Author: Campus Archaeology Program

Introducing our CAP Undergraduate Interns

Introducing our CAP Undergraduate Interns

This year we have two undergraduate interns working in the Campus Archaeology Program lab. These two students both attended the summer 2019 archaeological field school. Below you can read a little more about them! Reid Ellefson-Frank is an undergraduate student at MSU working towards a 

Introducing Our 2019-2020 CAP Graduate Fellows

Introducing Our 2019-2020 CAP Graduate Fellows

Benjamin Akey: Benjamin (they/them/theirs) is a first-year doctoral student and graduate research assistant studying historical archaeology. They received their BA in Anthropology from University of California Santa Cruz in 2018, where they focused on the performance and negotiation of class and ethnic identities through patterns 

The most interesting artifact from MSU’s historic campus? The “Moor” artifact, 10 years later

The most interesting artifact from MSU’s historic campus? The “Moor” artifact, 10 years later

If you’ve been following CAP for a while you’ve probably seen us post about the “Moor” artifact: a small piece of mortar sporting the letters “Moor” in handwritten cursive script. Despite its unassuming appearance, what makes this artifact so fascinating is the incredible story behind it.  If you haven’t heard the story, you should really stop here and read Terry Brock’s blog post, because he tells it best.

In spring 2009 CAP surveyed the area of Beal Street near the Sparty statue ahead of planned tree planting. The survey uncovered a large amount of construction material, but the origin of this material was initially unclear. Chris Stawski, then a graduate student archaeologist on the CAP team, pulled the now famous “Moor” artifact out of the backfill.

In short, through the discovery of this artifact and some solid detective work in the MSU Archives CAP archaeologists were able to link an unidentifiable pile of rubble uncovered during a survey of Beal Street south of the Red Cedar River to the ruins of College Hall, the first academic building on campus.

Ten years since this artifact was first excavated during the Beal Street Survey, we interviewed CAP alumni Dr. Terry Brock and Dr. Chris Stawski about their key roles in its discovery. This is what they had to say:

On the background of the Beal Street Survey and College Hall projects…

TB: My favorite project [with CAP] was definitely College Hall. It was the first academic building on campus, right below Beaumont Tower. It was tied to another project, the Beal Street Survey across the river by the Sparty statue, though we didn’t know it at the time. We did the Beal Survey first because they were planting trees there. As we were digging we found tons and tons of brick that had been dumped in that area. There weren’t supposed to be any buildings over there, so it was clearly some sort of fill that was dumped to deal with erosion [near the Red Cedar River].  

CS: Early on in Campus Archaeology we were still trying to understand the landscape. Whenever we would go out and do surveys we never knew what we were going to uncover because the landscape has so drastically changed. We had to really change our thinking of campus. Today the Beal Street location is at the heart of campus but back then it was on the outskirts. The other thing we thought was that it wasn’t merely getting rid of things. That area is all flood plain and so it might have been very intentional to modify the landscape by using these materials to build a higher embankment. 

Terry Brock digs a unit at the Beal Street Survey in 2009. The large amount of brick and construction material rubble is visible all around him.

On the discovery of the artifact…

CS: Honestly I found the artifact when we were backfilling. In this case the deposition turned out to be just a huge pile of construction material. We had to go through a lot of brick. I remember going through the piles and just putting the stuff back because as you know, if you don’t make the area you excavated look perfectly pristine you’re going to get in trouble [laughs]. We became experts in cosmetic sod replacement.

I was just going through and I picked up this piece of plaster that had this really elaborate M drawn on it. I could tell it was handwritten. I handed it to Terry and was like, “Take a look at this!” It was a pretty wild discovery but at the time we had no idea what it was or what it meant. It was sheer luck that I happened to take it out of this pile of backfill and that it wasn’t smashed into little pieces. 

TB: We were like, “Well, that’s amazing, we have no idea what to do with this.” Because we had wire and cut nails we knew it was probably a building that was built on the 19th century campus and continued to be used in the 20th century, but there were a number of buildings it could have been the remnants of.

