The South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, or SCIAA, was founded in 1963 as a research institute at University of South Carolina and as a State cultural resource management agency. In the latter capacity, SCIAA is part of the Executive Department of the South Carolina State Government and serves as the main State agency concerned with the State's Archaeology (both prehistoric and historic), and its discovery, study, interpretation, publication, and official conservation at its curatorial facilities. As a University research institute, SCIAA both initiates and conducts a wide spectrum of field investigations and collections research throughout South Carolina.