Dig UNI

Since 2018, UNI’s anthropology program has provided students with the opportunity to learn about the university’s past by participating in a “dig” on campus. UNI students experience the fundamentals of archaeological field research through hands-on training that prepares them for careers and graduate school. A variety of techniques, ranging from shoveling and troweling to note taking and artifact analysis, are introduced as students learn to excavate an historic site. Students value being able to engage in real field research in an outdoor setting.

Dig UNI’s most recent project can be found at the southern end of campus along Jennings Drive. There, students are looking for the remains of Hillside Courts, a student housing complex built in the 1970s. In addition to the natural setting, complete with deer and turkeys, this portion of the UNI campus provides an ideal location for exploring student life from an archaeological and historical perspective.

Notes from the Field

Photos: Old Central Hall

Notes from the Field: 2023

Archaeology Is Not As Easy As It Looks

By Sarah

Archeology is not as easy as it looks

Archeology was always really cool to me, especially as a kid. Most girls my age wanted to be the damsel in distress, while I wanted to be the cool archeologist who found all the cool stuff.

When I signed up for archeological fieldwork, I knew I had to keep my expectations reigned in. I knew I was going to dig up dirt, but I had to remind myself that I am not Indiana Jones and this is not a blockbuster movie world. When we started, I thought to myself that this isn’t so bad! Then Dr. Gaff and the rest of the class realized that things were not going to plan, as the previous fieldwork sites were not cooperating with us.

After that realization, we started fresh with different units. My unit was an old re-excavation from last year, and the previous crew dug super deep for just their first level! My unit partner and I are hitting rocks, cement, roots and clay. If one of us is digging, the other is using a giant sieve(sifter) to sort out the human artifacts from the dirt and other rocks. With the current drought, the dirt is rock solid and clumpy.

In the Indiana Jones movies, he finds cool things and ends up in all kinds of danger. It’s a lot more boring, difficult, and slow in reality. It is still gratifying to find artifacts, but nothing is like how it is in the movies.

Smoothing Things Out

By Olivia

Currently, we’re working on leveling the floor and walls of our first site level. Cleaning the floor up is easy enough, all you have to do is brush the loose soil into a dustpan. The walls, however, are a much different story. First, we need to make sure that the strings lining the outside of our site are pulled nice and tight. In the site I was working on, the string was sagging on one side so we had to undo it and retie the string border. With that done, we can start carving the border walls. We do this by straddling the string border and using a trowel to slice into the ground, making sure to cut right next to the string. At first, I was sawing into the ground with the trowel, but that’s not the most efficient way to do it. Instead, it would be better to use quick jabs, especially since the soil is so dry and hard. After successfully carving a guideline, we come in from the middle of the site and pry the trowel into an area of dirt that needs to be removed. Then, we lift out the excess dirt from the bottom. What we have left over (hopefully) is a clean, smooth wall. It’s kind of like cutting a slice out of a very dense birthday cake. As a person who doesn’t often go into the outdoors, I would never have learned how to do this if I wasn’t in this class. I can’t wait to see what else is in store for this semester.

Subterranean Clues

By Brendon

Archaeological research is like detective work: digging up dirt, sifting through evidence, and identifying the culprit. Transferring into my first year at UNI, I did not expect to be part of a full-blown research project at Hillside Courts. We began the project searching for last semester’s dig sites. Facing 100+ degree weather and a severe drought, we kept searching. After weeks had gone by, our hopes diminished as we found no outlines in the dirt indicating dig sites from the past.

I am digging in one of two brand-new units, on top of a small hill to the South side of the field. Dr. Gaff speculated that we may be digging up a pile of rubble. Our first layer yielded glass, bricks, and concrete. About to move onto the second layer, we may be on the brink of a large discovery. A large concrete piece has been left in situ (as is) as we clean up our first layer. What started as an indulgence of curiosity has led to more as we hypothesize that we may be uncovering part of a concrete foundation.

Despite getting off to a rocky start, we have now begun to come into our own as archaeologists. I still have a lot to learn, but I feel in control of my learning. It is very refreshing to learn in a real project with real stakes rather than sitting through another lecture-focused class. Flinging dirt while making Spongebob references, Archaeological Fieldwork is truly one of a kind.

Is This Worthy Of The Artifact Bag Or Is It Just A Pretty Rock?

By Ainsley

That is a question I ask Dr. Gaff at least once per class period; a lot of the time it is simply a pretty rock. When you think of archaeology and excavation, you may think of finding breathtaking artifacts, like they do in glorified movie portrayals of archaeology, or even just basic building blocks for the structure which used to stand there if you are thinking realistically. Our artifact bag is currently very full of chunks of asphalt and concrete, but occasionally we come across some really cool rocks. Although not a geology major, I am the resident rock nerd of our crew, so I am often shown the cool/pretty rocks others find in their units. We have found some pretty sizable chunks of chert, the stuff spear heads are made of, and a boat load of quartz, and that's pretty cool in my opinion. Hopefully unit 8 isn't just a pretty rock depository, but if it is, at least I get to see some cool rocks while excavating!

Trial And Error

By Hannah

If the Archaeological Fieldwork experience at Hillside Courts could be described in one word, it would be humbling. Having dug there in the fall of 2022, I figured with the additional experience under my belt I'd have everything figured out. Boy, was I wrong.

The plan was simple: we would re-excavate Hillside Courts by locating the old units and digging them up again, documenting any new findings and note the differences between disturbed and undisturbed soil. Unfortunately, after digging for a few days, we discovered that the soil was mixed, and so we couldn’t find the old units.

I was discouraged at first, we put in the time and effort to try and make it possible, and instead we hit a dead end. But the next time we went out to the site, we all worked together to re-measure and found 2 of the old units and 3 new ones, all of which so far have had luck in finding artifacts.

Trial and error is all a part of the learning experience, and is what makes Archaeological Fieldwork a science. While the beginning of the semester had its surprises, I am thankful for them, for I know more than I did yesterday.

Discoveries

By Kat

Our excavation at Hillside Courts is proving to be an endlessly intriguing endeavor. Right from the beginning, we faced the challenge of mistakenly digging in the wrong spots. The soil we initially excavated appeared to be backfill, but upon further inspection, it revealed nothing significant beneath its surface. After several attempts, we finally pinpointed the correct spots, albeit some requiring re-excavation. My own dig spot turned out to be a re-excavation, and to our surprise, it yielded a plethora of artifacts.

The supposed backfill, which shouldn't have contained any artifacts, became a treasure trove of discoveries. From fragments of glass to remnants of asphalt and concrete, each find raised more questions than answers. The presence of these unexpected items painted a complex picture of the site's history. Additionally, repairing the walls of the excavation site became an essential task. Learning the art of constructing stable walls was a challenge in itself, as I had never attempted such a task before. However, with dedication and teamwork, we managed to secure the walls, providing a stable foundation for our further explorations.

As we delve deeper into the layers of soil, I can't help but feel a sense of anticipation. The excavation site, once a mere patch of ground, is now a window into the past. Every artifact we uncover adds a new chapter to the story of Hillside Courts. Buckets and bags filled with artifacts await meticulous examination and cataloging. Concrete, asphalt, glass, and various other materials, each with its unique tale to tell, are meticulously documented. With every find, the site's history becomes clearer, revealing the secrets hidden beneath the earth for decades. Each day brings new surprises, reminding us of the rich heritage waiting to be discovered. In this ongoing excavation, the past comes to life, offering us a glimpse into the lives of those who once called Hillside Courts home.

Be Patient

By Cristina

I wasn’t sure what to really expect when I started Archaeological Fieldwork Fall 2023. On our first day of class, I was excited, and a little nervous, about learning that we would be spending that first day in the classroom and the rest of the semester outside digging where Hillside Courts used to stand. The first couple of weeks, we got put into groups and got our unit measured and set up. Then came the fun part: being able to get down in the dirt and dig!

We spent time getting the grass and roots out of the way of the topsoil. After that, we began the digging task, and I will say this . . . don’t expect to find something exciting right away. Be patient! When my group partner and I started digging, we didn’t find much except a lot of gravel, roots, and possible backfill. We’re just past the middle of the fall semester and we’ve mostly found chunks of asphalt, but we’ve also found wire, a nail, a small piece of brick, and some tiny pieces of concrete. Finding artifacts in the dirt is almost like finding an easter egg during an egg hunt. Even if it’s more asphalt or a nail, it’s the most exciting experience ever. I can’t wait to see what else my group partner and I find before the end of the semester.

Throughout the first half of the fall semester, I’ve been sunburned and have gotten blisters on my hands. I’ve gotten sweat in my eyes along with dirt in my eyes, nose, and mouth. Our class has seen turkeys, deer tracks, and other small wildlife. The fall semester will be over before we know it, but the experiences and friendships gained will continue past the last day of the semester.

Keep On Diggin’

By Maddie

We have made it halfway through the semester! If archeology taught me one thing, it is to keep on diggin’! My experience in archeology digging where the old Hillside Courts housing used to stand has been great thus far. Patience isn't my forte, but my time in the field has really helped me learn it. Starting the semester, we were trying to excavate previous excavation sites that we thought were there, but it turned out they were not. This was a bit frustrating for both us and our instructor, Dr Gaff. We spent at least a good two weeks of digging and looking for different colored soil to indicate that we found the site. My group got the farthest and it turned out that our calculations for that unit weren't quite correct. That is totally alright though. Archeology is about patience and perseverance. After that, we moved on to other units in the site - old and new. We split up into pairs and were assigned each a unit to work on (5 in total). We are currently still working on these units and have made great progress on them so far. I have learned to not get frustrated with not finding any artifacts right away, as archeology is a slow process. I believe that slow progress is better than no progress in this line of work. Better to work slowly and eventually find things, rather than get frustrated and ruin the site or unit you are working on.

I believe archeology and digging at Hillside courts is a very important field to look into as a panther. It allows current UNI students to see what life was like living near campus as students back in the 70s. As well as learning to work together as a team and learning new skills; like patience for me!

Digging A Hole

By Ben

It might sound simple but there is a lot of time and energy that goes into doing it the archaeological way, which will henceforth be referred to as the right way. I can’t just go out and start popping up massive chunks out of the ground, that wouldn’t be the right way of doing things. I have to skim and shave the surface of the soil, it is a time-consuming process, but one that I have got into a decent rhythm with, it just requires good observation and steady pace really.

I’ve done landscaping for several years, so I am very used to digging and hitting rocks. However, if I’m digging the right way I can’t just be slamming the shovel into the dirt all willy nilly until I start hearing clinks and clanks. I have to treat everything like it is a potential artifact until I can, hopefully, identify it. Speaking of artifacts, when digging the right way, all the “little” artifacts should come up with the dirt in the shovel. The people sifting have to have something to do after all so I toss the goodies at them, with the dirt. But if I find something big, even if it is just a rock, I have to work around it, especially because I am re-excavating an old unit.

I also have to know what tools to use and when to use them. Sometimes whacking the ground with the shovel the whole time isn’t the smartest way to go about it. I have to know when to bust out the trowel and straighten up my walls again, or pop up some tough bits of dirt. It’s also important to be measuring depth. I want to try and keep the hole relatively level when I’m working on it, and since I’m re-excavating an old unit, it is good to know how close I am getting to the previous depth.

That is what I have learned about digging the right way.

In It Together

By Lauren

Something that has really stood out to me during our time together as a class this semester, is just how important it is for us to work together. At first it was a little awkward, but this was to be expected. It took some time for us to get into the swing of things. What do we need to bring out to the field? Who is getting what? Who is helping who? Now, it’s like clockwork.

As someone who is more introverted, being part of the team was something that I was worried about at first. But, as the semester has progressed, the more I have realized that we’re all in this together. Most of us have never done this before, and we are all learning something new, and we all need each other. It really is great how open everyone is to helping one another.

Another great thing is everyone in the crew’s positive attitudes. Whether we need help moving a tarp that has water actively coming through a hole straight into our unit or we are confused about an artifact, everyone has been so willing to drop what they’re doing to come assist another group. As it nears the end of a class period, everyone who is finished with their unit for that day is so quick to go and help any remaining units without question, and is excited to do so, even if we are trying to sift through soil that has the consistency of play dough.

