Protecting Michigan State's Material Culture
As our archaeological investigation of People’s Park continues, so does our archival investigation. As Adrianne explained in our last blog one of the motivating factors behind our shovel test survey of People’s Park was pinpointing the location of the Chittenden Memorial Cabin; however there were …
For the past two weeks, we have been surveying in Munn Field prior to the installation of new astroturf. Last week, a test pit on the western side of the field caused some excitement! It revealed a puzzling amount of iron wire. The wire didn’t …
Meet the summer CAP crew.
Ian Harrison
As the summer field season begins, I would just like to introduce myself as one of the undergraduate campus archaeologists. I am dual majored in Anthropology and Geography, and am going into my final year here at MSU. While taking summer classes on campus, the CAP program wound up being the perfect fit for me to be able to simultaneously take classes while still being able to stay involved with archaeology (ie. not missing a field season and learning more than I ever thought I could about our campus’ history to boot). Otherwise, I am looking at graduate programs in underwater and Mediterranean archaeology that will ideally land me somewhere off the coast of Southern Europe searching for sunken bronze and iron age shipwrecks in another 4-8 years, but, one step at a time. I have already greatly enjoyed this summer in the field on campus thus far, and look forward to spending the rest of the summer with everyone.
Bethany Slon
As a recent graduate of MSU, I am happy to say that I will be working with CAP for one last summer before leaving East Lansing. 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 Kay Meyers. My research involved looking at the early years of the Women’s Building (later called Morrill Hall) and gathering information about the first female students who lived in this dorm. I presented this information at the University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum, linking it to Campus Archaeology and what the demolition of Morrill Hall meant to us. I’ll be working with the CAP summer team until July, and ten I’ll be leaving for a six month stay in Mexico, in which I’ll be assisting in an excavation outside of Mexico City. Additionally, I have hopes of someday using what I’ve learned from my experiences to continue my research of the ancient Maya in a bioarchaeology graduate program. 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.
Caroline Dunham
I am unusual here in the Campus Archaeology crew in that I am not an anthropology student, or even an MSU student. I am a student in LCC’s paralegal program, but archaeology is a big interest of mine. I also have been doing it since I was a kid because my dad is Dr. Sean Dunham, a recent Ph.D. grad from MSU’s Department of Anthropology. This is my second year of working with CAP; my first was in 2012. I have also worked on numerous Cultural Resource Management (CRM) projects through CCRG. After I get my associates degree, I am considering either law school or an anthropology degree.
Josh Schnell
I just finished my sophomore year at MSU as an undergraduate Anthropology student with an additional Religious Studies major. 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 my second summer working as a member of the Campus Archaeology summer team. This past year, I expanded my GIS experience and skills and presented the results of a GIS-based project investigating MSU’s Sacred Space at UURAF in the spring. This summer, we are looking to further expand CAP’s GIS work in a series of map overlays that will enhance our pre-digging research. I eventually want to be a bioarchaeologist working with the ancient Maya. My desire to become an archaeologist was actually fueled by my fascination with the ancient Maya sparked by a freshman year World History class. I am particularly interested in ritual and how it is expressed on the landscape and in power systems with an emphasis on mortuary contexts. I was recently awarded an assistantship next year for a research project under the direction of Dr. Goldstien that will allow me to further investigate these topics. I hope that this summer with CAP will give me another opportunity to further develop my field skills.
While digging the newly recovered structure by Ag Hall last week, we came across an old pipe that was covered in a fabric material. We were immediately concerned that this material was asbestos. Even though we were on a tight time crunch (the construction companies …
By Josh Schnell, Erica Dziedzic, and Kate Frederick We began this CAP excavation season with an exciting find; on the first day of monitoring the construction work near Agriculture Hall revealed an old foundation! The layer was only about a foot thick and covered with …
Saints’ Rest was first erected in 1856. It is the second building constructed at Michigan State University and the first dormitory. The name, Saints’ Rest, was a nickname from the students to the building more commonly known as the ‘hall’ or ‘home’. It was named so after a religious devotional book by Richard Baxter, The Saints’ Everlasting Rest, which was first published circa 1649 and was required reading for the first class of MSU students. A three story building, it served as the primary dorm until 1871, when Williams Hall was built. Sadly, Saints’ Rest was poorly constructed and, in the winter of 1876, it burned down.
