Utah Pottery Project/Michigan Technological University
Location: Utah, United States
Season dates: May 11, 2009 - June 26, 2009
http://utahpotteryproject.
http://www.ss.mtu.edu/faculty/
Project Director
Timothy James Scarlett, Department of Social Sciences, Michigan
Technological University
Description
Join Michigan Tech archaeologists excavating at sites of nineteenth
century pottery making in beautiful southern Utah. Immigrant potters
settled in small towns and large cities as part of the Latter-day
Saints' colonization of the desert and mountain west. Excavators hope
to learn how the potters adapted to the new physical and social
environments of the west, overcoming their limited technical skills to
use new raw materials and building businesses for a new social market.
The 2009 Excavations will concentrate on recovering details on
production-related features, including the kilns, clay processing
areas, and workshops, but will also include family households.
The Utah Pottery Project is a public archaeology program. Students
will work side-by-side with community members in research teams. Teams
will combine clues from excavation with evidence from oral history,
experimental archaeology, materials science, and archival research.
Students help to interpret discoveries to visitors both at the site
and in blogs on the web. The excavation results will be used to build
an operating replica pottery at the Iron Mission State Park Museum in
Cedar City, Utah.
Students will learn a broad array of field techniques, including
excavation, geoarchaeological and bioarchaeological sampling, survey
and mapping (including GPS), photography, illustration, artifact
identification, and materials science and experimental archaeology.
Southern Utah enjoys a stunning landscape with unequaled outdoor
recreation opportunities, including ecological and heritage tourism.
Within a few hours drive are Zion, Bryce Canyon, Arches, and Grand
Canyon National Parks; Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument;
Fishlake and Dixie National Forests; Lake Powell; the cities of St.
George, Utah, and Las Vegas, Nevada; and many other heritage highways,
state parks, forests, monuments, and museums.
Room and Board arrangements
Students stay in a field camp. Camp is free, but expect to provide
your own tent and camping gear. Some communal equipment will be
provided-cooking stoves and ice chests are examples. Students often
organize themselves and share cooking responsibilities and costs.
Academic credit
Number of credits: 2-8 (as needed by student home institution)
Offered by: Michigan Technological University
Tuition: $331 to $723 per credit, see website for details, including
guest student status and international student information:
http://www.ss.mtu.edu/faculty/
Contact information
Timothy James Scarlett
MTU/Social Sci/AOB 209, 1400 Townsend Dr.
Houghton, MI 49931
USA
(906)487-2113
(906)487-2468 (fax)
scarlett@mtu.edu (email preferred during 2008-2009 while on sabbatical)
Bibliography
Timothy James Scarlett, "Pottery in the Mormon Economy: an Historical
and Archaeometric Study." Historical Archaeology. 41(4):70-95. 2007.
Timothy James Scarlett, "Flowscapes of Globalization in Mormon Pioneer
Utah." International Journal of Historical Archaeology. 10(2):109-134.
2006.
Nicole C. Little, Timothy James Scarlett, Robert J. Speakman,
Christopher W. Merritt, and Michael D. Glascock, "Analysis of Historic
Latter-day Saint Pottery Glazes by LA-ICP-MS." Archaeological
Chemistry: Analytical Methods and Archaeological Interpretation.
American Chemical Society Publication Series #968, pp. 447-459.. 2007.
Kirk Henrichsen, "Pioneer Pottery of Utah and E. C. Henrichsen's Provo
Pottery Company." Utah Historical Quarterly. 56(4):360-395. 1988.
Christopher Merritt, "Trade and Consumption in the Mormon Great Basin,
1847-1900: locally produced ceramics and instrumental activation
analysis." M.S. Thesis, Department of Social Sciences, Michigan
Technological University. 2006.
The field school announcements:
http://archaeology.about.com/
http://www.archaeological.org/
1 comment:
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