After closing out excavation units 5 and 6 our team moved over to the old Botany building to do some survey work. The purpose of this survey was that construction workers were digging a trench on the North side of the building and we needed to see if there were any cultural materials present. Starting [...]
There is never a definitive answer in archaeology. What we do is piece together the facts and hypothesize about what we believe happened or is happening. It is an interesting way to learn about the past without an actual historical account. Even with historical records a lot can be learned from what is in the [...]
When most people think of archaeology, they think of sites like the pyramids in Egypt or Pompeii. They imagine tombs filled with jewelery and bedecked with frescoes. However, we’ve learned in the first few weeks of field school and in classes we’ve taken previous to this summer that it’s the small things that hold some [...]
Every student at MSU will have walked across the space immediately west of Beaumont Tower, and I’m sure most will notice the beauty of the areas historic buildings and the majestic oak trees shading West Circle. What you can’t see on your walk across campus are the artifacts deposited by those that attended before us. [...]
This past week the campus archaeology team surveyed an area familiar to any student, faculty member, or alumnus of MSU: the “sacred space.” The area we surveyed rests between Beaumont Tower and Sleepy Hollow, across West Circle Drive from the library. For many, the area’s sacred designation is one that remains personal, with the beauty [...]
