Student archaeologists dig into experience

Five UW–Madison students are acquiring valuable experience this summer at an archaeological dig just a short distance from campus.

The dig, on a large plot of land near U.S. Highway 12 in Middleton, is helping preserve artifacts and information about past inhabitants before highway construction begins in the area. A team from the Museum Archaeology Program of the Wisconsin Historical Society has been excavating the site since last August.

This summer, UW–Madison graduate students Bill Eichmann and Mike Lange and recent graduates Ryan Bartholomew, Colleen Hermans and Erin Schneider have joined the team at the site, known as the Murphy site. From 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays, the students conduct the meticulous work of archaeology – marking off one-square-meter areas, skimming off layers of earth five centimeters at a time, sifting through the dirt, mapping protruding objects, features and differences in soil color, and bagging and tagging small artifacts.

Despite the tedious attention to detail and hot summer sun, the students recognize the value of the experience. “It’s a nice tediousness, actually,” says Lange, a doctoral candidate in cultural anthropology and Scandinavian studies. “It gives us a chance to talk. We get to know each other far too well and camaraderie builds very quickly.”

The dig has unearthed many projectile points, potsherds and storage pits, largely from the Middle to Late Archaic periods (5000 B.C. to 1000 B.C.) and the Late Woodlands period (500 A.D. to 1250 A.D.). Although the students may be focusing their academic work on other time periods or cultures, a local dig gives them valuable training and experience.

“I’m going to be using archaeology in my eventual field work, so any archaeology experience is a good thing,” says Lange, who plans to study the mix of Viking and Celtic influences in the Orkney Islands. “And it’s a great summer job.”

Hermans, who just earned her anthropology degree, has a professional interest in geographical information systems, which use computers to analyze spatial data, and osteology, the study of human bones. Participating at the Murphy site is “a way to get as much time under my belt as possible,” she says. “I didn’t want to be a waitress [for the summer], I wanted to use my degree.”

The excavation also provides students extra income for school and establishes connections with the archaeological community. Connections are important for finding employment in these sorts of projects because news of excavations is often spread by word of mouth, says Lange.

Many of these students have attended field schools, gaining additional excavation experience at sites ranging from New Mexico to as far away as Sweden. But the more experiences these students can collect, they say, the more they’ll learn.

“The more archaeology and more situations I can be exposed to the better,” says Eichmann, who is spending his second summer at the Murphy site.

“Conceivably, some time in the future I’ll be able to draw upon experiences here and other places, including things I do right and things I do wrong,” Eichmann says. “It’s a learning process.”

Eichmann concentrates on Wisconsin and Eastern European archaeology, so the Murphy site is closely related to his interests. He has also gained insight into the different archeological approach used in Cultural Resource Management projects such as the Murphy site.

“It’s a lot more salvage-based, and what you deal with is always a mixed bag,” Eichmann says. “It’s nice because you gain a lot of experience with different time periods and you never know what you’ll be dealing with.”

Marlin Hawley, an archaeologist for the Museum Archaeology Project and director of the Murphy site, says that the dig isn’t just a great opportunity for students. It also sends a valuable message to the community. “Wisconsin is a storehouse of information,” Hawley says. “There’s just so much out here beneath your feet. It’s good for people to see and understand that.”

The group was surprised last summer to find the bases of three keyhole-shaped structures and one oval structure, which indicate occupations in the area during time periods other than the Archaic and Late Woodland periods that have produced most artifacts. “[These findings] add detail to our picture of the Archaic and Late Woodland periods and how the area was used by native populations,” says Hawley.

Now a cornfield, the Murphy site was once a lush area on the edge of a swamp, most likely an ideal habitat. Hawley says it is very likely that the occupants of this area were involved in the construction of the mounds that are so prevalent in the Madison area.

The team plans to excavate two smaller sites along Highway 12 before summer ends. The first, Aldens Corner, houses a post office from the Civil War era. The second, River Quarry, is in Sauk Prairie. All three sites are being funded by the Department of Transportation, in accordance with laws that require archaeological sites be protected during agency activities.

The Wisconsin Historical Society will ultimately curate all artifacts found at the site. For more information on the dig, contact Hawley.