Overall, having a sense of community and relationships is one big thing that I’ve noticed that truly makes the excavation run so smoothly. Rain or shine, everyone makes the active decision to show up and work together. Even on the days where the conditions are really rough, we are all still there for each other.

Artificial Hill Or Natural Hill

By Layn

Coming into this project at Hillside Courts I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was excited to get this experience but nervous of what was to come. Both these feelings were compounded when I was assigned to one of the two units on the hill, knowing that we were hoping to tell whether it was a buried pile of rubble or just a natural hill at the end of our dig. This has brought certain challenges to our unit but also exciting prospects. Being on the slope meant that our elevations would be different on the different corners of our units. This could bring about a few challenges. Thinking back to when we started our digs I was worried about rain as I thought it would flow down the hill and into our units, however this has not been an issue so far. Another challenge was using the slope to get to the elevation we wanted for our first level.

This was somewhat difficult because it may not look like it’s at the correct elevation because some parts seem deeper than others. It’s always important to be observational of the other units and what they are finding, but being on the hill means that you can use those observations to potentially find out the origin of the hill. These things have shown to me that not every dig will be the same and being able to adapt to these things is very important. It also shows the importance of archaeology regarding land features and I am very fortunate to have learned these things.

Notes from the Field: 2022

The Importance of a Dig

Author: McKenzie

The saddest part of the dig is when it ends. For a whole semester, I learned, developed better friendships, and grew as an individual at the dig site for Hillside Courts. It really started to hit me that this was ending on one of the coldest days at the site. It was windy as heck and both of the trench units, Mariah, Mark, Marley, and I were switching writing and filling out our forms, swapping with our other unit members because the wind was so challenging to write in. We bounced off of each other, discussing texture, mottling, and how to properly measure depts and rocks that were in the soil. The last week at the site, when we were backfilling the units had me reminiscing about the unit over the course of the semester. Us four working together trying to wedge our shovels under our frozen mound of dirt reminded me of how difficult it was to break ground on the units during the first couple of days at the site. Helping other units the last two days made me think about how other people would come over to the trench to help us. Learning and establishing relationships with peers is something that is highly valuable for us as anthropologists. This class has truly demonstrated what it will be like to a certain extent at a dig site. Digs anre a group endeavor, not a solo one.

Teamwork

Author: Mariah

There’s group work, then there’s teamwork. Out in the field you want people on your team, not only in your group. All of us participating in fieldwork spent this semester writing about the new challenges we faced and the unexpected amount of work that goes into an archaeological project. In order to successfully take on a project like this, you need to have a solid and committed team. The crew working on the project this semester was just that- a team. As most semesters do, it started off awkwardly as we all stumbled around each other trying to figure out how to begin and finish our separate but group project. As the semester progressed and group chats were made, we all got to know how to work with each other. We began every class by loading the cart and carrying equipment from our shed to the dig site. During the walk to the site, conversations about other classes and other projects were held and before we knew it, we all were able to get right to work once we entered the site. If one unit was confused, others would come by and share the knowledge they learned. In true Iowa fashion we experienced seemingly every weather condition ever documented- heat, humidity, rain, wind, full sun, sleet, ice, snow. Everyday was a wild guess as to what the weather would be like out on the site, however, every single crew member showed up ready for the dig and continued on with positive attitudes no matter what the weather threw at us. By the final day, as we packed up the shed one last time, we each left campus knowing exactly what it means to be part of a team.

Soil Colors Are So Cool

Author: Hannah

No really - hear me out.

While out in the field I have learned many things. How to use certain equipment, determine the different layers of soil in a unit, collect data for journaling, and even basic things such as how to correctly sharpen a trowel. As someone who wants to pursue a career in this field, I find all of these things fascinating. But something I wasn’t expecting to take an interest in was the Munsell Soil Color Charts.

When it came time to document the colors of soil in our unit, I remember thinking ‘okay, brown, dirt is brown.’ I wasn’t exactly wrong, it was brown, but as I held up a small piece of our unit’s wall with my trowel and opened up the Munsell booklet, I was pleasantly surprised.

There were pages of colors, shades of browns, reds, yellows, and even blues. Each page with its very own diagram and categorized pigments. I learned that there are several different colors that soil could be, depending on factors such as the environment, the minerals it contains, and the amount of oxygen it has. It’s also a good indicator of which level the soil came from, and I often used our unit’s soil color paired with measurements to determine what level we were at.

And so I discovered that not only was the majority of unit #3’s soil brown, it was 10YR 3 / 4, or “Dark Yellowish Brown.”

Needless to say, the Munsell booklet is my new favorite thing, and so is dirt.

When the Vole Becomes the Enemy

Author: Marley

One of my favorite aspects of the Hillside Courts excavation is its location. Our site is located right in the middle of the campus prairie. The remote location allows us to understand the feel of common full-scale archaeological excavations. Sure, there are some negatives to being in the middle of the prairie — mostly relating to the windy behavior UNI is known for being significantly increased — but there are many more positives. What is my favorite? The wildlife!

I am a biology major with emphasis on natural sciences, so I am basically a certified nature geek. One of the reasons I was so excited to take this course, other than being generally interested in archaeology, was the idea that I would get to work in a hands-on environment while spending time outdoors.

My time spent on the field is greatly enriched by the amount of wildlife I get to not only see, but interact with directly. Additionally, since our excavation has spanned throughout the entire semester, I found it fascinating to see how the species I saw changed over the course of the dig. In late summer/early fall we saw copious amounts of insects (I have never seen so many grasshoppers). In mid-fall, we saw a handful of white-tailed deer. And in the late-fall, a beautiful juvenile red-tailed hawk perched on a lamppost.

Just as one would expect, working with wildlife in close proximity is not all sunshine and rainbows. In fact, most times we found ourselves inconvenienced by the wildlife we directly interacted with, whether invasive prairie plants with roots that seemed to be a mile long in the walls of our unit or a cute but annoying vole who took refuge in our unit and chewed through our strings on three separate occasions.

Despite all of the hardships, the experience has been overwhelmingly positive. Sometimes I find myself in awe of the beauty of our site when walking from the equipment shed. I feel more connected not only to the natural areas on UNI’s campus, but also to the study of archaeology.

Taking Shape

Author: David

We lucked out, one could say, with regards to how punishing the weather could have been going into the final weeks of our time at the Hillside Courts digsite. Instead of deeply frozen soil that would have hamstrung our progress, we only had to contend with soil somewhat hardened by small amounts of rain, and even less snow. Though, there was a stretch of time in there where the cold had many a finger regretting being exposed to the elements.

Whether a student archaeologist’s unit was fairly straight-forward with little to offer in terms of artifacts or insights into the digsite’s past, or it was quite busy with offerings of concrete, styrofoam, the remains of a 4x4 wood post, a sizable deposit of sand that stretched from one unit to its neighbor, and a number of other, smaller finds, the Hillside Courts digsite has been a delightful learning experience for our class. The picture of the demolition of the apartments has begun to come into focus for us. It’s exciting, however, to think about what the next class in Archaeological Fieldwork will uncover, continuing where we sadly had to leave off.

There are many bags and buckets filled with all manner of artifacts now waiting for those who will be tasked with going through them and cataloguing everything we’ve uncovered. This, one can be sure, will add another few strokes of the brush onto the picture being painted of the digsite. Concrete, asphalt, PVP piping, glass, floor tiling, wood, floor tiling… It is all quickly taking shape.

Trilogy

Author: Adam

The end of an archaeology project always seems to be the most fun in my experience. After having completed my personal Archaeology Trilogy, I can confidently say that this has been true for every dig I’ve been a part of. You’d think that ending a university dig in the middle of an Iowa December would be brutal, with everyone tightly wound due to impending finals and the stresses of the holiday season, and everyone feeling miserable doing all the strenuous cleanup work. But that clearly was not the case for this dig.

I usually like the wrapping-up part of the dig because of a few reasons. First, it allows me to get up and move around more than I get to do confined to my 1x1 meter unit, so there’s a nice change of pace and scenery. Second, I get the same feelings I get at the end of a school year. People are more laid back, despite the time crunch oddly enough, everyone gets to spend time talking with their fellow coworkers, all in all it just feels like one big hangout. We get to share a few laughs, reminisce about the “good ol’ days”, and say goodbye to our beloved units and site.

One Week Left

Author: Miranda

With one week left of the Fall ‘22 semester, our fieldwork crew has accomplished a lot. We’ve experienced a wide range of weather conditions this semester, from sweltering heat to rainy days to the ground covered in snow. I, for one, prefer these colder days to the beginning of autumn when the horrible minute pirate bugs would assault us throughout the entire class period. Most days, class is filled with laughter and hard work. The personalities of our crew have meshed together well! We focus on our respective duties as well as happily help each other when our tasks are complete for the day. The last few days, we have been focusing on wrapping up and finalizing our paperwork.

I was able to help profile the North wall of our unit with my partner, and while it was frustrating to put together, the result was satisfying. My unit did not reveal many artifacts but it was fun watching the rest of the crew find interesting things in their own units. Even the most simple seeming artifacts brought excitement and much speculation to my classmates. Overall, our dig has been fruitful and educational, but most of all it has been a very fun experience!

Predict the Unpredictable

Author: Hannah

If school has taught me anything, it’s to favor routine. You walk into class, sit down, and listen. After years of doing that same thing, you typically know what to expect, and changes are seldom to none. So when I first stepped out into that field formerly known as the “Hillside Courts Apartment Complex,” I knew I was in for something completely different.

Archaeology has proven to be the ultimate test of adaptability. So far, we’ve had random fluctuations in temperature, from a sweltering mid-90’s one day to a bitter 50 the next, (unchanging is Dr. Gaff, who wears shorts in both conditions). Rain has infiltrated our unit a few times, to which Anna and I have had the pleasure of digging through tough mud and clay. The plan for our unit can change at the drop of a hat as we continue to make progress. I have never seen so many spiders and crickets in my life. Some days we find pieces of history, such as a chunk of metal, brick, or plastic. Other days we get a bunch of cool-looking rocks, most of the time it’s the latter.

Between the bug bites, blisters, crazy weather and last-minute changes, it’s bound to leave your head reeling. But as someone who once preferred the security of routine, I think the unpredictable suits me way more.

Archaeology can be messy, but most of all rewarding, and I don’t just mean in finding artifacts. So if it has taught me anything, it’s to come to class prepared to be unprepared, expect the unexpected, and to predict the unpredictable.

Midwest Archaeological Conference

Author: Mariah

It is common to learn in a classroom, over the computer, or through a textbook. It is not as common to go outside and get your hands dirty- literally. Archaeological fieldwork does just that- we are able to learn by doing. This hands-on experience has solidified my interest to continue digging. I was fortunate to take this interest one step further and attend the Midwest Archaeological Conference held in La Crosse, Wisconsin this Fall. It is here that you are able to understand what happens after the dig. Once the shovels, trowels, and screens are put away; the artifacts are cleaned and analyzed; you are able to examine everything you found and share how you found it. Then the best part? You share what you found with others! Who doesn’t love to talk about the hard work they have put in? The archaeological conference confirmed just how broad the field of Archaeology is. The conference consisted of undergraduate students, graduate students, professors, even hobby archaeologists and Native Americans. This opportunity was wonderful for me as an undergraduate student as I was able to see first- hand what the field of archaeology holds and how I could see myself in the field. Understanding the academic pursuits of the field through the conference and the hands- on experience through archaeological fieldwork here at UNI has guided me more than any classroom has.

Anthropology

Author: McKenzie

Now, by no means did I anticipate this class to be a walk in the park when I enrolled, but when I say this is probably the most interesting, the most fun, and the most exciting class I’ve taken would be an understatement. This class has had many interesting moments, from getting water from a creek to do soil profiles to having to restring units due to unruly voles.

