College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

• Simulated dig

  Department of Anthropology establishes artificial excavation site for Anthropology 308 class.
  
  

• Everything about the Big Bluff site is fabricated.
  
  Cultural and historical "artifacts" are placed at the site, buried in pre-determined locations. The site itself is a horse pasture on university property just north of the main campus.
  
  But just because the site is fabricated doesn't mean that the 30 anthropology students from Anthropology 308 who spent most of two recent weekends at the location didn't find this a valuable experience.
  
  "This type of excavation site allows the students to explore more archaeological techniques and methods than we would be able to do at a local site," said Nancy Coinman, associate professor of anthropology. "We can artificially construct the site in order to teach a greater diversity of concepts and techniques than any local site could provide."
  
  For several years, the department took its Anthropology 308 students to a prehistoric and historic site near Boone or to the 4-H Camp. But there were limitations in the field experiences that students could have at the real sites.
  
  "Archaeology is perceived by most students as an adventure in discovery," Coinman said. "This (class) is their first experience out in the field and they want to have the opportunity to find something.
  
  "The idea with an artificial site is to let them have some success while making it as realistic as possible."
  
  There are also ethical issues to consider in making the switch to an artificial site.
  
  "Because North America's archaeological record in general is finite and the cultural resources seriously impacted in most areas of the continent, there are ethical concerns about training students on limited cultural resources," Coinman said. "There are a lot of things we have to teach our students and we can do that at the artificial site without impacting our finite cultural resources."
  
  Five excavation units were prepared by Coinman, graduate students and student volunteers in early August. Cultural "artifacts" were placed up to 40 centimeters deep in the ground, the topsoil was placed back, and grass allowed to grow before the field exercises were held.
  
  No real artifacts from any previously excavated archaeological site were used at the artificial site. The items reflected either recent historical periods or simulated prehistoric artifacts of stone tools and animal bones.
  
  Additional prehistoric "artifacts" were generated during the course's flint-knapping section and were appropriately marked with a red dot symbolizing an artificial artifact. These were used to "seed" the surface and were located and mapped by the students.
  
  Just like a regular archeological site, students excavated 2x2m units, digging in 10-centimeter levels. Students also developed site maps, completed auger tests and investigated geological site formation processes at the Big Bluff site.
  
  Afterwards the students will analyze the "artifacts" they excavated from the site in their weekly two-hour labs.
  
  "We're attempting to develop a coherent, complete package," Coinman said. "There is a lot for students to learn. In two full days they carry out realistic surface sampling strategies and subsurface excavations.
  
  "It's exactly what we would teach at a real archaeological site."

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October 17-30, 2005

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