Protecting Michigan State's Material Culture
Numbers are important for archaeologists. We number each excavation we do, each hole within our surveys, and every single bag of artifacts we fill. These numbers help us keep organized. We can match the bag numbers with the site numbers, shovel test numbers with specific …
The large amount of rain East Lansing has experienced over the past three weeks has deeply affected the construction and archaeology on campus. This delay in work has allowed us at the Campus Archaeology Program to turn our attention to the other side of archaeology: finds …
We’ve been out doing our first two weeks of excavation at Jenison Field House and within West Circle Drive. So far we’ve found a number of interesting artifacts including an old gin bottle from brooklyn and a layer of burnt bricks possibly related to the Old Williams Hall. Before we get too far into the season, here are some introductions to our summer team!
Katy Meyers: I have been the Campus Archaeologist for two years, and this will be my last summer in this position. Over the past two years heading up the CAP teams I have excavated across the campus, gotten to do a dig at the first dormitory at MSU (Saints Rest) and excavated the Morrill Boiler Building found under East Circle Drive. In addition to this, I am currently a 3rd year PhD graduate student in Anthropology at MSU, and my research focus is on bi-ritual cemeteries in the UK. I got my start in archaeology through video games like Tomb Raider, and summer trips to my parent’s cabin where I got the chance to run up and down a gully finding fossils and early 20th century artifacts from the early cabins in the area. While my research does focus on cemeteries and funerary processes, I have done work on a number of historic and prehistoric sites throughout the Midwest and Northeast. I have truly loved being part of Campus Archaeology because it allows me to add to the history of MSU, and help create connections between the current and past campus.
Katie Scharra: I am a recent graduate of Michigan State University. Originally, I began a program in Microbiology. After travelling during my sophomore and junior years to Europe and exploring different cultures I had a change of interests. I wanted to look for an academic program that took my interest in science and applied it more culturally. This brought me into the Anthropology department where I began to study mortuary archaeology. In the future, I would like to apply both my microbiology and anthropology degrees with a PhD in Bioarchaeology. In order to gain experience in field methods and to keep up my archaeology skills during my current gap year I joined the Campus Archaeology team. Over the past year, I have worked on a few digs across campus and worked with the artifacts. In the spring I was involved with cleaning and interpreting the artifacts recovered from the October 2012 excavation of Saint’s Rest, the first dormitory on campus. During this project, a partner and I organized the finds in to a classification based on use (i.e. home goods, school items, building materials). This allowed to us to have a look in to the more realistic lives of the first Spartans. We presented our findings and the 2013 University Undergraduate’s Research Forum. This summer I am looking forward to continuing investigation into the changing landscapes and lifestyles of campus.
Bethany Slon: I am an undergraduate student majoring in Anthropology, and this fall I will be starting my senior year at Michigan State University, anticipating graduation in December. I started working with Campus Archaeology in the summer of 2012 as a volunteer, and the following fall semester I began work as an intern under the direction of Dr. Goldstein and Katy Meyers. My research involved looking at the early years of the Women’s Building (now called Morrill Hall) and gathering information about the first female students who lived in this dorm. The MSU archives was very useful with my study; they provided me with scrapbooks made by the female residents of the Women’s Building, in addition to maps, photos, and plenty of other information. I eventually presented this information at the University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum, linking it to Campus Archaeology and what the demolition of Morrill Hall means to us. This summer I am working again with Campus Archaeology, this time to monitor construction and make sure nothing of historical or archeological value is destroyed or missed. I eventually want to become a bioarchaeologist, specializing in Central American locations. I’ll be attending MSU’s Dr. Wrobel’s field school this summer in Belize, where I will be doing research on caries of the ancient Mayan population that used to live there, giving me both experience and knowledge I’ll need for the future. Graduate school is also in the plans for me, though where I’ll be going is yet to be decided. Archaeology has always been a passion of mine, and I am lucky to have found this experience with Campus Archaeology, both to broaden my skills as an archaeologist and to do what I love.
Josh Schnell: I am a freshman here at MSU, majoring in Anthropology and Religious Studies, with a specialization in Latin American Studies. I have been working with Campus Archaeology since February of 2013 when I began an internship learning how to use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software in an archaeological context. This summer, as a member of the Campus Archaeology Survey Team I will be digging during and monitoring various construction projects to ensure our campus’ cultural heritage is not lost. I am an aspiring bioarchaeologist with a strong interest in mortuary practices, and I also volunteer in MSU’s bioarchaeology lab. A strong fascination with ancient cultures is what first drew me to archaeology as a potential career in middle school, and ever since then I have been dedicated to protecting, investigating, and educating others about our past. As President and Webmaster of the Undergraduate Anthropology Club at MSU, I have a strong interest in building a social foundation and creating an environment where other anthropology students can learn, collaborate, and help each other. I hope that through working with the Campus Archaeology Program this summer I will gain experience in conducting Cultural Resource Management work in the field, as well as expand upon general archaeological field skills.