Aside from preparing us for the physical and mental processes of fieldwork, this class has also begun to show us how certain groups can become interested in archaeology and want to interview us. A couple of weeks ago a film crew came to observe the dig site and interview some of the students, myself included, about what it is like to be an anthropology major at UNI and to really showcase the dig at UNI class. I was also asked to participate in the university's Majors in Minutes, as a representative of the anthropology major.

Doing the interview for the university and doing Majors in Minutes, required me to be introspective about my motives for doing this major, and participating in this class, and truthfully both led me to the same answers about how I feel about anthropology; that it pushes my mind to make intuitive leaps regarding artifacts and their potential origins and that it teaches me something new almost every day, especially with hands-on classes, but this class has led me to multiple opportunities as well that would not have been possible had I not taken the dig class.

Overall, the dig at UNI program so far has really enhanced my understanding of how archaeology is really done by giving me hands-on experience but also showing me different facets of the major, like networking, and interview skills, but overall how to really love doing this type of work

Finding Concrete and Asphalt

Author: Terra

We have reached the point where we are finally finding larger human-made artifacts. My unit partner and I have been hindered recently in our digging due to the large amount of rocks in our unit. These rocks were mostly covered by dirt a few weeks ago and we have been slowly uncovering them to remove them and discern what kind of materials they might be. This past week we finally had the chance to do so. In order to revoke them, Dr. Gaff taught us how to catalog the artifacts we collect so that we can keep track of all the materials. Each artifact gets its own bag and catalog number; which is due to the fact that archaeologists technically destroy all their evidence. So, the process of recording every little bit of information is super important.

We had labeled 13 rocks that were in our unit which we grouped into a couple of observable categories: normal rocks, potential asphalt, concrete brick, and reddish rocks. When we pulled the potential asphalt rocks out, Dr. Gaff helped us to confirm that they were chunks of asphalt! This is encouraging in our dig because it tells us that there was definitely a road somewhere that they had to demolish and pieces ended up where we are digging our unit.

Hillside Update

Author: Tyson

The excavation at the Hillside Courts in Unit 2 has been going quite smoothly although not without challenges. As my partner and I have dug down, we have passed the layer of nice black cover soil and now are digging through a Clay Loam type of soil, this being even more difficult to dig through due to the numerous rocks encountered. The rainwater helps to soften the soil, thus making it easier for shoveling, however it does little to make the process go faster due to how the moist clay loam tends to ball up when one tries to sift it. Due to it balling up not only does sifting take longer it also means that whoever is shoveling must either slow down or stop altogether and help sift the soil. Even after all that my partner and I have finally finished digging down to level 1 at 19cm and are about ready to begin level 2 excavation. Thus far a plethora of artifacts have been found ranging from mostly asphalt/concrete to broken glass, soft bag-like plastic, tarp, a rock about the size of a softball, and a penny from around 1990. The most exciting artifact we have found would have to be the penny, the artifact displays multiple “cuts” into it as if heavy equipment had mangled it when the backfill was being put in after the demolishing of Hillside Courts. My partner and I were able to make out the penny from around the year 1990- something; this was all we were able to tell from our on-site quick observation of the artifact. It appeared that the rest of the date on the coin is either marred from equipment or too distorted for the naked eye to make out anymore. That will be something the students in the lab will hopefully figure out for us.

Environmental Struggles

Author: Mark

For the past few weeks, there have been some struggles that have prevented my archeological process. For starters, there has been an invasive rodent, a mouse and a vole living inside my group's unit. Every time I come to class and take off the tarp covering the unit, I dread looking at the string that outlines the unit. For a few weeks the small critter would chew through the string, resulting in an unnecessary process of putting new string around the excavation unit. So far, my unit and the adjacent unit have replacements to the grid string at least 4 times! Members in my unit have caught the small animal and placed it away from our excavation, but he usually came back by the next class period to say hello. Recently, I have become accustomed to seeing our “little friend” and he hasn’t been chewing through the string as he once was.

Water, a fundamental element in life, has ultimately caused the downfall of progression in my excavation. Since the unit I am excavating is on a declining slope from north to south, water likes to pool up and saturate the dirt and, boy, is it hard to sift through mud! What is hilarious is that most of the other excavation units are fairly dry. While I am sifting through mud, my peers look as if they are sifting powdered sugar! These events have dramatically slowed my group's progress. The water has been taking time to evaporate too, since the temperature is decreasing and the sun is not out. I've learned an important life lesson so far, mother nature likes to target people, specifically my group. I have to laugh!

Changing Weather

Author: Sydney

People in the Midwest joke about the weather, and it is accurate, but the changes in weather almost seem to mean something else when in an outdoor field work setting. We started the semester with hot weather, this was rough but when there a breeze, the ground is soft and crumbling digging and sifting is pretty easy. Even if everyone desperately needs a shower an hour and a half later. Of course then there was a couple weeks where the wind coincided with 30 degree weather. At this point we had gotten deeper and was running into denser mud and a button of gravel. Next, mother nature did a u turn just to mess with us and heated back up. So thankfully we were able to dig through just clay, not frozen clay. In the mix of all this was rain. Some days we would sink into mud and use a bucket to bail water out of our unit. So in conclusion Midwest weather is a practical joke, that can SUPER fun to face during class. We also see despite my wording earlier the weather might be a pain but it's never as big a deal as you would think. We plan ahead to survive the hour and half outside and just go to work. When you start sifting and digging and trying to find out whether the thing in your hand is mud or asphalt the weather seems not be so important all because we have levels to complete and artifacts to find.

Reflections

Author: David

Now is the time we’re getting into cooler weather. Just as the late Summer/early Autumn heat did not deter the Archaeological Fieldwork class from getting our hands dirty in the best way, getting a great start with our square meter dig units, neither will the progressively colder weather. Bundled up and gloved up (this is going to prove rather important for the comfort of our sensitive, little phalanges in the coming months), we continue our progress, centimeter by centimeter, absorbing everything the professor is teaching us, and each of us hoping to find something remarkable.

Let’s be real, though. Everything about this learning experience is remarkable. Whether it’s just a little bit of plastic, the odd nail, tiling of some kind, a sizable chunk of cinderblock, or evidence of tiny, string-chewing field rodents bent on throwing the entire dig site into chaos, it’s all an invaluable and entertaining experience for us.

On the 11th of October, the class took a break from the dig site and spent time in the archives for some historical context and location information on the Hillside Courts, the apartments that stood for nearly forty years on the location of the dig site. Undoubtedly, learning what we can about the history of where we’re digging will have the effect of imparting appreciation on us, and those who succeed us, for the area and its significance for UNI.

It is exciting to look ahead and try to picture the progress we will have made by the end of the semester, imagining the finds we may make, and the interest and excitement such finds will generate for incoming students whose attention is caught by Archaeology (and the rest of Anthropology).

More than a Treasure Hunt

Author: Mark

I am not an Anthropology major, however, my interest in archaeology is not different from one. Growing up, I had a passion for metal detecting with my dad. This opened the doors for an interest in archaeology. Granted, metal detecting is in a different class than archaeology, it is similar in certain aspects. For example, they both require you to dig in hopes of uncovering material treasure, but by using different techniques. Metal detecting is a speedy process, whereas archeology is a more gradual process.

When I first started to excavate my unit, I was not expecting the several procedures that had to be done in order to start digging. I was only used to digging a hole in the soil, pulling up a quarter and putting it in my pocket while putting the plug of dirt back in the ground. I didn’t care about the archaeological process, I was twenty-five cents richer. Why would I want to look at the landscape where I found the quarter? Or the different strata in soils surrounding the quarter? I didn’t even care about what the artifact told me. I was missing the point! History was within the quarter I had just found, but it also existed in the surroundings. At the time, I did not realize it.

Looking at the landscape can explain how the artifact ended up where it was found, or why it was lost. Documenting a dig site before excavation, via marking the coordinates or creating a grid for a unit, helps one recognize the location of the artifact found. By looking at the layers and genealogy of soil, you can identify fill dirt, date an artifact, or layer disturbance. Lastly, analyzing the artifact can help to pinpoint what it was used for, the age of it, or how people lived in past times. In conclusion, archeology is much more than a simple hole in the ground. I didn’t understand this until I actually started the course.

Patience in Archeology

Author: Sydney

I think it’s pretty much assumed by everyone that archeology is not like Indiana Jones. One of the things that Professor Gaff has said is that it is a game of hurry up and wait. This means that it can be quite boring some times, and requires a lot of patience. This is even more necessary when you find something interesting, but it’s embedded in the wall of the unit.

When doing any study, the whole goal is to find and collect information or artifacts and record it in such a way that the person reading the records can understand and even “recreate the study themselves”. What this means is having records that show the spot you are digging and being careful not to dig outside that line.

So, anything such as a plastic wrap or concrete that slowly appears as you dig down only to find that it can’t actually dig it out because it is in the wall. In the end pictures are taken of the wall and that picture is very interesting in showing the buildup of materials and soil differences. Then we can go back and open another unit or bring out the plastic, but for now me and my partner just have to continue to work around it and have the insane patience to wait to see.

Of course, we are still finding things in the screen to study. Now that we have dug through the top soil and gotten the destruction level we are finding so much of the smaller material that was left behind. Small pieces of brick, a variety of plastic, a few small pieces of glass, and even concrete and asphalt. There are many, many rocks to look at and so much gravel that after the first week we stopped collecting it.

Dirt and Clay Galore

Author: Terra

Most of us grew up playing with dirt as kids, making mud pies and coming back inside covered in filth, much to our parents’ dismay. Playing with dirt as a college student? So much more fun, and I don’t have to worry about making anyone mad when I get back to the dorm with my hands covered in dirt!

At our dig site, we are almost finished removing one level or 20 cm of dirt from the ground, and we have finally found another kind of soil besides just plain old dirt. Clay!

Clay is now the mastermind at work, hindering our progress to finish our level. Granted, clay is a great resource for pottery and fun to play with; but, when you are trying to use a shovel to dig into the dense material… not so easy. The unit I am working on in particular seems to have a much higher concentration of clay in the soil and I end up rubbing my hands raw on our sieve(sifter) just to push the clumps through the grate.

Even so, I have also had the opportunity to help out with a group of freshmen who are taking the beginner Archaeology Lab. They are joining our class these next few weeks, and it is the perfect occasion to get them excited about dirt, as there is a LOT of it while we continue to try to find remnants of the hillside courts.

Hurry Up & Wait

Author: Anna

For me and some others, this is our first experience doing actual archaeological work. I have taken archaeology courses before but never one that allowed me to practice archaeological techniques and learn the skills. This is an opportunity that provides us with a chance to do the work and evaluate if a setting and career for us.

Because of the nature of archaeology and this class, flexibility is something that we all must accept and be comfortable with. On the first day of class, Dr. Gaff, as he was reading the syllabus that we must all “hurry up and wait.” Before we could begin digging there were other steps that we needed to do first. We had to create sketch maps of the site so that in the future others can figure out where the dig took place. Dr. Gaff had to determine where we would dig. We needed to establish the perimeter of the units, this was done with strings and nails. Then we had to fill out paperwork and safety information for documentation reasons.

When it comes to dealing with excavations in an uncontrolled environment everything is subject to change at the last minute. We have been lucky so far to have not canceled a class for the weather during this semester. We encounter wildlife too, from insects like crickets, slugs, and spiders to turkeys and deer.

Nobody Can Predict

Author: Anna

Nobody can predict the future and that is continuously proven true by this class. The original plan for the excavation of our units was to reach -20cm, do the finishing paperwork for that level, and then continue to the next level. As we progressed through the first level Dr. Gaff decided to mix things up. He decided that we should dig down to the depth of two levels to see what the soil contents and horizon boundaries would look like. Doing this would allow him to gain a better understanding of the way that the other units may look. These choices caused us to continue to dig until we reached the subsoil at a depth of around -50cm. This goes to show that things do not always go to plan and that we must change the course of our excavations to best use our time and tools. The weather has begun to cool compared to the beginning of the semester and we must make adaptations so that our work can continue.

This excavation has led to us finding a variety of sized chunks of concrete and landscaping gravel. As we got deeper, we started to find pieces of wood and quartz. And there have been pieces of plastic speckled here and there. The most significant of these findings was a large piece of metal that was visible from the beginning of the dig. It is all so exciting to see the product of our hard work.

