Local archaeology dig gives students hands-on experience

University of Idaho students and their cohorts at Moscow High School have the opportunity to be involved in an archaeological dig right here on the Palouse.

Led by a group of archaeologists from the UI, high school and college students are conducting a public excavation on the high school campus in hopes of finding artifacts dating back to some of the earliest parts of Moscow.

“We’re doing the dig to provide opportunities for students to get field experience outside of the classroom,”said Professor Mark Warner, an archaeologist in UI’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology. “If we’re treating this as an educational opportunity, what better place to do this than at a high school?”

Warner and Assistant Professor Katrina Eichner are leading the excavation along with their students. Students from MHS, coordinated by Lee Anne Eareckson, a faculty member at the school who teaches biology, French, and world languages and cultures, will also take part.

“Normally archaeology field schools are offered during the summer months because they require travel to a remote location,” said Eichner. “Students have an opportunity to learn employable job skills while still maintaining a normal academic schedule. They also have an opportunity to learn transferable leadership and mentoring skills through their work with the MHS students.”

Artifacts found at the excavation site are to be cleaned and sorted by students at the university and then used for research by both high school and college students.

Warner said he hopes to identify small objects that can tell bigger stories. Specifically, they’re looking for trash associated with almost a century of high school history and also domestic trash — ceramics, toys, utensils, clothing or anything else left behind dating back to the 1890s, if not earlier. Objects as simple as utensils can help archaeologists make inferences about what kind of food was being eaten and what the quality of life was like for the people who discarded them.

Work on the site began Friday Sept. 6 and will continue through approximately Oct. 5, depending on what’s coming out of the ground.

Located at 402 E 5th St. in Moscow, it will be open to the public from 3-5p.m. each Friday and 8a.m.-4p.m. each Saturday.

Funding for the dig was provided by the Department of Sociology and Anthropology as well as the John Calhoun Smith Memorial Fund in the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences, which funds the preservation of history in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.

Angela Palermo can be reached at [email protected]