Remote work takes on a new meaning for UCCS anthropology students in the summer - several of whom are participating in a field course in southern Colorado under the guidance of Minette Church, Ph.D., Professor, and Karin Larkin, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Curator.
Learning to excavate, survey and classify our shared cultural resources that sit on state-owned land, which is designated for education and preservation, the students spend a few weeks in June and July in the secluded areas. This gives them vital hands-on experience in archaeology and connects them with fellow anthropology undergraduates and experts in their field.
"Students need this work for their transcripts and resumes," said Church. "So we offer a field course every summer, and have partnered with a variety of organizations over the years including the forest service, the Department of Defense and the city of Colorado Springs. This time we have a nonprofit partner out of Denver called Paleocultural Research Group."
"Paleocultural Research Group received a State Historical Fund grant from History Colorado to survey and document State lands in southeastern Colorado," Larkin added. "As part of this grant funded project, we also worked with faculty and a group of students from Oklahoma State University as well as professional archaeologists and volunteers who also participated in the field work and camped along side of us."
The education in field work goes beyond honing hard skills like identifying, surveying and classifying their surroundings. The students learn to work together, solve unexpected problems with limited resources and get the chance to experience what field work requires. Following the field course, the collected data is analyzed and interpreted by the students in a lab course the following fall semester and used to write their final report. Though most people associate field work with archaeology, both the field and lab work are essential components to doing archaeology.
"You have to know and experience the field work," Larkin emphasized. "Even if your ultimate goal is to work in the lab or work at the desk, you don't understand how to interpret and make those decisions without understanding the context of what it is that you saw in the field, and then how it gets translated later in the lab."
Among the surveying and studying are a few obstacles that come with working in remote areas, such as wind storms and errant cattle.
"We were recording a site, so the students were focused on that, and a bunch of cows were going by," said Church. "There was a good-sized bull with them, and he was getting a little worked up and protective of the cows and calves."
"I wouldn't quite say we were attacked, but it's not far off," she laughed.
One of the expedition goals is establishing the lands' history and uncovering the many puzzle pieces that make up its background, from identifying its inhabitants 10,000 years ago to learning more details about the families that resided there within the last century. Along with excavating and studying material remains found on the land, local archives and oral histories filled in by the descendants of the ranching families who once resided (or still do) in the proximity can be used to provide a richer picture of the area’s history.
"These big chunks of land the state has are also leased as working ranches, hence the bulls," Church explained. "The state has an interest in taking inventory of the cultural resources they have out there, so students are learning how to survey, inventory, record and map sites, and then the state historic preservation office makes the final recommendation after getting that feedback. We'll be looking at the general land office records as well to see who did own the property, and then title searches to see what the land sales were over time."
"They learn test excavations and how to make evaluations as to whether or not they'd be eligible for historic preservation," Larkin added. "We examine the material remains that are there and try to interpret the types of activities people were doing there in the past and understanding what their day-to-day life would have been like - what they did to make a living, what their economy was like, elements like that. We can tell quite a bit from the material remains alone, but having those oral histories fills in those gaps and personalizes the story."
The current field site's oral history is one Church is familiar with, as it's now the second she's studied on that's owned by the same family.
"It was so serendipitous that we ended up on another Lopez family site," Church said. "I keep coming back to their family, so I really enjoyed introducing students to their multigenerational saga."
Church and Larkin also love seeing how the students come together during the excursion, often beginning the course as strangers and ending it as friends.
"One of my favorite parts of the course is watching the relationship building that happens," Larkin shared. "When we first got there, the Oklahoma State University students and the UCCS students kept to their own groups, and even some of the UCCS students didn't know each other yet. It was wonderful watching all those relationships build, and seeing the barriers get broken down and everybody becoming one big family that works together to overcome some of the problems, like collapsed tents and wind storms."
Between the necessary site experience and relationship-building that students gain on these expeditions it's crucial they have the opportunity to attend at least one, but obstacles like funding or life obligations make it difficult for some.
"It's important to understand that participating in these types of field experiences can be a hardship for some of our students, especially if you need time off work and have to buy equipment," Larkin stressed. "Some of them are caretakers, so they have to find people to take over those caretaking duties. So, one of the things that we try to do is raise some funds to help the students be able to participate in these experiences, as some are not able to participate without having those extra resources available. But, if they do want to move on in a career in this, they also can't do that without having this experience. It's very important for us to do everything we can to give people that opportunity."
If you're interest in helping a student join a field course, read more about the expedition needs and consider contributing to one here.