UB Anthropology Field School
During the summer session, UB Anthropology offers an enriching, hands-on 6-week field school experience at sites in western New York.
APY 338: Field Research Archaeology
Credit: 6.0 Hours
Summer 2021 Enrollment
To maintain a safe environment for students and instructors during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Field School is limited to 8 students this year. UB students with junior or senior standing are given enrollment priroity from March 1 to May 2. Beginning May 3 all other students are eligible to enroll pending space availability.
Led by Dr. Douglas Perrelli, the field school provides an intensive and rewarding archaeological field and lab experience for students interested in archaeology as an academic concentration and as a career option in the field of Cultural Resource Management (CRM). Field school is geared towards students with interests in North American archaeology or related fields including history, geology, geography, soil science and the natural sciences.
The goal is to introduce students to the techniques of archaeological site location, artifact identification, excavation, mapping, and material analysis in a fun but rigorous academic and applied setting. Students will learn
- To locate archaeological sites in a variety of settings,
- Methods of excavating sites in a stepwise fashion using New York State standards,
- Best practices for documenting the archaeological materials recovered in the field,
- Lab processing and classification of artifacts and materials,
- How to identify and analyze a sample of pre-contact and historic period artifacts,
- How to present information about sites in written and cartographic formats,
- How artifacts and information are stored and managed in a museum setting.
COVID-19: Student Expectations
Students must:
- Wear a face covering at all times inside classroom and lab spaces or when 6' distancing cannot occur in the field.
- Complete the Daily Attestation chatbot tool each day during the 6-week field school.
- Attend weekly surveillance testing should this remain a requirement for the summer session.
- Follow proper cleaning protocols as instructed by the course instructor and/or Archaeological Survey staff.
Site Locations
Field sites are located in Western New York and within a one-hour drive from the University at Buffalo North Campus.
Due to Covid-19 health and safety precautions, students are expected to provide their own transportation to and from the local field sites during the Summer 2021 session.
Typical Field Day
The field school runs Monday to Friday for the 6-week session.
A typical day will begin at 9:00AM with a short team meeting with the Laboratory Director to address the day’s goals, assign tasks, and answer any questions about the laboratory methodology or paperwork and readings.
Students will notice an emphasis on fieldwork, but must understand that we need to record, process and report on what we find. Students may be broken up into smaller groups to divide the lab work and provide a variety of student experiences including artifact processing and analysis, flint-knapping, record keeping and clerical work relating to site documentation, historic research, textbook and article reading, and the development of project proposals and budgets common to CRM archaeology.
Indoor classes will typically include a formal lecture or presentation of some kind.
Students will end the day by 4:00PM.
Required Materials
- Textbook: Burke, H., C. Smith, and L. Zimmerman (2009) The Archaeologist’s Field Handbook. North American Edition. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.: New York.
- Daily journal (composition book)
- Pencils with erasers
- 5" Marshalltown pointed trowel
- Tape Measure with metric units (3 meter metric hand tape is ideal)
- Compass with mirror
- Water bottle and sunscreen
- Work gloves
- Sensible shoes, preferably good digging boots
- Sensible clothing
- Portable lunch on field days
Course Calendar
Week 1: Topics
Course introduction; NYS regulations and Cultural Resource Management; landscape navigation, orienteering, mapping, site survey; location and field documentation; basic excavation skills; GPS mapping.
Week 2: Topics
Artifact classification, identification and analysis; stone tools and flint-knapping; ceramic analysis.
Week 3: Topics
Culture resource, cultural heritage and museum management; artifact and information storage; Indian Tribes and Nations in New York and beyond.
Week 4: Topics
Presenting the Evidence; mapping and reporting for clients and academia.
Week 5: Topics
Flotation; maps and map making.
Week 6: Topics
Project clean-up.
Field School Registration
If you are a current UB student, please register for the course using your Student HUB.
Visiting students may register for the field school (APY 338) through the UB This Summer program.
