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Anthropology field school tea As he ventured through the field towards the dig site, Seth Schneider had to be careful where he put his feet. To his left were rows of newly-planted tobacco, and to his right were the uncovered remains of an ancient village site. Nestled on a small strip of dirt at the edge of the tobacco field were Schneiders’ students, a cohort of budding archaeologists carefully excavating a checkerboard of 2x2 meter squares. They dug in 10 centimeters deep levels and logged their findings in their field journals. In the squares, they found pottery sherds, stone tools called ‘lithics,’ and discolored earth representing storage pits and structures that once stood in the same spot the students stand today. It’s all that remains of people archaeologists refer to as the Oneota, groupings of Native Americans who lived in Wisconsin roughly 1,000 years ago. Schneider led this summer’s UWM Anthropology Field School, which ran through June and into July. It was his job to help students in the field school not only learn about this ancient village, but also learn to become archaeologists themselves. “We want to give the students basically a practicum or hands-on approach,” Schneider said as he watched a student examine a pottery sherd. “They are the researchers.” A brief history of field school Schneider, a principal investigator in UWM’s Archaeological Research Laboratory Center, continued the excavation at this, the Koshkonong Creek Village Site, that Rick Edwards, a principal investigator in UWM’s Archaological Research Laboratory Center, began in 2012. Schneider collaborated with Edwards and together they’re old pros; this is their fifth summer working together in the Field School on Lake Koshkonong. Broken triangular projectile point recovered from the screened dirt. Photo courtesy of the Anthropology Department. 6 • IN FOCUS • August, 2021
Field school students excavating a patch of farm field to expose pit and post hole features at the Koshko structures built by indigenous people known as the Oneota used to stand in this location. Photo courtesy
They learned their trade at the hands of UWM’s Anthropology professor emeritus Bob Jeske, who, now retired, led UWM anthropology students on field school excavations for some 30 years. They’ve been exploring the Oneota settlements around Lake Koshkonong and surrounding farmland. There are several sites scattered throughout the area and Schneider said the Field Schools have found evidence that the groups used to interact with each other. This year, the Field School returned to a farm in Edgerton, Wisconsin, where Edwards has previously run excavations. “The farm family is very excited to have us out there. Just knowing and learning about what used to be here is a very cool thing,” Schneider said.