November Flurries

Author: Trevor

Since the first day of the fieldwork class, we were warned about the climate shift that would take place towards the end of the semester. Some of us, myself included, did not think it would be that cold. Oh boy! After the first day below thirty degrees, we started bringing gloves under our work gloves, double-layered socks inside our boots, and sweatshirts under our coats.

In many regards, this may seem like a bad thing, that we would not enjoy the outdoors. But the class has proven to be so engaging that morale has not diminished. We have made several discoveries in a simple 1x1 meter spot. Concrete, timber, asphalt, and even glass continue to emerge from the soil every day. The feeling of discovery is what continues to steer our fieldwork class, even through the November flurries.

As long as you come prepared, as every good archaeology crew should aspire to be, you find that the process is entertaining even in terrible weather.

My Experience

Author: Tyson

I’m an Anthropology student here at the University of Northern Iowa studying to obtain my Bachelor’s in Anthropology and a Certification in GIS and looking towards Grad school to obtain a degree in Archaeology. This year I finally get to participate in actual field work and get to experience a piece of my desired future career. Unlike previous semesters of students that taken this class, my class has the pleasure of being able to work in a much more immersive environment for the dig site. Previous years students have gotten to excavate on manicured lawns on main campus, while my class is out in a field surrounded by trees and next to a creek. After a couple of weeks of planning out our sites and getting all our information in order we have finally broken ground. To get to this point required us to make a map of the area, measure out our 1m-by-1m squares, and haul all the equipment from the ITTC to a storage shed near the work site. My unit currently hasn’t found anything but some limestone gravel and some plastic bag fragment and some signs of backfill. I expect to find even more gravel and various signs of human-made items as we progress through the semester. If we’re lucky we might even find a nail or two. You may think that it’s a silly thing to get excited over a nail or perhaps something as basic as fruit stickers, but these things have their own stories and can tell a person some interesting things if you research deep and thorough enough. I hope we find some more artifacts at the next class session; there is only so much time available in the semester and the process is quite slow. Not that I mind, but I do think I should invest in some gloves for when using the shovel considering that I still have blisters healing from where the skin rubbed off.

Asking Questions

Author: Trevor

Archaeologists like to ask questions and love to solve problems. There is no shortage of small problems in a fieldwork site in September. Too hot? Bring water; too sunny? Wear a hat; having trouble making a 1mx1m square in the dirt? Ask a friend for help. Studying archaeology leaves you asking a lot of questions, but also gives you the tools to answer them yourself. In the case of fieldwork, these tools are mostly shovels.

The main question we are trying to answer with our fieldwork is a question of “where.” Where were the Hillside Courts of UNI? If artifacts are recovered, where did they come from? While we cannot answer this (yet) we can certainly have fun finding out.

A fun question archaeologists are asked is often “why?” Why have a full excavation for a building that was only torn down only a few decades ago? The simplest reason is because we want to learn. Today we are excavating a site that is less than fifty years old, tomorrow we might be finding prehuman huts, ancient temples, or medieval townships. Practice does certainly make perfect.

How do we know what is under the ground when we walk on? How do we learn history that we have forgotten? We practice archaeology.

Who knew that making a 1 M x 1 M square would be so difficult?

Author: Marley

For as long as I can remember, I have found archaeology fascinating. I mean, one of my all-time favorite movie characters is Indiana Jones who is a totally normal archaeologist… right? (Spoiler alert: definitely not!) When I had the opportunity to take an Archaeological Field Work class at UNI, I knew that I had to enroll. I have always been someone who enjoys hands-on learning and especially enjoys getting my hands dirty. So I signed up and prepared to become an archaeologist!

Let me tell you… it is not as glamorous as you might think.

Before taking any archaeology classes at UNI, I never truly realized what archaeology was and the processes behind it. After all, in the movies, you see archaeologists exploring massive underground cave systems, finding magical artifacts from past civilizations, and narrowly avoiding booby traps set by bad guys.

My personal booby trap? Making a 1 M by 1 M square.

The purpose of the 1 M x 1 M square is to mark off the unit that we will be excavating. Hear me out - I thought our professor was bluffing when he said that making our square was going to be one of the hardest things that we do in this class. After all, it’s a square. How hard could it be? My group and I started way too confidently and very quickly realized that our professor had told us the truth. It seems simple, but there are many different things you have to take into account, such as ground cover (sometimes thick plants make it difficult for the tape measurer to lay flat on the ground), the hypotenuse measurement, and more. All of these things resulted in it taking two full class periods to get our measurements perfect - that’s two and a half hours!

Even though the process of making this square was grueling, the feeling of relief and excitement my group mates and I felt when we finally got it right was unmatched. Overall, it was a great way to remind ourselves that practice makes perfect and to keep persevering, no matter how long it takes. It makes me excited for future victories!

2022 Update

Author: Miranda

During the Fall semester of 2022, several Anthropology students here at UNI are being given the opportunity to learn professional archaeological fieldwork methods of excavation. Digging has commenced as of Thursday, September, 8, 2022, at the former Hillside Courts apartment complex, just southeast of central campus.

In the first few weeks of class, we have prepared our 1m x 1m units for excavation and paired off into two-person groups (with the exception of one “super group” which consists of four students and a 1m x 4m unit). Prior to digging, we have each created a sketch map of the immediate area within our own journals. We also learned to create the perimeters of the units
with nails and string by measuring out 1m squares. We created perfect square (or rectangular) units by using the hypotenuse of our respective measurements. This was proven to be a difficult task for the “super unit”, which was initially meant to be a 2m x 2m square. Due to the ground’s incline and some inconveniently placed rocks, the 1m x 2m unit was decided to be more beneficial. On the first day of excavation, a few members of the class found a nail, some styrofoam, and other plastic material. We’re looking forward to uncovering more of our city’s recent past throughout the semester!

Notes from the Field: 2020

When Latham Stadium Used to Stand

Author: Shawna
Wednesday, November 18, 2020 - 9:15pm

For my first time ever digging in archaeological site, it has been an exciting ride. I always knew what archaeology was, but I never thought I would get to experience it firsthand. When I signed up for this class, I thought it was going to be something relatively easy. Little did I know that I would be knee deep in a unit, dirt and mud all over me, trying to make the walls of my unit clean enough to get good pictures of them. Digging at the Latham Stadium site has been a great opportunity for myself. Although this is not a future, I see for myself, its still something that was fun to do. Plus, the team that I got to work with was amazing. Each person was excited in their own way about what they were going to find or the fact we would get giddy from talking about our soils and comparing them with the other units. Like with my unit (unit 2), our soil was hard due to the amount of clay we had in it and it was constantly muddy with some occasions with it looking like a small pool due to the amount of water in it. Unit 3’s soil was always dry even after it had rained and never seemed to have water pool in it.

We did face some other challenges in our unit like being able to sift through the dirt. It was almost impossible to get through more than 2 buckets of dirt in one class period in my unit because the dirt would not go through the sifter. We would spend 20+ minutes on one bucket just trying to push it all through. I feel like I can blame the amount of clay we had in our unit on this problem. We also had some problems trying to shovel skim the layers of our unit. We kept running into large rocks that would get in our way, and I will be honest, I am not strong so trying to force that shovel to move once it hit a rock was almost unworkable. By the end of my time working with my unit, it is surprising how attached you become to dirt hole in the ground. But being the one to find large pieces of tiling, sheets of plastic, and some rusty wires was all worth it. This ground told a story of a time when Latham Stadium used to stand.

Dial a Cliche

After taking this class for the past few months, I’ve definitely learned that I may want to pursue a career in archaeology someday. Figuring out what I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing has always seemed overwhelming to me, especially at 19 years old. I’ve spent barely any time on this planet and I’m expected to know what I want to do for the next 50 years? Up until now I’ve wanted to be a filmmaker, a stand-up comedian, I’ve considered teaching, and back when I was a child I wanted to be a Power Ranger. But none of those jobs ever felt right to me. Filmmaking and stand-up were too impractical, teaching would get too monotonous, and Power Rangers aren’t real. So going in, I was at square one.

Archaeology was something that’s always fascinated me, and at times I would think to myself, “Maybe I could do archaeology,” but then never think much past that. It wasn’t until this class that I discovered that archaeology is 100% what I want to do after college. Granted, it’s only been one semester (one that’s been shortened due to Covid too), but I had an amazing time digging up cool artifacts, digging in the mud, screening buckets of dirt, determining soil types, etc. This class was full of fun and exciting things to do, and we were just next to a parking lot, I can’t even imagine how awesome archaeology would be out in the field.

Experience

Author: Madi
Thursday, November 12, 2020 - 12:00pm

As the semester nears its end, I’ve had a chance to reflect on my experience at the Latham Stadium dig site. This semester has no doubt been an interesting one, but the group has always found a way to push through and have fun while doing it. I have had the unique opportunity to work as a student leader at the site as this is my third year working with Dr. Gaff on an archaeological site. This leadership role means I have not been assigned a specific unit but have instead been traveling and making my way through all the units.

Being a student leader on the site has certainly had its share of challenges. For me it was hard not being able to really get into a unit as I didn’t have my own. It seems weird to think about, but we all really attach ourselves to our units! This being said, it was also very interesting to get to work in all the units and compare and contrast them. For how close the units were, they had so many differences. In the soils alone we saw Unit 3 with extremely dry gritty soil that made us feel like we were literally digging through concrete, but then you move to Unit 1 with moist black soil that seems to have had some sort of charcoal deposit.

Overall, digging at the Latham Stadium site has been a really great time, but I have also learned a lot and grown my archaeological knowledge. This year has certainly been a weird one, but this crew is amazing and we will continue to persevere through finals week!

Archaeology at Latham Stadium

Author: Jarod
Tuesday, November 10, 2020 - 12:00pm

While digging into the Latham Field Stadium Hall over the course of the first semester, I have learned and excavated a lot. After digging through our first 20 cm level, my excavation partner and I both unveiled some interesting finds that have been buried under the soil for a long time. Large chunks of asphalt have been found lying deep in the unit, and as the soil is removed more pieces seem to be unveiling themselves. Not only this, but across the 3 units at the excavation site, multiple large chunks of brown, curved tile, believed to be a former sewer pipe have been discovered buried under the more compacted soil of the unit, approximately 30 cm down into the ground. The physical discoveries have been exciting, but using actual archaeological methods and tools has proved to be both challenging and rewarding.

During the course of the excavation, it has been observed that there are remarkable differences in the soil at varying depths. The stratigraphy, or order and positioning of archaeological remains and soil types have proven to be very interesting. Just in our unit (Unit #3), the soil changes in hardness, texture, and color in a large section to the North East corner of the one by one meter square unit we have carved out. After the backfill layer from the original demolition was bypassed, the soil gave way to larger, more whole artifacts buried within compacted loam and clay. Overall, the course has been an invaluable window into the world of an archaeologist, and has helped solidify my goal of becoming a practicing archaeologist.

Field Work

Author: Jarod
Friday, September 25, 2020 - 8:45am

The dig site at Latham field has been interesting, and full of learning opportunities. As this is my second year in the Archeological Field Work course, I am still learning more each day. So far, we have begun the first level of our unit, and aim to dig into the 20 cm level before beginning the second level of our dig. While we have not yet uncovered too much in the way of interesting artifacts, we have noticed an absurd amount of fruit stickers in our unit. These are simply the small stickers you would normally find on produce you purchase at Hy-Vee, such as apples and pears. My partner and I have found over 20 stickers scattered throughout the soil. The vast amount of them has lead me to believe that the back filled soil must have been taking from an area where compost was disposed of, possibly where the university dumps the uneaten fruits and vegetables, where they rotted away and the stickers remained.

We have made lots of progress digging into the ground and while we are trying to understand how much the Latham Field Stadium was bulldozed, we have yet to uncover any real rubble that could give us an idea on the structure of the stadium under our unit, or if it was completely destroyed when it was demolished for the new school infrastructure. As we continued to dig, we uncovered something very unexpected, a hair scrunchie, barely underneath the surface of the grass, buried in the Northeast corner of our unit. Who knows what more strange things lost under the soil we will uncover next?

