October 18, 2013

Updates on the CAP Typoloogy

Hello CAP blog followers! Thank you for your patience as I get back into blogging. This semester I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Kiluna Rosali so I had to delay my first post for a bit. Nevertheless this semester I am finishing up the CAP typology from last year. Here is a look at our progress to far and our goals for this semester.

As you may remember, CAP receives new budding archaeologists every year. These new students come from a spectrum of interest and experiences with archaeology and field work in particular. Therefore, CAP has set out to establish a type collection to introduce new students to the range of artifacts found during campus excavations. This collection is comprised of some of the common building materials, samples of the various bottles found, as well as bone fragments, ceramics, and personal items used throughout MSU’s history.

Courtesy http://onthebanks.mdu.edu/Obkect/1-4-E6/photographs-michigan-agricultural-college-scrapbook/

So far we have been able to identify key artifacts from sites such as Morrill Hall, the Brody Complex, and areas throughout the Sacred Center. These artifacts are re-labeled to reflect their initial provenience. We will then and put them on a separate, easily accessible shelf for students to become familiar with prior to setting out into the field. The collection will be used to help the students identify potential artifacts during shovel tests, walk throughs, and full scale excavations.

This year I am teaming up with Ciera Uyeunten, an anthropology major with an interest in artifact photography. Ciera will use photography skills to ensure that we have a digital version of the type collection. This version would be very useful in the field for on-site assistance. We also plan on creating a user friendly digital map with the associated artifacts along with pictures of the historic campus sites. This map will allow users to not only identify artifacts from specific areas on campus but also see some of the photos from different periods of campus life to get a sense of the activities from each site.