On making the connection…

TB: We weren’t really able to figure out what it was until we were working on the College Hall project. I was in the archives doing preparatory research and learning about the history of that building. It was in such bad shape that it fell down during marching band practice in 1918, but everyone was trying to save it because it was this symbol of the birth of the college. When they finally took it down around 1927 they went through and took pictures of the insides. One of the photographs was this picture of an interior wall that had signatures all over it, the phrase “Darn Hard Job,” and a date [May 13-20, 1887]. All of the students who had done restoration work on the building that summer had signed their names on this basement wall. When I found this picture I said to the archivist, “I’m gonna be right back…”

It wasn’t until the fall of 2009 that then-Campus Archaeologist Terry Brock came across a photo in the MSU Archives that connected this piece of plaster to the first academic building on campus. The photo showed that the letters “Moor” were actually part of a signature a student, Alexander Moore, had left on the wall when he and his fellow MAC students helped with repairs on College Hall from May 1887.  

I ran from the archives to my office in McDonel because I’d had this piece of plaster just sitting on my desk. I picked it up and I ran back, and lo and behold it matched one of the signatures! It was the link that connected this brick rubble from one side of campus to College Hall. We had actually found College Hall before we found College Hall and were able to tie these two sites together. With that piece of knowledge the whole timeline fell into place about what was happening over near Beal Street. It ended up being this really neat history about how the campus was changing. 

On their reactions…

TB: That was by far the coolest find. I’ll never forget when I was showing my advisor like the picture and the piece of mortar and he said, “Your career is all downhill from here. This is never going to happen again.”  

CS: How often do you get that direct correlation between what you’re finding and an archival photograph that can date within such a tight timeline as well? We knew exactly what building it was, what happened to the building, and how it got there. It filled in all of the blanks that we had.

Chris Stawski digs a unit during the Beal Street Survey in 2009.

On what it all meant…

CS: In and of itself it was an amazing artifact. But my favorite thing about archaeology is that it provides the human story behind the artifact. Without that, the artifact either can’t tell us much or it’s just a piece of plaster with some writing on it. But by making that connection you get that very human element behind the artifact.

I think the biggest takeaway was the real need for doing kind of the multidisciplinary approaches especially in Campus Archaeology. It’s never just about the archaeology; it’s about the community, it’s about the history behind the landscape. Understanding the trajectory of Michigan State from the agricultural college all the way to now. What made this find possible was Terry’s work in the Archives. Really early on we saw the value of that connection, as well as talking to the community, to alumni who have a very different understanding of what campus looked like and their experiences as students. In many ways our student experiences are vastly different, but it’s the physical entity of the campus that links us all together. We all have this map made from memory of our experiences tied to specific buildings, specific locales – that’s the one thing that creates this interlinked trajectory for all the alumni at Michigan State.   


The above interview excerpts were taken from two interviews. Current CAP Director Dr. Stacey Camp sat down with Dr. Terry Brock when he visited the CAP Lab in March to discuss his experiences, and current CAP fellow, Mari Isa, interviewed Dr. Chris Stawski via Skype in April. Some material was edited for length and clarity.

Author: Mari Isa

Alumni Highlight: Terry Brock

Alumni Highlight: Terry Brock

Dr. Terry Brock is a historical and public archaeologist, and is currently the Assistant Director of Archaeology at the Montpelier Foundation in Orange, Virginia. He served as the first Campus Archaeologist from 2008 to 2010 while a graduate student at MSU. As someone who was 

Prepping for Summer 2019 Field Work

Prepping for Summer 2019 Field Work

Archival research is one of the backbones of archeological work, especially in historical archaeology. Not only do we conduct archival research to find more information about the people who lived at a particular site and how the site was used, but it is also a 

Happy Anthropology Day!

Happy Anthropology Day!

To celebrate Anthropology Day, we decided to share a little bit about what each of us typically does during a day or what a good day as an anthropologist looks like!


Dr. Camp in Ireland c. 1998-1998

Dr. Stacey Camp:
As an academic, my work varies from day to day, month to month, and even from year to year. Some years are busier than others, especially if they involve field schools or big publications (like a book or site report). Other years have more downtime so that laboratory research and writing associated with field school work can get done. As a result, I try to think about what I need to accomplish professional 5 to 10 years out. This helps me figure out what I absolutely need to get done in order to move projects forward (e.g. getting grants, finishing laboratory work, etc.) and publish about them.