Another Fruit Sticker??

Author: Eliza
Thursday, September 24, 2020 - 12:00pm

I’m not going to lie to you, when I signed up for a class to dig around in the dirt on campus looking for cool historical things, what I was picturing was not what I got. So far I’ve had bug bites, sunburn, dirt in my eyes (and probably my mouth), and several blisters, we’ve worked through scorching weather, cold rain, and blustery winds, and what cool historical items have we found so far? Fruit stickers, at least a dozen of them,and you know what, I love it. What I’ve actually gotten out of this class is actually so much better than my perfect archeology fantasy, and with everything that has gone“wrong” I’ve only learned and had more fun doing it.

We’re over a month into the semester now and things are getting easier and more routine, even if the weather refuses to pick a pattern and stick to it, we’re learning to adapt and overcome when things go wonky and enjoy our work when things go right. I’m learning not only about how to measure, think, and dig like an archeologist, but how to be patient and keep going even if it feels like there’s only fruit stickers to be found, sometimes, if you keep pressing on and working hard, you’ll find a real scrunchie in the rough and it’ll make everything feel worth it.

Rain or Shine

Author: Farin
Thursday, September 17, 2020 - 11:30am

Rain or shine, this group has proven our willingness to work together and offer assistance if and when needed, and in the safest way possible. We have shown that we can responsibly trade off carrying our shared equipment. Those who get to the closet early will go back after carrying their buckets, screen, and shovel in order to grab the cooler with the trash bags and cleaning supplies, as well as the file containing the paperwork and artifact bag for each unit. We are quick to help each other out when we see an opportunity to do so.

Over the course of a few days the weather we were experiencing transitioned from hot and humid to cold and wet. This change offered a new set of challenges. Initially, a major concern before class may be getting a sunburn. Now one of the first things we do once we get out to the site is remove the tarp from over our unit, taking extra care not to spill the accumulated rain water.

Though my partner and I have only just begun to use our shovel, we are eager to begin removing more dirt. We have found coal, pieces of brick and glass fragments, and are hopeful that we will continue to find new and exciting things.

Can This Weather Not?

Author: Shawna
Tuesday, September 15, 2020 - 11:30am

I am going to be real. I hate bugs and so far, I have had multiple spiders and other insects crawl all over me and I am not thrilled about that. Although, I will say that I have had an amazing time doing my first archaeological dig with some pretty cool people. I am not an outdoorsy kind of person but being surrounded by such great people and an awesome professor has helped so much in keeping the excitement going. This semester I will be digging in unit 2 with Farin and with the occasional help from Madi who had previously done a dig with UNI last spring semester.

Our current location is by Schindler where we are trying to find the original Latham Stadium that once resided there. We are just nearing the end of our first month for this site and it has been a whirlwind of excitement and muddiness. The weather in Iowa has once again become such a nuisance. Our first few weeks ranged up in to the mid 90° and then straight into 50° and rainy. This caused some minor problems within my unit with water filling into our tarp making it a bit difficult to move it over to access our unit. It was also a bit strenuous sifting through the dirt because of how it would stick together and wad up making it difficult getting it through the screen. Although this is not the best circumstances, it has given me a better look of what a dig site would actually be like if I was to ever be on one in the future for an extended period of time. These problems are just the beginning of an eventful semester.

Here is to many more exciting days with the team!

Archaeological Fieldwork

Author: Melinda
Thursday, September 10, 2020 - 12:15pm

Archeological Fieldwork is not for the faint at heart, or the weak of spirit.Those of us enrolled in the Fall 2020 class have realized that the site will be prepared, and the excavation will continue, whether it is one hundred degrees in the shade, or pouring rain. Regardless of the weather, shovels, buckets, and a variety of heavy implements must make their way to and from the Latham Field site each day.

There is much more involved in an archeological excavation than digging in the dirt. Beyond science there is an art to deciding where the site will be, measuring the plots, using a pile driver to place fence posts, calculating a hypotenuse, making a site map, learning how to remove grass or soil, how to sharpen your trowel, sifting soil, or documenting finds.

If you love nature, hard work, and being an essential part of a close knit team-chances you will "dig" Archeological Fieldwork.

Apocalyptic Archaeology

Author: Adam
Wednesday, September 9, 2020 - 10:00am

We’re about a month into the 2020 semester at UNI, and our Archaeological Fieldwork class is going surprisingly well. With the COVID-19 pandemic you’d expect that a class that requires students to be close together and digging in the unpredictable Iowa weather would be impossible. But we are defying the impossible and having a good time doing so.

This semester the Archaeological Fieldwork class is digging just off the Schindler parking lot, where there used to be a football stadium. We only recently began digging, like maybe three class days ago, but it’s been really exciting already. My group was able to find some cool stuff, namely a metal rod that may have been part of a bed frame or something. All credit for that goes to Melinda and Madi, however. I was sifting through piles of dirt when they found it, but the excitement sure was palpable.

That find brought out my inner kid and all I could think was, “Heck yeah!” The history of it all is just too cool to me. What was this rod a part of? What broke it off? If it was on a bed, what kind of person did that bed belong to? What was that person like? If that one find is any indication this semester, despite all of the “end of the world” stuff going on, should be a really fun one.

Notes from the Field: 2019

Final Blog 2019

Author: Clara
Tuesday, December 17, 2019 - 10:15pm

I am hoping the last blog post of the 2019 Dig UNI team serves well. What a semester it has been! Time sure does fly when you are having fun, especially when you are kneeling 40 centimeters into your unit desperately trying to pick up every last piece of brick fragments. After my last blog post, a couple of changes occurred to our site. A few weeks back, I was suddenly tasked with almost full control of my unit after my digging partner had to step away from the project. This left me with the responsibility of overseeing the unit almost entirely. Thankfully, we are a team, and after two of my classmates closed their unit a few weeks prior, I was given hard working, detail-oriented partners to help finish the rest of the excavation. This was definitely an advantage, since we were digging and sifting twice as fast. The temperatures start dropping in mid to late November, which was truly the worst part of the experience. Troweling without gloves is possibly the closest I have gotten to frostbite, probably. The last few weeks of classes we had been blessed with as nice weather as we were going to get, and I think everyone understood it was crunch time. There was hardly any dilly-dallying on site, as the deeper we dug, the more materials we found. It was a common occurrence to hear cheering periodically throughout class, and it brought a smile to my face knowing a classmate probably found something they thought was worthwhile.

The last day of class was a mix of emotions. My unit was the last unit to be closed, and I was given the monumental deed of tossing the first bit of dirt in. I am proud of what we have accomplished as a team, and I am satisfied with the amount of artifacts recovered. The ground was frozen, of course, so the last day was absolutely the most effort I have put into digging ever. Tearing down the fences had me a bit somber, as opening and closing the unit every day left me with a sense of accomplishment, knowing there was always more time next class to keep digging further. After our supply closet was cleaned and all class materials were stored away properly, we took one last group photo. The 2019 Archaeology team absolutely made this year a great one. We had so many laughs and trials together, but it made us work harder towards our own personal goals, and the goals of our site. This experience is something I will never forget, and I’m glad the skills I learned in this class, plus the help I brought on this team will stick with me for a long time.

End of the Semester

Author: Ally
Monday, December 9, 2019 - 1:30pm

Over the semester our fieldwork has endured frigid temperatures, flooding units, and critical mapping errors, but the artifacts we have discovered this far have certainly made all those obstacles worth tackling. Since my last blog post I have closed my original unit and begun working on unit 21 next to Lang Hall. Showing significant promise from the beginning, this unit has been a much more fruitful learning experience for various reasons. To begin, filling out paperwork offered more experience with getting accurate measurements of the unit levels and soil analysis in contrast to my old unit, which yielded no considerable discoveries or changes in soil composition. The further our new team progressed within unit 21, the soil revealed considerably important artifacts in correlation to the focus on the Central Hall orphanage. Beginning with fragmented shards of red-orange bricks, a color that does not match the current academic halls, our team continued through the layers of soil, removing pieces of wood, rusted nails, and pieces of glass and tile. Within the past week we finally approached a depth of about forty centimeters. Along the way we have been perfecting our shoveling and troweling techniques to create parallel wall and floor surfaces. Remarkable artifacts have also been unearthed in the past two digging sessions as well. Included among these discoveries are whole red-orange bricks, which we pedestaled in the unit, thick window pane glass, pieces of tile, and finally an old comb. Excited about our progress throughout the semester, I look forward to finishing up the final days of excavation which will entail the closure of all units across the excavation site.

The Full Picture - Lab Work

Author: Dakota
Thursday, November 21, 2019 - 9:00am

This year has hosted a very busy yet rewarding archaeological season for me as I have been both out in the field and helping to compile a report with Professor Gaff for the findings of last season. This aspect of seeing both sides has helped to develop my skills as an archaeologist and to know what to look for in the field. Through looking at the items in the lab such as bricks, window glass, bottle glass and landscaping material it has helped to develop a story for the site (not necessarily tied to Central Hall). From what has been recovered there has been a hodgepodge of material that has spanned differing decades, and sometimes located next to each other. This has pointed to a large amount of construction projects that have taken place on the site. While there have not been many diagnostic artifacts, there have been wrappers traced back to the 1990s, cassette tape magnetic strips that could be traced back to the 1980s or the early 1990s (when it was widely used) and a nail that has been traced back to the 1800s when the nails were handmade out of sheets of metal. Now seeing these items in the lab it is giving me background knowledge of what to look out for in the field and also to have the knowledge that just because items are found near each other does not necessarily tie them together especially in sites with major amounts of construction.

Crunch Time!

Author: Skylar
Monday, November 18, 2019 - 5:00pm

It's crunch time for Dig UNI! The Fall 2019 semester is nearing its end and this means that we only have about six class periods left to complete our dig. We have started to rule out which units to close first and which units we think we should continue digging until the final days of the semester. We have decided to keep units 20 and 21 open the longest because they seem more promising in terms of finding artifacts and how deep we can dig. We have decided that the unit that Ally and I started, unit 9, would be the first to get back filled. The decision to close unit 9 was based on a couple of factors.

The first being that the unit was placed in between unit 7 and unit 20. It made the most sense to focus on other units that were placed in different locations because they gave us more hope in finding different artifacts. The second related to time and personnel considerations so we had to reassign Ally and myself to unit 21. Unit 21 was chosen for Ally and I to work in because the depth goal for the unit is around 40 cm and it still needs to be dug about 20 cm more to reach this goal. So the extra hands will help when it comes to shoveling and screening all of the dirt from the unit.

With all that being said, let’s hope we can get some good weather and digging done in our final days of the semester!

Once Upon an Iowan Winter

Author: Kim
Monday, November 18, 2019 - 5:00pm

Now that we are more than halfway through the semester, we know what we’re supposed to do: grab the supplies from the closet, strap our boots, and dig. However, the weather has thrown us off a bit into this endeavor, leaving us chagrined in the face of exciting work. Now that we’ve reached our 14 centimeter floor, we’ve filled out the appropriate level change forms and started digging in a mixture of sand and soil.

This mixture is where the excitement comes in. Within it, there are artifacts galore (this is not necessarily indicative of remnants of Central Hall, as we are located so close to where Lang Hall was built). Once large mounds of sand have been sifted through, we’ve discovered little things from plastic to nails. It’s always a whirlwind when we find something—we must haul Dr. Gaff over to appraise our find, sift through more dirt, and separate out the pieces that we find. However, there is nothing more exciting than seeing hard work payoff, even if none of these small artifacts come from Central Hall.

Although the temperatures were bitterly cold the past few weeks, things are looking up in the wake of the cold front. The wind is dying, temperatures are rising, and with it comes a renewed focus on finding what we can before the end of the semester.

