FSJ Welcomes Dr. Sauck!

My name is Nolan Powers and I am from Grand Rapids. Also, I am going into my third year of university. Due to my interest in anything related to history I have chosen to study both history and anthropology.  I am excited to unearth and discover palpable remains at Fort St. Joseph as I know this will strengthen my understanding and connection to the history of the land I know well. 

Not only were groups finding artifacts such as stone flakes from ancient Native Americans, to a musket ball and a ram pipe from the 18^th century, and items from the 20^th century, the site also had a visit from a professor from the Geoscience Department. Dr. Bill Sauck has traveled the world researching geophysics and using geophysical methods on almost every continent. His arrival proved to be as interesting as the discoveries that were made today. We surveyed the land and also learned from Dr. Sauck how to properly use and understand readings from the magnetometer. A magnetometer is a device where magnetic material is measured and detected in the ground and that data is collected. The tool is influenced by the earth’s magnetic field. What’s more, the device detects any magnetic conductive material, and can relay that data back to the device. We can then use data, from the magnetometer, to plot out on a map where any anomalies are beneath the ground. This gives us a better understanding where the best place to dig is. Throughout the day we followed Dr. Sauck’s instruction as he carefully followed survey lines that were set up in half meter intervals in a 20x20 meter grid. We were able to see some oddities on the small display screen; however Dr. Sauck will take all the data collected and provide the team with a detailed geophysical map, shortly.

Working with Dr. Sauck (Photo Credit: Austin George)

All of this research has been done on the Lynn site, 20BE10. In only two days of work the team has uncovered objects that promote a promising outlook for the island site. We only have one more day of research, until Friday the 8^th, to work on the island site until we move to the Fort site, but without hesitation anyone working on the archaeologically unadulterated land would say that this first week has been a great success. 

-Nolan

Our Watery Friends: Leave it to Beaver!

Hello, Paul here.  I am currently a junior at Western, and a student in the 2016 Archaeological Field school. As you know, Fort St. Joseph was key to the French fur trade in the 17^th and 18^th  centuries.  Native American hunters brought pelts to the French traders at the fort from deep inside the continent.  The furs made their way from the fort around the Great Lakes, on to Montreal and Quebec, before making the Atlantic crossing to Europe where they were in great demand.  These waterways and their importance to the fort are the theme this year for the WMU Field School.  I am writing briefly on an animal that impacted, and was impacted by the waterways. 

The single most recognizable animal from the early fur trade has to be the beaver.  The beaver is the largest North American rodent, and was hunted extensively for its fur, causing severe population decline.  I have spent barely two days in Niles, and, without meaning to, have learned two interesting things about the beaver. 

The first thing I learned happened by chance.  Due to morning rain storms on the second day, we put off going to the dig site.  Instead we took the opportunity to visit the Fort St. Joseph Museum in Niles.  The museum has an exhibit on display describing “giant” beavers.  These beavers were the size of an adult human.  Bones found point to them having lived over 10,000 years ago.  I tried to imagine what it would be like running into one of them in person. 

A perfect example of a beaver gnawed beech tree (Photo Credit: Austin George)

The second interesting thing about beavers is that they seem to be active in the Fort St Joseph area.  While we were clearing the site where we plan on digging, we saw several tree stumps with evidence of beaver gnawing. On the second day, before we started to actually dig our shovel test pits, I looked around and found even more tree stumps which had been gnawed down.  There were at least 8 stumps, and the majority of them were young beech trees.  Time permitting, I plan on walking the rest of the island and searching for more.  I find it ironic that they are active at a site, which, 300 years ago, was a focal point for exterminating them. I am looking forward to the rest of field school, and hope to find many more interesting things! 

-Paul

2016 Field Season Bee-gins!

Hello everyone! My name is Anne, and if you frequently read our blogs, you may have read some written by me already. During this past spring semester at WMU, I worked as an independent study student under the supervision of Dr. Nassaney. I learned a great deal about the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project throughout the semester, and worked closely with artifacts from the previous field season. Bright and early this morning, we all arrived in Niles to begin our 2016 field season. I have been looking forward to this day for a long time!          

Surveying the Lyne Site upon our arrival (Photo Credit: Austin George)

We are all super excited for tomorrow, because we will be digging shovel test pits on an “island” near the fort in hopes of finding more signs of past human activity. Today, we all ventured there and cleared the area so that we could set up points (with the Total Station) for us to later dig our pits at. A Total Station, for those of you that do not know, is an instrument that we use to survey the land and determine distances to certain points. We are also using it to overlay a grid onto the terrain to pinpoint digging locations in an organized fashion. We came out with scratches and bruises, and a few of us even suffered from bee stings and wet shoes, but that won’t ruin our spirits.

I am looking forward to learning more about the history of Niles, as well as the fort. We are sure to learn lots about teamwork as well. This will be a bonding experience of a lifetime. Archaeology has forever been an intriguing topic to me and I finally have the opportunity to experience it myself.

-Anne 

Next Stop....Niles!

Good morning all you FSJ enthusiasts! It’s been a long summer and we’ve been busy people working on many projects in order to prepare for this year’s field season. One of the first things we did this summer was attending the Mini Maker Fair in St. Joseph. Genna represented us and had a booth set up for us. It was a beautiful day for some archaeology! At the fair, there were inventors and kid’s crafts galore. Genna enjoyed showing kids how to use the shaker screens to search for artifacts and teaching them a little about stratigraphy. Our panels drew people in with more questions about Fort St. Joseph. Although we may have been a booth geared more towards adults, we still got plenty of attention from kids!

Genna's booth at the Mini Maker Fair

One ongoing and very exciting project is one that I took on with Austin. He and I are in the process of redesigning a new website for the project! I never envisioned myself being able to do something like this, but it’s been really interesting. In order to accomplish this project, Austin and I had to participate in a series of online training sessions through Western Michigan. Once completed, we were ready to take on the challenge! I’m excited to share with you all that our new website is in the process of being approved by the University and will be live very shortly. Stay tuned for updates and the big reveal!

This past Monday, Anne and I were at the Air Zoo in Portage teaching kids about archaeology. We did an activity with about 15 elementary school children enrolled in the Air Zoo’s summer camp program. Anne and I taught the kids about the Law of Stratigraphy. This law says that the older the materials are, the deeper in the soil layers (called stratigraphy) they can be found. I created a poster board with different layers of soil and the kids had to color a picture of an artifact of their choice. Once colored, they had to guess what layer their artifact could be found in. I love teaching kids about archaeology with hands on activities like this one because it’s so much fun to watch them get excited about archaeology.

Perhaps the most exciting thing that we’ve done so far was just wrapping up our orientation with our new students! This year we have eight very eager and bright students in field school. Yesterday was probably my favorite day of orientation because they get to learn a little bit more about field techniques. They learn how to use the Total Station theodolite, how to set up a unit, and even practice their right angle mapping skills. As a student last year, it’s a little crazy to think that my field school was already over by this point in the summer and these new students have barely yet to begin. I can’t wait to see what this season brings for them, the project, and the community! I hope you all have a happy and safe holiday weekend and we’ll see you Tuesday!

Austin teaching students Paul, Anne, and Drew how to set up a 1x1 meter unit

-Liz