Marie Schaefer: I come to the Campus Archeology Program from a more cultural anthropology background. However, I have always thought to be a good anthropologist you need to have a least a basic understanding of all the subfields of anthropology (cultural, archeological, linguistics, biological). This is especially true if you are going to be working with any Native American tribes or conducting any applied anthological projects in which you might be working with anthropologists and others from all different backgrounds. As a result, I have searched out opportunities to gain an understanding of the different perspectives of anthropology. After graduating from Eastern Michigan University with a BS in anthropology I went to Northern Arizona University for my masters where I had the opportunity to conduct a needs and asset assessment with Hopi women for the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office on why Hopi women’s traditional knowledge is not being passed down to the next generation and suggestions on how to stem the tide of this knowledge loss. Currently I am in the PhD program in anthropology at Michigan State University with a very applied focus to my work which focuses on how indigenous knowledge and Western scientific knowledge can be integrated in order to assist in the creation of sustainable futures for indigenous people. The CAP program offers me a unique opportunity to not only learn more about the amazing history of a land grant university but also to gain a deeper understanding of the work of anthropologists in order to serve as a bridge between tribes and archeologists.
Down in the Campus Archaeology lab we are dealing with an interesting problem. Two of our volunteers, Katie and Dana, have been diligently cleaning and cataloging artifacts from the work we did this past Fall. As most of you know, we excavated the Northwest portion …
Historical archaeology is often defined by the use of both archaeological and documentary evidence. The two lines of evidence don’t always complement one another, sometimes they can be quite contradictory. One example of this on campus is the presence of smoking pipes from the 19th …
This is the final installment on my series about how the archaeology lab is an interesting place and lab skills should be a part to the every archaeologists tool kit. This last part will focus on some of the cool artifacts that we currently house in the CAP lab. Again, this may seem simple to some, but this insider’s perspective may help newcomers over the hump of post field work archaeology. The lab is pretty simple. It’s space, basic equipment and fun artifacts can greatly enhance their overall archaeological experience.
So where do artifacts come from? Of course they come from site surveys and excavations, but did you know that sometimes artifacts come right from local backyards? While archaeologists are typically hesitant to keep artifacts without proper provenience, everyday folks often find interesting things in their own backyards and donate them to the nearest archaeologists. This results in a variety of artifacts that can contribute to local history and become part of artifact collections.
While we typically encourage people to leave the objects in the ground so that proper assessment of it’s value can be done prior to bringing it into the lab, occasionally people will bring in all kinds of things they consider valuable for some reason or another. Kind of like antiques roadshow except we don’t pay you! So, how does the lab handle these kinds of situations? We attempt to get any and all possible information from the owner to determine its archaeological value and whether or not we should keep it. Then we label and record it according to this conversation and decide to keep it here or not. This may seem pretty intimidating but this is very rare and all you have to do is direct them to your supervisor, they are more likely than not used to this sort of thing.
However, the majority of artifacts come from archaeological research. What are some cool finds from our research thus far? Building materials. The benefit of archaeology on an expansive site that has been continuously occupied since the end of the industrial revolution is that there is no shortage of building materials. Plus due to MSU’s long history of sustainability, as Amy Michaels reminds us, they constantly recycled buildings and building materials as the campus expanded over the 20th century. So let’s get started!
If you’ve followed CAP work over the years you know that there is no shortage of bricks in our labs. We have large bricks, small bricks, brick shards, bricks of all sorts of colors, and made in a variety of ways. Bricks are everywhere. CAP has a lot of bricks. MSU’s recycled buildings leaves a layer of brick debry across a large part of campus. Aside from interpretive identification through age and technology, the bricks make up the foundation, excuse the pun, of the CAP artifact collection. So if you are interested in post industrial brick building techniques and tidbits, let us know, because we have a lot of bricks!
If building materials were constantly recycled, then our next category of artifacts, a personal favorite of mine, is pretty easy to identify: metal! Well, mostly nails but metal nonetheless. We have unidentified metal chunks, metal construction materials, latches, keys, even a bullet casing! The CAP collection has all sorts of metals. The nails are particularly interesting because there is much to learn from nails. First, beyond the size, the type of nail head (square or circular), the shape of the end, and the smoothness of its side can all help determine the date and type of manufacturing through modest observation. Also, archaeologists have come up with theories to determine the size of fences and buildings through an assessment of the sheer quantity of nails. Nails are typically made of iron or steel but can vary along a wide spectrum depending on if they were hand or machine cut! I know I’ve said enough already about nails, but next time you walk into a building, sit on a chair, or even open up your laptop, consider the role nails play in your everyday life.