Final Few Weeks

Author: Madi
Thursday, November 14, 2019 - 4:45pm

Work for the Archaeological Fieldwork class has continued to brave all the elements thrown its way. However, there is no need to worry – everyone knows Iowa can never decide what season to be in so I believe my 19+ years of experience in this state have prepared me well. Through it all, the team has managed to keep smiling and working hard to move as much dirt as possible before the ground freezes.

In my unit, number 20, my dig partner and I have switched techniques to hopefully get through this level of our unit. Before, we were skimming the top layer of our unit which tended to be a very slow process. Now, we are using a bit more of an angle with the shovel to really get in the unit and chunk out larger piles of dirt at a time which has proven to be a much faster technique.

As the semester comes to an end, everyone in the class is anxious to find artifacts of interest. This past week seemed to unravel the most interesting of all finds now that we are working much faster and getting deeper into the unit. From old terracotta building piping to possible cigar caps, it is always very exciting to see any sort of different coloring within the dark black/brown dirt we have been examining. I am hopeful that in the next few weeks more finds will begin to emerge as everyone works hard to beat the clock and this crazy weather!

Keep Digging

Author: Kathleen
Thursday, November 14, 2019 - 8:15am

In archeology, keeping up your moral and hopes of finding something is vital. At some point of digging, I’m sure we have all thought: “What if we don’t find anything? What if I’m wasting my time?” And those are valid questions especially when you may be dealing with harsh weather, setbacks, or coming up empty after excavating for a while. These can all affect our attitude or belief in what we are doing and it can be quite disheartening to deal with them. However, I think the better question is “What could we find? What mystery resides underneath the dirt we’re digging through?” Yes, there are probabilities of certain artifacts being found based on historical research about the area you’re digging or typical materials included in back-filled soil like ours that an archeologist can be prepared to find. But there is no guarantee of what you will find until you start digging and that I think adds to the thrill of excavating in archeology because it’s almost like solving a mystery. You’ll never know the answer to the mystery until you start researching (or digging in our case) and see the project through.

Starting out, some of our excavation units for this semester were excavated last year so we did in a way know what we may find in those first few levels, while other units like mine had never been excavated before so we didn’t know what we’d find at all. Due to recent discovery of an error in unit placement, however, all of our units now could be considered new since differences in coordinates from last year has led to one unit being different than its older excavated unit. But even with this slight setback, there have been some amazing finds discovered in all of our units that we never expected to see. We’ve seen artifacts like an old cigar tip, shards of glass, rusted nails and wiring, coal possibly, and much more. It’s times like these where the weather is gorgeous and you're finding artifact after artifact that you need to hold onto when the weather is awful or you're finding nothing but dirt and rocks. For the first few centimeters of our unit, we weren’t finding much of anything besides rocks and gravel. This was frustrating but had we given up and not pushed through the doubt that we may not find anything of value, we never would have discovered many of the cool artifacts listed above. In archeology, it’s not guaranteed that you’ll find something every time or specifically what you’re looking for. However, the potential of stumbling upon an incredible discovery or solving a missing link in history is enough for me to keep digging.

Rolling with the Punches

Author: Emily
Friday, November 8, 2019 - 9:30am

This blog post is all about expecting the unexpected and rolling with the punches. Now that we’re really getting into the semester, we’re finally getting the hang of things; we know what to grab from the supply closet before class (most of the time), we know what to do when we get outside, we know the process of digging and screening, we know how to treat our units/what should be done when, and we know what needs to be done at the end of class to keep our site and units lookin’ fresh. However, even though we have a good routine, there are still many surprises in archaeology, and there always will be.

I’ve learned to never depend on the weather; expect the unexpected and be ready for whatever weather may happen while you’re out there, and whatever weather might have happened while you were away. Our unit has been consistently filled with water so far this semester, but we’ve learned to roll with the punches and work with what we have; often we scoop water out with buckets and cups, but we always managed to keep making progress. We’ve also all slowly learned boots are good, gloves are good, and many of us have finally equipped ourselves adequately. We’ve had to abandon finding our old unit walls and make our own, and we’ve had to screen through piles of gravel. We’ve been outside in beautiful sunshine and we’ve been outside in a cold and constant drizzle. We’ve also been digging in a different unit than we thought we were, which was a big surprise, and it explained many problems we’d had throughout the earlier parts of the semester. Archaeology is full of surprises, but it’s also filled with lessons and laughter. You really learn to be a part of a team, to take whatever situation is thrown at you and turn it into an opportunity or learning experience, and you learn to fully celebrate what some may see as little victories, but victories none the less.

Learning on the Job

Author: Jarod
Thursday, November 7, 2019 - 3:45pm

Archaeological field work requires hours of physical and mental training, but it yields many results. One of the most important things I have noticed about myself is my increase in drive and work ethic. While out in the field, I find myself always prepared to begin the next task without instruction, and now have the required knowledge to follow the correct steps to continue the dig. I have seen this not only in myself, but in the rest of the team.

When the course first began, we would gather at the Dig Site and await instructions on what to do next and how to do it. Now when we meet at the maintenance closet, we know what to grab and how to begin the day. Dr. Gaff may give us a brief piece of advice, but we all know what to do and how to do it. In fact, even last period we all knew exactly what we needed to begin the day and continue our work. I feel ready to begin the day, and am excited to see what we will discover next.

Lessons Learned

Author: Clara
Wednesday, November 6, 2019 - 9:15am

Digging in search of remnants from Central Hall has been a whirlwind of new experiences. This is the first college class that I’ve taken to have such a hands-on approach when it comes to the teaching aspect of the class. I am very proud of the pace in which our unit has been developing over the past couple of weeks. Sure, there are some days that you aren’t feeling digging as much as you are expected to, but glancing into the unit and seeing the potential artifacts that are just under the dirt puts my mind in the right, responsible place. There are a couple things I have learned along the way that I’ve thought to mention.

Communication is critically important, especially on an archaeology team.
If no one is really sure what anyone else is doing, nothing will get done.
Following the proper procedures is a task which seems simple, but can be daunting.
The cool rock that you found is probably just a cool rock, unfortunately.
A pack of baby wipes will be, without a doubt, the best purchase you can make. The amount of times my hands have been covered with dirt but I needed them to write down coordinates was plenty.
Someone critiquing your unit will actually get to you, as you’ve worked on it for hours and it’s still not deep enough?
People will get on your nerves, but knowing you both are working towards the same goal will humble you.
Having fun in archaeology is not hard. I think some kind of chemical in the dirt makes you more humorous.

A View from Year Two

Author: Dakota
Thursday, October 24, 2019 - 12:00pm

This year marks the second time that the University of Northern Iowa has undergone the search of the remnants of Central Hall. We opened up a couple of new units and are planning on searching closer to Lang Hall. I am on unit 22 one of these new units. The main element that my partner Kim and I have been fighting this year is the rain and mud. These elements are the worst because the moisture will erode the walls and make it difficult to screen because it compacts the dirt to almost a play dough consistency. When screening the mud it is also important to bring gloves because if the conditions get colder it can lead to freezing your hands and the hazards of encountering small artifacts such as small pieces of glass. With all of the downfalls to the rainy mud it can be a fun setting because when missed tosses to the screen hit your partner it can bring about some very funny stories and pictures. Thus proving that even in adverse conditions archaeology is very fun and rewarding with the right crew.

Family Fun…in the Mud?

Author: Kim
Wednesday, October 23, 2019 - 10:00pm

This last weekend was UNI’s annual Family Weekend, where family members from across Iowa come to visit their students. As of Thursday, the weather was estimated to be nice—seventies, sunny, and not a speck of rain on the radar. However, when Saturday rolled around, we were betrayed by the meteorological conditions.

There was an abundance of rain, wind, and chilly temperatures, but we were still determined to dig in our units and present a unified front to our family members. What resulted was nothing short of a good time. With coffee, trowels, and endless mud, we made progress in our excavation units and chatted with those stalwart enough to brave the weather. We even learned a tidbit or two about Central Hall from a gregarious alumni, who attended UNI during the fire, and are nearing a level-change in our unit.

Family Weekend taught me a lesson that I won't soon forget—that at the end of the day, good company and the right attitude are what matters. This lesson can be applied throughout the rest of the dig, and throughout life.

Soiled ...

Author: Madi
Thursday, October 10, 2019 - 1:00pm

Amid UNI’s homecoming celebrations our crew has continued to bare the elements. Most class periods begin by bailing out the rainwater that seems to fall endlessly. However, our tarps are fully functional, and the units stay relatively dry so we dig on!

My particular unit, number twenty, has been especially lucky in staying dry. My dig partner and I have been able to move a lot of dirt these first few weeks which has now prompted us to begin soil identification. This day also happened to be the same day I learned about soils in another one of my classes which, if you know me, means I asked about ten thousand questions to help connect the dots.

Once I had all my ducks in a row, we began the process of soil identification. We spent our time using charts and soil guides to identify the color, texture, structure, consistency, plasticity, and mottling of our unit’s soil. Luckily, our results aligned with most soils found in Iowa – dark and full of clay.

If you were sad you missed out on seeing these amazing Iowan soils over homecoming weekend, come check them out Family Weekend, Saturday October 19th from 10-1!

Screening

Author: Kathleen
Wednesday, October 9, 2019 - 3:45pm

An important aspect of any archeological endeavor is screening, which is when you sift through the soil you are digging and look for anything worth keeping while the dirt is removed by falling through the screen. Basically, it’s similar to how a person would drain the water out of their cooked pasta with a colander. Screens come in all shapes and sizes in order to fit the type you need for your excavation so if you need to sift very finely, you’d want a screen with a smaller screen grid. Since the soil we experience in our digging on campus is mostly clay and dirt, our screens need to be a little larger in order to sift through it efficiently. Or as efficiently as you can when the dirt refuses to unclump and go through the screen. Many many times, my partner and I’s sifting turns into somewhat of an intense activity since we basically have to force the clay to go through.

Though screening can be quite strenuous, it is definitely worth all the work when you discover all the tiny artifacts that were hidden in the dirt you removed. From digging and screening our site on campus, our team has found items such as brick fragments, worms (which our team has fondly nicknamed “Earth noodles”), pieces of glass, and other strange artifacts that we don’t have a consensus on what it is yet. Along with that we have found a LOT of rock and gravel which is to be expected with the type of soil it is. Screening is probably my favorite part of excavation (despite how irritating the thick clay can be at times) because it is where you make most of the discoveries that weren’t visible when you were digging. Unless the artifact is something big enough to be seen or hit when shoveling, you’re probably only going to actually see it using the screen. This is what makes screening so vital to any excavation. It’s very exciting to be sifting through dirt you thought would not have any artifacts in it and discovering a piece of brick hidden amongst the clay. Or picking through the dirt and finding something unusual and attempting to figure out the mystery of what it is. Either way, archeological excavation provides potential explanations or sometimes even more questions to a mystery you want solved. So if you don’t mind getting your hands dirty screening the soil and enjoy the thrill of investigating something, archeology may be a field to look into.

Messy Situations

Author: Skylar
Tuesday, October 1, 2019 - 1:45pm

Iowa has had some weather changes lately, you know just the typical going back and forth on deciding whether to be summer or fall. This had led us to enjoy our handful of perfect digging days this semester with them being slightly breezy, temperatures in the 70’s, and sunny. But we have also had our fair share of overly hot, humid, and rainy days. These less preferred days have led to some unpleasant digging conditions, yet also some creativity in our digs.

I am currently working in unit nine and it is often prone to flooding when it rains. Our first solution to this problem was to use plastic cups and scoop out the water to make the unit into a more workable condition. But that still left the unit pretty muddy and attempting to screen through mud often leads to a pretty messy situation. Our second solution for this problem was to cut large pieces of plastic tarp, place them over the units, and use a piece of plywood to hold the tarp in position. So far this has worked pretty well to keep the units semi-workable by not allowing the rain to access the unit directly and thus not causing much flooding.

The second unpleasant digging condition goes hand and hand with the changing of the seasons and it is the pesky little bugs that are now active. They surround our units and we are often contemplating why we keep forgetting our bug spray. A solution that my peer uses is to spray vanilla perfume around her excavation area. Very creative to say the least and it does help some but let’s hope we remember to bring our bug spray so we can help alleviate the pesky problem just a little bit more.