My day to day work as an academic is varied, which I enjoy. Here’s what today looks like:

7:50am: Get my daughter on the school bus and say goodbye to my son, who goes to school with my husband.
9am: Arrive at my office. Check email and say hello to my colleagues.
9:40am: Set out ceramics and artifacts to prepare students in my laboratory class for a quiz this Friday.
10:20am-11:10am: Teach my laboratory methods class.
11:10-11:30am: Talk to students from the class about my field school and answer any class questions.
11:30am-12pm: Pack up the ceramics I pulled out for class and start reviewing the artifact cataloging work my lab methods class started this week.
12pm: Eat lunch with my colleagues and graduate students in the archaeology wing of my department.
1pm-2pm: Hold our weekly MSU Campus Archaeology Program project meeting with graduate student fellows and our Campus Archaeologist.
2pm-3pm: Host our weekly MSU Campus Archaeology Program writing hour.
3pm-3:30pm: Meet with an undergraduate student who is working on an article with me.
3:30pm-4pm: Catch up on work emails.
4pm-5pm: Grade discussion papers from my laboratory methods class; enter attendance data; start planning for Friday’s lecture on identifying historic glass.

Every now and then I have the opportunity to do something really exciting. Last week, I was able to visit the University of Helsinki (courtesy of faculty member Dr. Suzie Thomas) to give two talks and learn more about the WWII and POW heritage of Finland. I was able to spend my days meeting with scholars about their research. I was able to visit the National Museum of Finland as well as the World Heritage Site of Suomenlinna, a historic fortress that dates to the mid-18th century.


Mari Isa:
I would guess my day usually starts off like most people’s days: I get to the office and respond to emails. This semester most of the emails I receive are from students in the class I am teaching—Forensic Anthropology and Osteology. I spend at least part of every day doing something related to teaching: preparing lectures, giving lectures, meeting with students, or grading papers. I really enjoy this part of my day! Other mornings might start off at the morgue assisting with a forensic case. Every case is different. Our lab might be asked to analyze a skeleton and develop a biological profile—including sex, age, ancestry, and stature—to compare to missing person’s reports. Another type of case involves identifying a deceased person by comparing x-rays taken at the morgue to medical x-rays taken while the person was alive. When I get back to the office after the case, I write up a report to give to the medical examiner. The rest of the day I spend working on my dissertation research, which takes an experimental approach to studying skeletal trauma. Research work looks a little different depending on the day. On experiment days I work with a team of anthropologists and engineers to observe how bones break in a controlled laboratory setting. Other days I spend reading so I can develop better research questions or try to figure out what my results mean. Other days I collect data. Right now I am using methods from the field of fractography (the study of broken surfaces) to look at experimentally broken bones. I am trying to see if I can use these methods to figure out where a fracture started and ended. If it does work, this could help anthropologists figure out how a bone in a forensic or bioarchaeological case was broken.


Jeff Painter, CAP Fellow

Jeff Painter:
If I am not out in the field excavating, I spend my days bouncing between various projects. These projects keep me busy and ensure that I interact with a number of different people each day.  I am currently teaching my first course, on ‘Great Discoveries in Archaeology.’ My early mornings are often filled with lecturing, grading, or preparing for a future lecture. This week I am preparing lectures on paleolithic cave art! I will then spend some time down in one of our archaeology labs, collecting data on ceramics and other artifacts in order to look at past food practices and what they can tell us about various aspects of ancient society. In the afternoons, I try to spend some time analyzing collected data or writing, either on my dissertation, a publication, or the occasional grant proposal.


Jack Biggs:
For me, a typical day as an anthropologist involves the both the physical and digital preservation of artifacts and physical remains. As a bioarchaeologist, I reconstruct human remains that have broken down over time. Most of the human skeletal remains I work with come from heavily looted contexts so our excavations are commonly salvage in nature. Reconstructing these remains allows us give back some of the humanity to these individuals rather than being seen as bones that were in the way of ancient pots that looters were looking for. Furthermore, I routinely employ photogrammetry in my work which takes sets of images of an object and creates a 3D model. These models digitally preserve both human and material remains that may continue to degrade. By digitally preserving these as 3D models, these objects can be studied long after the materials break down and can be easily shared to other researchers or the public. As an anthropologist, getting to be a part of cultural preservation for future generations is incredibly gratifying and makes coming to work each day feel like a gift rather than a job.


