Assistance is offered to public and private entities on legal and technical aspects of prehistoric Native American cemetery relocation and related concerns.

This group also provides expertise to the State Historic Preservation Office by reviewing all federally funded projects within Tennessee to determine their impact on archaeological resources.

The TDOA was established in 1970 under the Department of Conservation through the "Tennessee Antiquities Act" (TCA 11-6-101-121), and the first staff members were hired in 1972, with Mack S. Prichard being appointed to the role of State Archaeologist in 1971.

This merger was short-lived, however, with the TDOA again becoming its own Division in 1983 with the appointment of a new State Archaeologist, Nick Fielder, by Commissioner Charles A. Howell.

Significant investigations on state-owned properties include Mound Bottom, Sellars Farm, Pinson Mounds, Fort Loudoun, Ft. Pillow, Riverbend Prison, SR-42 (Algood), Hiwassee Old Town, Sandbar Village, Carter House (Williamson County), Spencer Youth Center, Special Needs Prison, Middle TN Veterans Cemetery, Bicentennial Mall, and Ropers Knob.

Select site investigations on non-state lands include Brick Church Pike Mound, Fort Southwest Point, First Hermitage, Yearwood, Penitentiary Branch, Fort Blount, Brandywine Pointe, Coats-Hines Mastodon, Johnson, Old Town, Gordontown, Austin Cave, Carson-Conn-Short, Rutherford-Kizer, Brentwood Library, Moss-Wright and collaborative investigations along the Cumberland River near Nashville following the 2010 floods.

Reconnaissance surveys for prehistoric sites have been conducted within the Obion, Duck, Cumberland, Harpeth, Caney Fork, Collins, Calfkiller, and Hiwassee/Ocoee River watersheds.

The Division’s ability to perform larger-scale site excavations has significantly diminished over the years due to the same position reductions experienced by other state agencies.