In 2005, excavations uncovered much of the northern portion of the structure as part of MSU’s Sesquicentennial. This dig was able to capture much of the last days of the building’s life- the cellar was full of brick from the collapsed building, there was charred wood beam, and the stoves from the different floors collapsed and stacked on top of each other. Due to the fact that it was winter break and that Williams was becoming more highly used, very few household artifacts were found. In 2007, more of the interior was investigated during a sidewalk realignment. In 2008, a refuse pit from the building was recovered during a tree-plating. These artifacts included ceramic whiteware, glass tumblers, and cut animal bone, all dating to the 1860s and 70s. The refuse pit was further excavated during 2009 during Grandparents University. In 2012 the northwest corner of the building was excavated during another sidewalk replacement project, and we were able to map a corner that had not been discovered previously.
This past week, Campus Archaeology got another chance to explore a new section of this historic building. Sidewalk removal and placement caused one walk above Saints’ Rest to be completely taken out and replaced with sod, and a new one was being placed in. The goal of this change in sidewalks was to protect the trees in the area, however it also allowed us the chance to explore the southern portions of the building. We opened up two trenches along the area where the new sidewalk was being placed, one in the north and one in the south. Shovel tests were done in between these areas.
In the northern trench, we uncovered almost 80 centimeters of pure brick. Some were burnt, most were in small pieces, and only a few were whole. As we slowly moved through the brick and soil, a tough task in the hot sun, we found that there was a distinct change in soil color about halfway through the trench. As we progressed, we found all the components (minus the wood) for a door including the hinges and handles, portions of a stove door, and large amounts of nails. At 86 centimeters down we hit a dark level of compact plaster- the floor of the basement. We carefully revealed the floor, and halfway through the trench it stopped. There was a section of bricks, and then the second half of the trench was compacted sand. We think perhaps we found the division between two rooms, one with a raised plaster floor and the other a sand floor.
The second trench to the south contained fairly high numbers of broken glass, whiteware, porcelain, metal, and even a complete spoon. However, as we got deeper around 40cm we found more brick and eventually hit an entire layer of brick that was stuck together in place with mortar. At first glance it looked like a patio or floor, but the bricks weren’t aligned correctly for that. Further digging we found that the bricks were in mortared sections, and had the appearance that they had been once upright instead of horizontal. In the eastern wall of the trench we found a pipe that ran the length of the trench through the bricks. It is highly likely this pipe was a chimney flue and the brick was the support for the chimney. It probably fell down during the fire or razing of the building, and was simply buried.
These two trenches have further helped us understand the layout and makeup of the building, and hopefully in the future we will be able to explore this southern area more!
Author: Katy Meyers Emery
Michigan State University’s landscape is consistently changing. The area north of the Museum and west of Linton hall, known as the sacred space, is a great example of this. Although no buildings have been built within this space the changing of the roads from inside the space …
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 …
This summer, Campus Archaeology is going to be very busy doing archaeological surveys and monitoring various construction projects. There are eight different projects occurring over the summer that we will be a part of in some manner. Over the past couple months we’ve been meeting with Physical Plant and construction company members to discuss the projects. We’ve done research with the MSU Archives to determine the historic significance of the area. We’re just about ready, and now all we have to do is wait for all the projects to start up!
The first project is the reconstruction of the Jenison Parking Lot. As we’ve discussed about before, parking lots and sidewalks can be great for archaeologists, because they protect any historic or prehistoric material underneath them. We’ve also had good luck finding things on the banks of rivers, so this project will give us the opportunity to do just that and explore a new section of the Red Cedar River.
Next, there is the renovations occurring at Landon Hall. This will also involve removal of asphalt and concrete, under which will we be testing for artifacts. We know that this area was once Faculty Row, and had a number of residences for faculty that were built in the late 19th century. Third, the Bogue Street round-about is being redesigned to match the intersection between Farm Ln, Shaw Ln, and Red Cedar Rd. This project has already begun. There is also a possible project along the railroad and arboretum to the south. The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams will be placing power ducts from the Power Plant to their main site on Bogue and Wilson, so this will required some survey.
There are also two major demolitions that are going to occur. The first is the Old Botany Greenhouse, part of which has already been removed. The greenhouses are over 100 years old, and no longer are in use. The second demolition is the one we’ve all been talking about- the Morrill Hall demolition. Sadly, the building cannot be maintained, so it will be torn down over the summer. For both of these, we will be recording the process for history and then checking the sites prior to renovation.
Finally, just as there was last year, a section of West Circle Drive is going to be removed to replace steam tunnels. We will be closely working with the team to record and survey all their work. In particular we hope to find out more about what happened to the brook that ran through MSU’s north campus, and whether there are remains of the bridge that once was there. Along with this project there will also be some sidewalk replacement around the Sacred Space.
It will be an exciting summer, and we invite you to come out to visit us throughout May, June and July. Further updates on the blog will be given about specific project details, and we will be sharing information from the field on facebook and twitter!
Author: Katy Meyers Emery
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’ …