Amber Plemons:
A day in the life of Biological Anthropologist looks different from day to day. We study human skeletal remains to answer questions about people from the past and the present. A typical day for me is jumping between tasks from conducting and writing research to working with medical examiners and law enforcement across the state to help solve crimes. We visit medical examiners offices where we compare x-rays of a deceased individual, one x-ray taken while the person was alive and one taken after death. We can compare the shape and features of bones between the two images to try to identify the person and return them to their families for a proper burial. Sometimes, we may bring the skeleton of an unknown individual back to our lab where we can measure and analyze the bones and determine the person’s ancestry, sex, age, and stature. After hours of closely examining the bones, I return to my desk to write an official report of my findings and submit the report to the medical examiner in charge of the case. The legal system will them compare my findings to missing persons reports in attempts of matching demographic information between the missing person and the unknown decedent leading to an identification. In my downtime, I work on my personal research examining the role of climate and genetics in shaping the human facial skeleton to understand human variation on a global scale.


Autumn Painter, Campus Archaeologist

Autumn Painter:
Each day as the MSU Campus Archaeologist looks a little different! This time of the year is filled with preparations for field work that will begin at the start of the summer semester. Some days I attend meetings with IPF (Infrastructure Planning and Facilities) at MSU to discuss their planned construction projects and if any of them would impact an archaeological resources. However, I usually spend my days working with graduate fellows on their research projects as needed, researching potential areas of impact for upcoming campus construction projects, writing reports from the previous field season, and doing lab work. In addition to my duties as campus archaeologist, I am also preparing to take my comprehensive exams and writing my dissertation proposal for my personal research on prehistoric foodways and social interaction.


Jeff Burnett, CAP Fellow

Jeff Burnett:
As an anthropologist and archaeologist, a good day is one in which I gain a new perspective on a particular history. This can involve being part of an archaeological excavation where a team of archaeologists and associated stakeholders recover some material culture, an artifact or feature, that expands our understanding of history or a group of people. A day where I gain a new perspective may involve laboratory work. In the lab archaeologists wash, analyses, sort, or catalogue the material remains they found in excavations, often during the activates archaeologists reveal new information about the artifacts. Finding an inscription on an object or a specific decorative pattern on a ceramic plate can give the researcher a completely new understanding of the place or group of people they are investigating. I might also gain a new perspective through a day where I engage in archival research, looking at historic documents and writings of past peoples. These documents can give context to my research and guide my questions, but they can also indicate something different than what the archaeology found, which is always interesting. The final way that I may gain a new perspective on history is speaking with non-archaeologists about the lives of their families and ancestors. In anthropology these individuals or descendant communities provide important connections between our work and the real people we are studying, they also have their own meaningful questions and perspectives that make descendants an essential aspect of many archaeological investigation. If any of these many events were to occur in a particular day my understanding of the past would be expanded and I would consider that a very good day.

Introducing the Site of the 2019 CAP Summer Field School

Introducing the Site of the 2019 CAP Summer Field School

Still searching for an archaeology field school for this summer? The Campus Archaeology Program will be offering a field school—right here on MSU’s campus—from May 13 to June 7, 2019. A field school is one of the best ways to learn what it takes to 

Update on the MSU Sugar House Project: Fieldwork has Begun!

Update on the MSU Sugar House Project: Fieldwork has Begun!

After receiving permission to conduct field work in the Sanford Woodlot, Jack and I (along with Campus Archaeologist Autumn Painter) were able to start mapping and surveying the remains of the MSU sugar house. While our work was impacted by snow and falling leaves, we 

Final ReCAP: A Fellow’s Farewell to Campus Archaeology

Final ReCAP: A Fellow’s Farewell to Campus Archaeology

Hello, old friends. It is with a heavy heart that I say goodbye. It is a bittersweet farewell: I’ve finished my Ph.D. (a good thing),and it is therefore time for me to end my tenure with Campus Archaeology (a sad thing). The past three-and-a-half years spent with Campus Archaeology have contributed tremendously to my growth as a scholar and public archaeologist. For my final post, I decided to reCAP some highlights of my tenure as a CAP fellow.

