Protecting Michigan State's Material Culture
Blog posts from members of the Campus Archaeology Program; including the director, the campus archaeologist, graduate students, and undergraduate interns.
Well, it’s been a long summer, but we’re going to get in the spirit of Spooky Season with the follow-up everyone has been waiting for: what is the CAPacabra? If you missed Part 1, the CAPacabra is a mummified animal discovered in the ceiling of …
Happy Fall everyone! We are excited to announce that we will hosting Apparitions & Archaeology a Haunted Tour event this October! This event has been a long standing collaboration between the Campus Archaeology Program and the undergraduate Paranormal Society at MSU. Come join us to …
Hi! My name is Jerielle and I’m a first year CAP fellow, working on my PhD in forensic anthropology. I have an undergraduate degree in biology and a masters degree in forensic anthropology. Unlike many other CAP fellows, my interests lean more towards (human) skeletal …
By Aubree Marshall and Benjamin Akey Sometimes, when archaeologists are lucky, we run into botanical remains. In my personal research, I look at microbotanicals (like pollen, starches, and phytoliths) from dental calculus (the stuff your dental hygienist scrapes off of your teeth!) to understand diet. …
Happy October y’all! We are happy to announce that we will be once again hosting our Haunted Tour event following last year’s hiatus. While we may have missed last year, 2024 represents the tenth anniversary of Apparitions & Archaeology, a long lasting collaboration between the …
One of the most exciting things about archaeology is that you never know what you’ll find until you start digging, and sometimes you don’t know what you find when you find it, and that is exactly the case with this discovery. While digging the shovel test …
Hello, my name is Josie Cowles and I am a junior here at MSU currently working with the MSU Campus Archaeology Program (CAP) to excavate the old MSU observatory. The foundation was found by the CAP crew in May of 2023, and has been the …
Hi, my name is Katie Simonson and I am one of the students taking part in the 2024 field school, where we are working on the site of the original observatory here on MSU’s campus. Part of the foundations were found earlier in May of …
The importance of archaeological excavations revolve around the drive to uncover forgotten, and missing pieces of history; my time with Michigan State’s Campus Archaeology Program aided in doing just that. I worked alongside Dr. Stacey Camp and 12 other CAP crew members to dig up …
This academic year has allowed me to explore several digital methods I had little to no knowledge about. This is partially due to my teaching position at MSU in the Lab for the Education and Advancement in Digital Research (LEADR). While in this position, I …