in scholarship, teaching, and cultural resource management, Dr. Laird has a strong interest in communicating the results of his archaeological and historical research to professionals and non-specialists alike.