Throw the Pipe Down the Pooper! – This is one of my most popular blogs, and you may be able to imagine why. It’s a fun read with a cheeky title, and writing this blog was a hoot. A rogue student throwing his illicit broken smoking pipe down the toilet to avoid getting caught with contraband—does it get much better than that? I think not. Plus, it’s my favorite blog title ever.

Archaic projectile points discovered on the MSU Campus (photo by W.A. Lovis)

Ancient MSU – My first year as a CAP fellow I was tasked with writing a report on the only precolonial Native American site on the MSU campus. Part of the larger Beaumont West site, it is a small campsite dating to the Archaic period, which means it’s over 3000 years old. This was a time before the people of ancient Michigan generally used pottery, so as a pottery expert, this was a challenge. I am not, well, the best at lithic (stone tool) analysis. However, the process did improve and expand my analytic skills, and it helped me better acquaint myself with the pre-MSU landscape. There is not much in the way of ancient indigenous archaeological materials on any part of campus because, quite honestly, it didn’t used to be a great place to live. The campus is naturally very low and wet, so not an ideal living situation. The Beaumont West site is located on one of the most naturally high and dry parts of campus, of which some keen Archaic groups took advantage. This research project, in addition to conducting survey shovel tests across campus, helped me understand just how much the MSU landscape has been filled in and altered to make it the relatively level, dry ,and livable space it is today.

Offerings from the 1860s Luncheon hosted by CAP and MSU Culinary Services (photo by S.M. Kooiman)

Capturing Campus Cuisine – This is, of course, my favorite project, as you can no doubt tell by my numerous blogs about food. However, this was more than just a fun project. It was an incredible opportunity to develop my experience in public archaeology, and it spurred my passion for creative outreach. From hosting the 1860’s luncheon, to having our historic meals featured on the MSU Food Truck, to our collaboration with the Student Organic Farm to bring back salsify (which is evidently trendy in Britain now, so we are on the cutting edge!), our project has been non-stop fun. Being able to reach out to people and identify with folks from the past through food has been a truly wonderful experience. Getting to eat some of the food along the way was also pretty cool.

Me having a cow over excavating a cow skeleton

Don’t Have a Cow – The discovery of the skeletonized cow buried six feet underground on campus this past summer was exciting, and the opportunity to help excavate it was a new and fun opportunity for me since I haven’t really worked on burials, animal or human, before. It also tied in nicely to my prior research and blogs on the history of dairy at MSU, which was also great because it gave me an excuse to eat cheese and ice cream.

CAP fellows standing around while Campus Archaeologist Autumn Painter does all the work during the USDA Rose Lake Survey

CAPeople – It might sound trite, but the people I have worked with at CAP are what made my tenure as a fellow truly enjoyable. First,the opportunity to learn from and work with Dr. Lynne Goldstein was incredibly important for me. She has taught me so much about archaeology, outreach, and the inner workings of the university system, and she has been a supportive mentor as I explore my options outside of CAP. Working with Dr. Stacey Camp this past semester has also brought new insights and perspectives to my work,and I also appreciate her insider perspective on the figure skating world (she’s met Kristy Yamaguchi and Michelle Kwan!). It’s been a joy to collaborate with Autumn Painter on the food project for the past couple years. She has been a wonderful project partner (who enjoys food as much as I do), and to see her thriving as the Campus Archaeologists this semester has been great. I also had a great time working with Lisa Bright, my motivated and creative CAPtain for three years. The food project was initially her idea, so I owe a lot to her creativity (which also came in handy for developing punny blog titles).

There were also times when I would hang out with my friends and then suddenly realize that everybody there was a CAP fellow. CAP certainly helped me form lifelong friendships and bonds and for that I will always be grateful. That is, until I become a famous food travel TV personality and forget everyone… (we can all dream, can’t we?).

So, farewell, CAP blog readers. I hope you have enjoyed my ruminations and research. If you are interested in reading more about ancient food and pottery, follow my personal blog, Hot for Pots!

And farewell CAP. It’s been one crazy ride through history.

Author: Susan Kooiman

Alumni Highlight: Amy Michael

Alumni Highlight: Amy Michael

Dr. Amy Michael is a biological anthropologist whose research examines the microstructure of human bones and teeth in order to address questions ranging from health and social identity in the ancient Maya to the effect of lifestyle factors on skeletal age. She is currently a