Teamwork

Author: Jarod
Thursday, September 26, 2019 - 8:15am

I have learned many things from archaeological field work, but one thing that stands out in particular is the amount of teamwork that takes place while in the field. The whole team works as one team, even while at separate units. People who are not currently busy walk around the site and look for work or methods to help other team members. It really creates an element of teamwork that makes class fun, despite the weather or mud.

This class teaches not only the important and real life practices and processes of archaeology, but also teaches students to work together in an efficient manner. A personal experience of mine is when 3 other students and I were screening soil, while another student continually added soil for us to screen. It is an enjoyable experience to come to class and have a good time while learning. I might even consider taking it again next semester!

Breaking Ground

Author: Ally
Tuesday, September 24, 2019 - 10:00pm

Since the last blog post, our crew has finally gotten to break the ground and start the digging process!

All of us students were very excited and have learned a great deal about archaeological excavation processes. We have four units that are brand new and two that are being re-excavated from last year. Being a member who has been assigned to an old unit, I can give a little more insight as to how the process here differs from the steps one would go through if a unit needed to break new ground. For the new units, the beginning steps were more specific and detailed. It was important for our neighbors to document and thoroughly sift the dirt as they removed it. As for units 7 and 9, we just broke the ground and tossed the dirt into a pile. This is because the earth we are removing was already excavated last year. The term for this type of dirt is known as backfill, and let me tell you there has been a lot of it!

Nevertheless, both units 9 and 7 have dug far enough to reach new, unsifted soil and are currently working to locate the walls of the prior units. As for the progress of all the new projects, the members of each unit have been moving at different speeds. Unit 20, right next to mine, is moving with great efficiency and has already begun to carve out their own walls. As for the other two, they are sifting through surface level earth but soon will move on to the same step.

While the teamwork and cooperation has been fantastic so far, we as an excavation crew are learning that when dealing with the elements there are sometimes things that go askew despite all proper planning. For instance, both of the old units have experienced minor flooding episodes. Furthermore, I think we all can attest that the ants are certainly not fond of our trowels disrupting their homes. One final situation that occurred was very recent when an animal, most likely a squirrel, decided to knock over some mapping string for one of the newer units. Despite these minor hiccups, our work pace is moving incredibly well and I find that to be attributed to the entire group’s positivity and willingness to participate and help one another. These obstacles, though small, have opened our crew’s eyes to the unpredictable nature of archaeology which certainly seems to be an overarching lesson to learn from this course.

Getting Started - Fall 2019

Author: Emily
Monday, September 23, 2019 - 2:30pm

These first few weeks of class we have mostly been surveying, setting up excavation units, and learning how to keep our journals; basically, all of the prep work behind the dig! We learned how to set up our excavation units with string and nails making one-meter by one-meter units, getting them in the correct position with coordinates, and avoiding electrical lines and other buried lines. A lot of technical work and calls to make sure we are good to dig into the ground! We also had to make sure the units weren’t in certain places under trees or too close to buildings.

Journals are very important during a dig. We learned what coordinates to write down to reference different points on site, how important knowing directions are, and that you have to be as specific as possible when journaling, because if someone just picks up your journal they should be able to follow step by step how your dig went. We learned when making maps in our journals you must label everything specifically, always have north marked, the more detail the better, mark all units and have their southwest corner coordinates, include date, location, weather, and your initials. When doing a journal entry after a class of digging, we are supposed to write in as much detail exactly what happened that day during digging. This would include the date, weather, how much digging you did, what you found or didn’t find, maybe a rough sketch of your unit, and really anything you did during that class. As I said, the more details the better!

Notes from the Field: 2018

The Wrap-Up

Author: Trenton
Tuesday, December 18, 2018 - 12:15pm

As our dig has officially come to an end this semester (the last of the backfilling is expected to finish by the 7th), I look back on this experience with zero regrets. I of course enrolled in the class out of personal interests given one of my majors (Anthropology), but I also enrolled for graduation requirements (Anthropology again). In the end, however, I received more than just college credit for this course. Throughout the semester I have developed an actual understanding of the basics of archaeological fieldwork - digging, troweling, sifting, record keeping, journaling, profiling, and so on. This dig and class have offered me the applied experience I often seek in my classes and has helped to further my critical thinking and problem solving skills in a way I couldn't have imagined.

However, more than just developing myself as a student and professional, I have also established some wonderful working relationships but also lasting friendships. Spending a little over an hour twice a week out in the elements and mud really allows you to see people outside of their comfort zones (you get a real picture for who they are). With that knowledge, I have to say that working with this group and Dr. Gaff will be one of my most memorable college experiences both academically and socially. It pains me to not be able to continue through our interpreting fieldwork course offered in the spring, but I plan to stay more than updated as I hope will be the same for anyone who has followed us throughout this process.

In the end, I want to thank any and everyone that has helped throughout the semester with our dig. I want to thank the families, friends, my classmates, and Dr. Gaff for allowing me the opportunity to learn about, teach, and promote the wonderful world of archaeology. For those interested in future opportunities in archaeology or any profession of interest, seek out learning opportunities like this. I promise, you will NOT regret it.

DIG ON UNI - and have a wonderful round of Holidays!

Backfilling

Author: Hailey
Monday, December 10, 2018 - 12:45pm

Our last task as students in the archaeology fieldwork class was to cover back up the holes we had made and clean up our site. This meant shoveling soil back into our units by hand with shovels in below freezing temperatures. The piles of excavated dirt we’ve collected over the semester had frozen solid, and our shoveling ended up being more like chiseling away at the dirt. Even with the less-than-ideal conditions, these were some of the best days I had in the class. Despite the bitter cold and hard work, we were in good spirits, joking and laughing as we all worked together. The frozen soil forced us to work together and come up with creative solutions to our problems, like using our shovels as levers to force the soil apart, or jumping on top of a huge piece of dirt to break it apart. We all had a good laugh at these antics and it was nice to have a little time to goof off. It was a great end to the semester and really solidified the great teammates and friends I’ve made during this experience. My final advice would be next year to open backfilling up to the whole school—I think everyone would benefit from taking their finals week stress out on a pile of frozen dirt :)

We Would Like to Thank Coffee

Author: Rachel
Monday, December 10, 2018 - 11:30am

Throughout our semester digging in the elements of our ever changing university, the
digging team, especially Dr. Gaff, has relied on warm drinks, such as various coffees and hot
chocolates to ward off the cold or keep our senses sharper than our trowels (at least that’s the
hope). As the semester went on, both students and professor would either come prepared with
the life-giving substance or take a break in order to procure it from the many selections from
Chats in Maucker Union (my personal favorite is the Campfire Mocha, no graham cracker
topping). Even one of the rules of the site was to not spill Dr. Gaff’s coffee, which, thankfully,
never occurred. At one point, a student’s employer graciously donated hot coffee for an
extra dig time over family weekend to keep fingers from freezing off, which was greatly
appreciated by those who participated and will never be forgotten.

So as this semester comes to a close, I just wanted to send a thank you to our favorite
warm drinks, their creators, and the baristas who prepared the wonderful beverages that helped
us to keep moving in our archaeological endeavors. I don’t think we could have done it without
you.

Mud and Friends

Author: Nick
Friday, December 7, 2018 - 10:45pm

It’s been an amazing year out at the dig site! I personally have learned that this is definitely the path for me. Certainly beats sitting behind a desk for hours on end. I can’t lie though, it’s been a lot of hard work with all the rain this year and the conditions of the soil making things very hard on all of us. Archeology isn’t just digging in the ground and finding cool stuff. It’s an art form that involved dirt, sweat and a bunch of crazy characters with shovels. We found some really cool things and we all came out a bit muddy but most definitely friends.

A Look Back at Family Weekend

Author: Hanna
Friday, December 7, 2018 - 1:30pm

Family weekend-- the perfect time for students to show their parents what they’re up to at college. A group of us trouped out on Saturday, November 3rd to do some digging and some outreach to passersby. Despite the dreary weather, we had a fun time. (The coffee donated by Sidecar and the donuts brought by Dr. Gaff didn’t hurt.) A few people in our class brought their parents by, and we had a good number of other visitors as well. One boy asked which hole was the deepest, and (after signing a permission form) we brought him into the site and over to Unit 1, explaining about the core samples of soil we’d taken which gave us a better look at what the composition of the soil is like farther under the surface level. Answering the public’s questions made me think of things I hadn’t considered before-- one man asked how long soil deposition takes, and I confessed that I wasn’t sure and I would need to ask a geologist for that one. Overall it was fun to educate the public about archeology, a subject that most people don’t have much exposure to in their regular lives.

The End is Near

Author: Stephanie
Thursday, November 29, 2018 - 3:15pm

As this semesters comes to a close, I would like to look back at just how far our class has come with our excavations and knowledge of archaeology as a "hole". At the beginning of the semester I only knew the names of the tools I was using and now I can trowel a unit, tell rock from artifact (which was more difficult than you would imagine), determine what kind of soil I am dealing with, and map out what I found. It was also cool watching our class grow together. At the beginning the process was pretty slow because we didn't really know what we were doing, but towards the end we now grab the equipment we need and dive straight in. It has been a great semester and I can't wait to see what next semester's lab class will uncover about our artifacts.

Prepare to Tough the Elements

Author: Dakota
Sunday, November 25, 2018 - 9:30pm

One important thing to remember during any archeological dig is to always be prepared for anything to happen on site. During our field class we have braved through rain on multiple occasions and implications afterwards. During the beginning of every class period we have had to take up to 10 minutes to bail out our units due to the abnormally rainy Autumn that we have had. It is important to be very careful to get as much water off the tarp that covers the unit because if any water is missed when lifting the tarp it will seep into the unit. If water gets in, this generates a whole different issue in itself. Water can affect the integrity of the walls of the unit causing erosion of the walls if not carefully preserved. It is also important to wear boots with effective grips on the bottom when outside during such adverse conditions. On multiple occasions I have personally slipped and slid across the dig site when trying to walk anywhere. In one case in fact I fell in the unit. In order to deal with such accidents, it is always important to keep a positive attitude and to learn to laugh at yourself to make even the most embarrassing situations enjoyable.

Tools for the Job

Author: Dakota
Sunday, November 25, 2018 - 9:15pm

Before starting any archeological dig, it is important to make sure that you are prepared with all of the tools that you will need in order to do the job effectively. The most important, overlooked tools are the writing utensils and the field notebook. It does not matter what happens out in the field, if it is not backed up by field notes you might as well just be digging in your backyard. Now, speaking of digging, archeology is not just finding a place and just mindlessly shoveling the Earth. It is important to have an idea of your boundaries and in order to do this you need to survey the land. In order to set up a unit, it is important to have nails to outline the corners of your unit and ensure that the corners are accurate through using a tape measure. In our case it was a one meter unit. After the unit corners are set up it is important to have string to outline the boundary walls of the unit. Another string is then put as the guide string to help measure the depth when digging. The string is then attached to a level to ensure that the guide string is accurately lined with the walls. Of course, I saved the most obvious tools for last, there is no way to dig into your unit without your Marshalltown trowel and your shovel. Sadly, the hat satchel and whip is not recommended contrary to popular belief.

Digging for History

Author: Emiley
Monday, November 19, 2018 - 9:15am

In this time working on the dig I'd have to say the coolest thing for me is finding a piece of anything like brick or glass in the dirt, it makes me feel closer to history knowing someone in the past has been here and touched this piece of brick. I always love learning about history, all this digging for history has even inspired me to look into my own history, but rain or shine (hopefully shine cause it's super cold and I hate the cold) you'll find us out there looking for pieces of the past!

Grab Your Rain Boots, It's Diggin' Time!

