Anthropolgy 467 (Section 82)

Archaeological Field Experience

Urban Archaeology:

Documenting the Missoula Underground

June 10-28, 2013

Tuition: $1075            Lab Fee: $45              Credits: 4

Visit the Missoula Historic Underground Project's Facebook page for photos and upcoming events.

Contact for field school registration and additional information:

bethany.campbell@mso.umt.edu  or  kelly.dixon@mso.umt.edu

Submit a letter of interest and unofficial transcripts

Applications accepted until June 1, 2013 priority given to submissions recieved by April 15, 2013

Course Instructor: Dr. Kelly Dixon

Project Manager and Instructor: Bethany Hauer Campbell, M.A.

Course Description:

An archaeological field school provides an intense “learning lab” where students will decide whether they want to be professional archaeologists. Archaeology is a multidisciplinary field with diverse and numerous topics. This field school will expose students to basic field and lab methods, with special skills related to fieldwork in an urban setting. This course will provide instruction in archaeological field methods, such as general survey techniques, map making, excavation, historic structure recording, and historical record interpretation. At the conclusion of this class you will have acquired the ability to:

• Locate, survey, document/map, and interpret cultural/heritage resources.
• Identify the elements of a completed site form (MT CRIS form, MT Historic Property record, NRHP nomination form).
• Locate/place cultural resources on a 7.5 minute USGS map.
• Understand how a GPS (Global Positioning System) unit works.
• Maintain a field notebook.
• Understand the methods required of various types of archaeological sites and investigations, including an emphasis on incorporating HABS-level documentation to urban archaeological contexts.
• Get a sense of archaeological technology such as laser scanning, digital imaging applications, GIS, etc.
• Explore archival resources in the Mansfield Library.
• Explain the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) Section 106 process for survey in the U.S.
• Understand the basic tenets of an urban archaeological survey for the MSO Underground Project, as a partner to historic preservation.
• Understand the steps involved with researching historic buildings and cultural landscapes in western Montana.

Required Textbook:

Archaeology: Basic Field Methods, by R. Michael Stewart (2002), Dubuque, Iowa, Kendall Hunt.

Required Readings:

PDF’s will be made available for download.

Anschuetz, Kurt F., Wilshusen, Richard H. and Scheick, Cherie L. (2001). An Archaeology of Landscapes: Perspectives and Directions.  Journal of Archaeological Research 9:157-211.

Baumler, E. (2002). The Haunting of Butte’s Quartz Street Fire Station. Montana: The Magazine of Western History; 52(1): 76-78.

Low, S. (1996). Anthropology of Cities: Imagining and Theorizing the City. Annual Review of Anthropology 25:383-409.

Mitchell, P. (2008). Practicing archaeology at a time of climatic catastrophe. Antiquity 83:1092-1103.

Murphy, Mary Martin (1997). Mining Cultures: Men, Women, and Leisure in Butte: 1914-1941, University of Illinois Press.

Spence, Clark C. (1986). The livery stable in the American West. Montana: The Magazine of Western History; 36(2): 36-49.

Swartout, R (2006) Entering Butte. Montana: The Magazine of Western History; 56(4): 3-4.

Valentino, A. (2012). Using Maps to Aid Our Understanding of a Site’s History. IA: The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology. 35(1 & 2): 39-48.

Additional readings, including primary soures, will be assigned as announced and discussed during the field season (e.g., K. Ross Toole Archives tool entitled, “Missoula County” Missoula History: Trading Post to Metropolis)

Attendance:

Attendance is required in this course. Class will meet from 8:00 am to 5:00-ish pm daily. In the event of inclement weather, you may be required to work in our archaeological laboratory at the UM campus. Required absences are negotiable. Please inform the staff immediately if you need to miss class or if you are ill.

Our daily schedule will be as follows:

Meet in Social Sciences 244 (Historical Archaeology Lab) at 9am, unless directed otherwise at the end of the previous day. We will break for lunch around noon, students provide their own meals, with the exception of our field trip to Butte in which case lunch will be provided. On Wednesdays students will participate in a lunch discussion (lunchtime will be extended) based on reading assignments. Class will resume promptly at 1pm in the location announced prior to lunch. We end class about 5pm each day; some projects may require participation beyond this time – this will be announced in advance.

Grades:

You will be graded on the basis of the following criteria:

Students with Disabilities:

The Department of Anthropology is committed to equal in education for all students, including those with documented physical disabilities or documented learning disabilities. University policy states that it is the responsibility of students with documents disabilities to contact instructors DURING THE FIRST WEEK OF THE SEMESTER to discuss appropriate accommodations to ensure equity in grading, classroom experiences, and outside assignments. The instructor will meet with the student and the staff of the Disability Services for Students (DSS) to make accommodations. Please contact DSS (406.243.2373, Lommasson Center 154) for more information.

Course Schedule:

Supply List 

Field clothing

It can be hot, it can be cold. Dress in layers, Montana weather is unpredictable. We will be walking and digging as part of daily activities and thin clothing may get torn. You are not required to wear trousers in hot weather, but they are HIGHLY recommended. Please bring appropriate field clothing:

• Sneakers/sturdy full coverage shoes for walking and for on-site (sandals will not be allowed at the excavation)
• Hat (ie baseball hat, cowboy hat, knitted hat for cold days)
• Warm coat/gloves (it does get cold)
• Work gloves (an extra/backup pair is always a good idea)
• Warm, waterproof gloves
• Rain gear (waterproof jackets are HIGHLY recommended. Waterproof trousers are nice to have)

General Supplies:

• Bug repellent
• Pencils
• Sunscreen
• Folding knife
• Water bottle
• Flashlight/headlamp (or other battery powered light source)
• Back pack/ dig bag (as long as you can hike comfortably with it)
  • Trowel
  • Line levels
  • String
  • Flagging tape
  • Compass
  • Brushes

(Please email us with any questions regarding dig bags)

Optional:

• Folding Chair

****Tetanus Shot****

Please make sure your tetanus shot is updated, we may be handling a lot of old, rusty, sharp, metallic objects.

Helpful Resources:

Glass Bottle Identification – on Society for Historical Archaeology website http://www.sha.org/bottle/index.htm

Jones, Olive R. and Catherine Sullivan (1985) The Parks Canada glass glossary for the description of containers, tableware, flat glass, and closures. Parks Canada. Note: Available through SHA

American Institute for Conservation, Washington, D.C. http://aic.stanford.edu/

Canadian Conservation Institute. http://www.cci-icc.gc.ca/

Getty Conservation Institute. http://www.getty.edu/conservation/

International Council of Museums, Committee for Conservation. http://www.icom-cc.org/home/

Cochran, Matthew D. and Mary C. Beaudry (2006) Material cultural studies and historical archaeology. Chapter 11 in The Cambridge Companion to Historical Archaeology, pp. 191-204. Cambridge University Press.

Miller, George L., Olive R. Jones, Lester A. Ross and Teresita Majewski, Compilers (1991) Approaches to Material Culture Research for Historical Archaeologists. Society for Historical Archaeology Reader.

Diagnostic Artifacts in Maryland. http://www.jefpat.org/diagnostic/index.htm