![\"\"](\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2021\/10\/anthro300x200-Field-station-Anthro-Arik-Scapellato.jpg\")
\u201cWe need to give them the opportunity to excavate a unit using methods we would use on any other archaeology site,\u201d Schneider said. \u201cWe talk about the theories behind what we\u2019re doing, the methods \u2026 and material culture (pottery, stone tools, etc.).\u201d<\/p>\n
To begin, students started with a \u201cPhase 1\u201d survey, where they walked the field that they would later excavate. They were looking for material remains on the ground that might have been churned up during plowing, since the site is a working farm.<\/p>\n
Just how do you tell the difference between a stone tool and a regular rock?<\/p>\n
\u201cPractice is the answer,\u201d laughed Anastasia DeMaio.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re looking for evidence of percussion. You\u2019re looking to see a \u2018bulb\u2019 of percussion (on the stone),\u201d Jordan Payne explained. \u201cThat\u2019s part of being an archaeologist \u2013 you have to train your eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘It really hits you’<\/h3>\n
DeMaio and Payne are both graduate students in the anthropology. They spent their summer baking in the heat and shivering through the rain as they worked on the next phase of the excavation: Digging out a checkerboard of 2×2 meter squares to reach below the \u201cplow zone\u201d and sifting through the dirt to filter out lithics, pottery sherds and other materials.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you bring it back to the surface, that\u2019s where it really hits you. These are cultural materials that have been here for hundreds and hundreds of years,\u201d Payne said.<\/p>\n
The students mapped out their squares, particularly noting the discolored dirt representing cultural features indicating that ancient people dug a pit or erected a structure on this spot.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re not specifically wigwams, but they\u2019re about that size (5×5 meters),\u201d Schneider said. \u201cDepending on the size of the feature, we can tell this pit feature was used to process wild rice.\u201d<\/p>\n
They finished by digging out the untouched checkered squares so that the entire area was excavated, covering 16×4.5 meters. By doing so, they could determine the full extent of the structures that once stood in the area.<\/p>\n
In addition to the excavation, the students also learned other archaeological and survey skills, including technologically mapping sites and exploring using ground-penetrating radar.<\/p>\n
Digging in the past, preparing for the future<\/h3>\n
By the end of the Field School, students walked away with a better grasp of what it takes to perform cultural excavations.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they go on to get their graduate degree, having the basics down and knowing where to find archaeology sites and how to handle survey work and excavation work \u2013 these are skills they can take anywhere,\u201d Schneider said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of students will go on and get jobs in this kind of thing,\u201d Edwards added. \u201cYou get a better appreciation for what it is (you have in museum collections) when you\u2019re the one taking it out of the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the excavation was complete, students headed back to 51ÁÔÆæ where they will spend the fall semester analyzing and reporting on the artifacts they found during the Field School. Schneider and Edwards are looking to publish their findings.<\/p>\n
DeMaio was excited to get back to the lab and examine the unearthed artifacts. She was initially drawn to anthropology because she enjoyed working with tangible connections to the past. Being part of the team to excavate this Oneota site gave her both an education and a sense of purpose.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo me, it\u2019s always about being the voice for people who can\u2019t speak for themselves anymore,\u201d she said. \u201cThere were people here before us. \u2026 We owe it to them to explore this.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
51ÁÔÆæ students spent six weeks unearthing a Wisconsin site where the Oneota lived some 1,000 years ago. It\u2019s a chance to both practice science and learn how to be archaeologists. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":785,"featured_media":97757,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[174],"tags":[],"section":[122,124],"display_categories":[115,116],"related-coverage":[],"uwmnews-feed":[158],"class_list":["post-97756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","section-campus-community","section-students","display_categories-top-story-secondary","display_categories-top-story-section","uwmnews-feed-letters-science"],"yoast_head":"\n