Project Description
The student will work to wash, sort, and organize materials collected from the UWM archaeological field schools at the Koshkonong Creek Village (KCV). Washing, sorting, and flotation analysis will follow standard procedures that ensure maintenance of provenience and standardize quantifications to ensure comparable data. The student will then examine the ceramics identified in that sample, using the methods set forth by Schneider (2015) and Carpiaux (2018) Specifically, the student will examine vessel size (orifice diameter). Carpiaux (2018) looked at over 200 vessels from a small portion of the site and noted that the site has a modest number of very large vessels not present at other sites in the region and suggested that the site may have served as a gathering place for larger numbers of people, and the extra-large vessels may have been used to feed those gathered. We have since excavated other areas at the site, that have had lower densities of artifacts. The student will determine if the extra-large vessels are present throughout the site or just a small portion, which indicate if that initial site area had a special function, or if the large size was a typical feature of household ceramic wares at KCV.
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 ceramics, typing them within the Schneider (2015) system, and estimating the vessel size. With the aid of the mentor, the student will then conduct basic spatial and statistical analyses to compare the distribution of each vessel-size category.
Desired Qualifications
None Listed.