There are a variety of other artifacts in the CAP lab and you can peruse our blogs for the many different descriptions and interpretations of our finds. This post was simply to end our discussion on the nature of the CAP lab. Labs can be much more complicated and often they are, but this lab is a friendly place made up of simple organizing materials. It is a repository for the artifacts that we come across through a variety of means.
So if you have already spent a few summers in the field but haven’t worked in the lab, give it a whirl! Sign up for lab work this year and explore a whole new element of archaeological research. You never know what you might find!
Author: Blair Zaid
In my last post I highlighted some of the basic but interesting things about the CAP laboratories. Primarily, this series is to demystify the lab so that new and emerging archaeologists will feel comfortable moving between “the field” and “the lab”. If you’re still hooked, …
For those of us who troweled our way into being an experienced archaeologists or those just curious about what goes on in “the lab” this post will highlight some of the varieties of interesting things you will find at the other end of excavation unit! …
We are now deep into the throws of creating a typology for the CAP artifacts from across campus to establish a system for adding new objects during future work. In archaeology this set of artifacts is called a type collection which allows us to be able to potentially identify new objects based on similarities of objects that have already been found on a specific site. Type collections are ideal for acclimating new students to the variety of objects found on the site. The collection will then be used as a reference point for identifying objects as they discover new items in the ground. With a combination of Bethany’s organization skills and my knowledge of historic artifacts we hope to establish a useful collection of artifacts found on a typical mid-west campus.
CAP, as you know, has had quite a few excavations and surveys since its inception in 2006. Although those artifacts are all cataloged and stored, we needed to develop a system that allows us to identify and manage new artifacts in an orderly fashion and that can build on and expand our work, rather than duplicating the work of previous years. Thus far, CAP has artifact assemblages from across campus including, Beaumont Tower, the Brody Neighborhood, the historic site of Saint’s Rest, Beal Street and the collection continues to grow as MSU changes and expands its footprint over the next few years. Bethany and I have begun to unravel the multiple types of artifacts found within these assemblages to identify which ones represent basic archaeological finds on campus settings from the 19th, 20th and now 21st century.
Why are we going through all of this trouble? Well part of the systematic examination of objects from the past requires establishing a set of characteristics that frames how we interpret new data. This process can be done at several different levels; at the level of specific sites, activity zones, or by time of use. Our aim is to focus on the level of types as sites as these sites maintained a variety of functions throughout the expansion of MSU. We will focus on classifying the types of object we find with reference to their identifiable material, form, and use. Therefore when future archaeologists find similar objects in the ground on campus, they can make appropriate relationships with the similar objects we already found in previous years. We can then use these similarities and compare them to make interpretations about past human behavior here on campus.
We began our typology with sorting out the Brody collections. These collections take up a significant portion of the CAP collections and it contains a variety of artifacts ranging from whiskey bottles to construction nails. Our strategy used the same artifact identification instrument as the ones from the field schools so that we stayed close to the needs of the students.
First, we separated all of the artifacts into various types: metal objects, ceramics, glass bottles, and the like. The Brody Complex collection had a significant amount of full intact bottles which allow us to be able to gather shapes, form, makers marks, body type, manufacturing style and often times actual usage information. We identified very good examples of some alcohol, druggists, and household forms such as this medium size milk jug shown on the right.
The collection also contains a very good example of “rockingham” pottery. This style was largely popular in the 19th century and although in the US it refers to the thick brown glazed earthenware, the name actually refers to a British rococo style of the same era. The US version shown below on the left, was typically made in a pottery factory in Ohio.
All laid out in the lab, the collections makes some very cool statements about life on campus. The pieces we pulled from the entire collection will provide a snap shot of the types of objects typically found at MSU and what campuses assemblages can potentially contain. As we just finished the Brody, College Hall/ Beaumont Tower, and Beal Garden collections, we know that the Beal Street collections will surely add to expanding our typology. Stay tuned for more photos and information about the typical artifacts found in our collections!
Author: Blair Zaid
Over the past week, the Campus Archaeology team has been busy excavating beneath the sidewalks that were laid above Saints’ Rest. The building was first erected in 1856. It is the second building constructed at Michigan State University and the first dormitory. The name, Saints’ …