ANTH P405 (11279): Field Work in Archaeology
Laura Scheiber
Historical Social Landscapes of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
MAY 22, 2006-JUNE 28, 2006

Indiana University (IU) and Northwest College (NWC) will be offering
their second cooperative program in archaeological field methods
scheduled from May 22, 2006 to June 28, 2006, with an additional
voluntary supplemental session offered from July 3-July 12, 2006.  The
field school is a holistic, field-based program in the social history
and human ecology of the northwestern High Plains and Middle Rocky
Mountains with a special emphasis on the Greater Yellowstone
Ecosystem.  This program examines the changing material culture of
Crow and Shoshone Indians during the transition from Pre-Contact
Period nomadic hunting and gathering societies to a contemporary
Reservation-based ranching culture.  Fieldwork includes a combined
program of remote sensing, total station and global positioning system
(GPS) mapping, artifact analysis, and limited test excavations at
sites in northwestern Wyoming and southern Montana.  Special topics
covered include regional geological and paleoenvironmental history,
human-animal interactions, and rock art studies.  For additional
information, see field school website at
http://www.northwestcollege.edu/area/anthropology/wy06fs.html.

Research will be conducted in four 10-day sessions with four days off
between each session.  Students can spend days off exploring
Yellowstone National Park or hiking and camping in the nearby Bighorn,
Beartooth, or Absaroka Mountains.  Sessions 1 and 2 will be held at
Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area (http://www.nps.gov/bica/).
Base camp for this project is at the Ewing-Snell Ranch, a fully
restored National Register of Historic Places landmark first
established in 1896.  Bighorn Canyon and the Ewing-Snell base camp
offer easy walking access to field sites from paved or gravel roads.
Sessions 3 and 4 will be held at a remote camp in the Shoshone
National Forest Washakie Wilderness Area
(http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/shoshone/).  The wilderness area base camp
requires students to pack their personal gear approximately 5 miles
over a 10,000-foot summit.  A certified outfitter and pack string will
deliver all field equipment and supplies to the camp.  The wilderness
component to this program affords few luxuries in a potentially harsh
but stunning environment with amazing archaeology.

IU vehicles will depart from Bloomington several days before the
official start of the session and transport students to the field
project.  A vehicle will return to Bloomington several days after the
third session (the end of the official field school) and again several
days after the fourth session (the end of the supplementary session).

Students should contact Laura Scheiber at scheiber@indiana.edu for an
application form.  Admission to the field school is by application
only.  This course carries 6 credit hours.  In addition to tuition, an
additional fee will be assessed (~$550).