Project Description
This research has two primary goals. First, the student will work to wash, sort, and process artifacts and soil samples recovered during the 2023 and 2025 UWM archaeological field school. The student will then examine the lithics identified in that 2023-2025 sample from the Koshkonong Creek Village (KCV). In addition to gathering standard lithic data, the student will focus on identifying informal tools (aka flake tools). Sterner (2018) has demonstrated that people at eastern Oneota sites, like KCV, used a larger number of informal tools than groups to the west. Earlier researchers hypothesized that the large number of formal scrapers was related to different economic/hunting practices. However, Sterner’s research calls this interpretation into question but more data is needed to determine why eastern groups produced less formal tools. The washing, sorting, and soil processing will follow standard procedures established by UWM’s Program in Midwestern Archaeology. This includes adding 10 poppy seeds to each soil sample for control, and strict procedures and documentation to preserve context. Lithic analysis will follow methods by Jeske and Lurie, as updated by Sterner (2018).
Tasks and Responsibilites
The student will be responsible for maintaining provenience, filling out all appropriate paperwork and digital forms. This includes logs to track the progress of each field bag through the processing process, forms that ensure all flotation procedures are followed, and standard forms that include counts and weights for each artifact type and standard subcategories. The student will also be responsible for washing artifacts, identifying and sorting artifacts, and re-bagging artifacts with appropriate labels. Bags will be labeled with full provenience, including site, project, context, and bag contents. Once the full sample (2023-2025 assemblage) has been washed, sorted, and bagged, a box-level inventory will be generated to ensure proper curation is followed. Artifacts will be boxed based on the type of artifact, to facilitate future research and protect lighter artifacts. Then, with the help of the mentor, the student will be responsible for analyzing lithics, collecting standardized data, and conducting a focused tool analysis.
Desired Qualifications
None Listed.