Author: Morganne
Friday, November 16, 2018 - 10:00pm

Archaeology, as I’m sure you can guess, is pretty dependent on the weather. Enter Iowa, where people grill in the snow, watch tornados, and often hope for torrential rainfall. While good for most Iowans, this isn’t so great for aspiring archaeologists. Although the rain might be good for crops and the overall soil health, it makes digging a little tricky--especially when you’ve got a small pool in your unit. Particularly, this past month has been characterized by inches of rain, which always seems to coalesce the most in our units. But alas, we will not be deterred in our quest to out-dig one-another. We enjoy many things--from long walks on the site, knock-off Starbucks coffee, and designer trowels--but nothing takes the cake like splashing around in your unit, with or without rain boots. Despite the pools of fun, rain does take its toll on the actual archaeological work being done. Erosion frequently occurs causing us to “re-discover” some artifacts and, in extreme cases, we can’t even dig, due to excess water that miraculously avoids our waterproofing. Perhaps the worst thing about the rain is when it comes to sifting. There are very specific environmental conditions that promote efficient sifting, mostly dry weather and warm temperatures. This is not Midwest October/November in Iowa. The more saturated the soil, the harder it is to push through screens. In addition to the challenge of pushing mud through tiny squares, artifacts can often be concealed by mud, making it even harder to discern rocks from brick or other man-made items. The rain, while good for Iowans, inhibits how fast we can complete levels during digs. So just remember, next time you go out to enjoy the rain, an archaeologist is preparing for an not so relaxing swim and lots of mud.

Oh, Baby, It's Cold Outside!

Author: Lyn
Sunday, November 11, 2018 - 8:30pm

The ground is getting harder but not so much from cold as it is with the mixture of rocks mixed in thick layers of clay. We are troweling these days, slicing layer by layer, laughing, shoveling, sharing ideas, laughing some more. My classmates and I have bonded through this time together. As the semester comes to a close, I can say that this experience has been wonderful! I've learned so much and enjoyed the friendship of fellow classmates. I'm so grateful to Dr. Gaff and UNI for providing a field experience. At first, I wasn't sure if fieldwork was for me. The lab is so much warmer! But after a while, I really enjoyed coming to the site to find something new. My eyes grew more keen each day to tiny objects like plant roots, charred pebble-sized remnants, tiny pieces of broken glass, brick fragments, etc. It's been fun! I would recommend this experience to anyone interested in archaeology. Anthropology is SO cool!!

Interview with a Geologist

Author: Hailey
Wednesday, November 7, 2018 - 11:00pm

Last weekend was our Family Weekend open house and my friend Celeste stopped by the dig site to see what I’ve been working on this semester. Celeste is a junior Earth Science and Environmental Science double-major, and she works for GeoTREE on campus. She is very familiar with the local geology, and I thought she would be a great resource to consult about all the rocks we have been excavating. According to Celeste, Cedar Falls sits on the limestones and dolomites of the Little Cedar Formation in the Cedar Valley Group (lithostratigraphic units). These date to the Middle subdivision of the Devonian Period, approximately 393-383 million years ago. During that time period, the state of Iowa was part of a marine seaway that overlaid a continental shelf. This shallow, warm, aquatic environment was ideal for the decomposition and preservation of rocks suck as limestone. Most of the rocks we are finding in our units is this limestone, which is abundantly common in this region and was a common building material. Knowing the geologic context for our side helps to understand where the rocks we find came from and whether they originated from the local area or came from far away.

What Are We Actually Doing?

Author: Stephanie
Wednesday, October 24, 2018 - 9:30am

When thinking of archaeology many people jump to Indiana Jones; find really cool artifacts with some sort of mythical power, beat the bad guys, and save the day. While those movies are pretty cool, archaeology isn't really like that. There is a lot of preparation that goes into finding a site and getting the clearance to dig there. Fortunately, Dr. Gaff got all the approvals for us. One of the first things we did for this project was measure out our units from a local point that was previously designated by Dr. Gaff. After that, we could officially start the excavation process, which includes; digging with a trowel and shovel, sifting dirt through a screen, writing detailed notes on our findings and surroundings. Some class periods there is nothing to be found, other times you may find a gold mine (figuratively, more like a brick mine). So far we have found a lot of rocks and a few pieces of brick scattered throughout the units.

Thursday, October 11, 2018 - 11:00am

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Band of Archaeologists

Author: Emiley
Thursday, October 11, 2018 - 9:45am

Music makes everything better! That's why our class has made a music playlist on YouTube. The reason this whole playlist started is a lot of us would wear rock band shirts, I can only say from my point of view, why I wear them to dig since most of my shirts are band shirts and some of my band shirts are my Sunday shirts cause their "hole-y" aha bad pun, and most of us say we are a band of archeologists since our tools make so much sound. On the playlist, by Dakota's request, we had to add the Indiana Jones theme song, after getting all the songs from my group members it makes me feel a bit closer to them since I can find out their taste in music, this whole class has made me feel closer to all my group members since all of us are always joking and laughing.

You can listen to the soundtrack of the dig on YouTube or Spotify.

Northern Iowa Article

Author: Dr. Gaff
Tuesday, October 9, 2018 - 10:00am

The students and project were recently featured in an article in the Northern Iowan. Click here to the read the story!

Digging in the Archives

Author: Dr. Gaff
Tuesday, October 9, 2018 - 10:00am

We took a day off from digging and spent time in Special Collections & University Archives. With the help of Jaycie Vos, our university's archivist, the crew was able to spend some time combing through old records looking for information about Central Hall. Be sure to check out the Archives as well as their Central Hall website!

Organization and Storage

Author: Aiden
Tuesday, October 2, 2018 - 2:30pm

When you're working on an archaeological dig, there’s big chance that the dig will be going on outside. While we would love to always be outside in the sun, working hard, there’s always the chance that the weather will disagree with what you want to do. When it starts to storm when we want to work, it’s not wise to start digging. There’s always the chance that the rain will mess up your dig site and/or wash away a portion of the work you did. As a backup plan, there is always other work we can be doing back in our lab when things get rough outside. There’s a lot of organizational work that goes on behind the scenes of excavations like these. Like, way more than what I expected before beginning this class! We went back to the archaeological lab on one of those stormy days and took time to move all of our equipment we may need from there to a room that is closer to our dig site. Mainly, there were newer screens and shovels for us to move over. Doctor Gaff also took time to sharpen some of our trowels and to sharpen the new shovels we had in the lab. For most of the time, I was at our storage room helping some other students organize that room. There were many totes and tubs of materials that we hadn’t used during out excavation. We organized these materials in an order that would make it easier for us to get to the equipment we would need the most. While we were organizing our closet, other students were helping Doctor Gaff back in the lab to organize the tables in the room to make it a usable space. The students helping in the lab also helped to organize some of the collections of artifacts that were left in the room from previous excursions and experiments.

Discovering History

Author: Lyn
Monday, October 1, 2018 - 10:15am

What a wonderful opportunity to discover a bit of history! The grass, the trees, the birds, the bees. Plenty of fresh air...and mud! Lots of mud. Like postmen on duty, we work rain or shine, barring torrential rains and lightening. I love the outdoors and don't mind getting dirty. My only concerns has been with bringing the outdoors indoors to my class in the Kamerick Art Center. But no worries! This has been resolved by a soft shoe dance on the way to class, travel-size spray bottles of Febreeze for my clothes and body sprays from Bath and Body.

When I trowel in the ground, Dr. Gaff's statement that we are "earth surgeons" sticks in my mind. My major is anthropology but my minor is plant biology. Earth surgeons. What a beautiful term. How often we take for granted what lies beneath our feet, let alone what lies above. We live on a planet filled with wonderful treasures both natural and man-made. This semester, I get a chance to see what's below the surface of UNI. The saying "one man's trash is another man's treasure" is so true. Something tossed aside yesterday becomes a piece of a fantastic puzzle for the future. Everyday, Nick and I find little pieces of a puzzle that tell a story. What is that story? Well, for those of you who are undecided on Spring classes, join me and take "Interpreting the Archaeological Record" to find out.

My final thoughts: Earthworms. Before this class, my passion for fishing successfully was dampered by my disgust for prepping hooks with pieces of live nightcrawlers. By now, I can assure you that handling pieces of live, squirming pieces of earthworms is no longer a problem. So you could say archaeology has improved my fishing.

Laughter, teamwork, discovery. There's so much to share but I'll leave you with this: I'm working with an awesome team under an amazing professor. It's worth the mud, rain, earthworms...and yes, spiders, too. What a wonderful experience. I can't wait to see what we discover next...

Through Rain or Shine

Author: Rachel
Friday, September 28, 2018 - 10:45am

Well, rain obviously doesn’t stop us.

The weather during our archaeological endeavors has been a bit trying, with rain deciding to show up on many different occasions. The rain affects the consistency of the soil, making it difficult to sift through what has been loosed from the ground. The saturation of the water in the soil causes it to be more heavy, but easier to throw (don’t worry, into the sifter, not at people), as it is more likely to stay in a clump. Most of the time, the rain holds off long enough for the actual digging session, leaving us to deal with the aftermath of the torrential downpours our campus has been experiencing. To keep the rain from making a pool out of our units, we use tarps to cover them when work is not being done. This works unless the wind decides to make itself known, which is often when you dig in what has been called a wind tunnel. When it isn’t raining, the weather has chosen to be more cooperative, with the sun shining and, sometimes, a nice breeze making its way through the dig site. Either way, the weather doesn’t seem to change the positive attitudes of the dig team.

Muddy Zoo

Author: Morganne
Friday, September 21, 2018 - 12:15pm

Many students pass between Lang and Maucker Union and look at the muddy hodge-podge of students oddly. Honestly, if I passed all of us covered in dirt, I’d probably be a little confused too! Despite how it looks, we aren’t digging through grubs and grime just for fun, we’re starting a new chapter at UNI—to rediscover the old. UNI digs aims to find the remnants of old buildings, while simultaneously educating anthropology students on the details of archaeological fieldwork. Many on-lookers might think the process is rather straight- forward: dig, sift, and find old things. The simplistic view misses many of the minute details that we focus on everyday—rain or shine! Prior to breaking ground we had to make meticulous measurements and calculations concerning plot size, elevation, while avoiding underground utilities. After making the 1 meter by 1 meter plot, we then had to remove the top layer of sod, revealing our first layer of soil. Next, archaeologists, including us students, remove the soil incrementally—setting a certain amount for each level. For example, we removed the first level of soil over the past few weeks, equating to 10 centimeters. The incremental removal of soil allows for well-established records of when, where, and how artifacts were found. After each level, paperwork needs to be completed, elevation measured, artifacts cataloged, and new paperwork started. From proper shovel technique, to accurate measurements, archaeology is all about attention to detail. So next time you pass by our zoo of muddy students/archaeologists don’t be afraid to wave and stop by!

Grids and Squares

Author: Hanna
Thursday, September 20, 2018 - 12:00pm

The first day we we started working on the site, our goal was to map out squares where we would begin our excavation. Before class, Dr. Gaff had gone out (with some help) to map out the site grid, measuring from a Site Datum, which is the master reference point for the entire site. (In our case the Datum is somewhere near the Maucker Union.) To get the site ready for us to get started as soon as possible, Dr. Gaff marked off roughly one meter by one meter squares, and our goal on the first day was to get these squares perfected, put nails in each corner, and string around these nails to create squares. In groups of two or three students we started, and after a bit of confusion (and remembering what a hypotenuse is) most groups got their squares correct. However, this is where my group hit a roadblock. While looking over the site, Dr. Gaff noticed that our square seemed to be out of the grid alignment with the rest of the squares. We were confused, and tried again to measure our square, thinking we made a mistake with the measurements. We got almost the same result again, different by about a centimeter. We couldn’t continue working in the incorrect square, since anything we found in it wouldn’t be mapped correctly. In the end, our group split up and started working on different places in the grid since we had a deadline for getting our excavation started.

The Importance of Record Keeping

Author: Trenton
Monday, September 17, 2018 - 1:45pm

Throughout the first four weeks of our field experience, one thing has become extremely evident to me - the importance of recording our day to day activities and findings. I of course was aware that we needed to journal and record our work each day, but this data tracking has to be a lot more in depth and defined than I had pictured. The reasoning behind this need for accurate data and note taking is due to the fact we must maintain a proper understanding of how the dig site started and the process that we follow until we finish. This note taking helps us to paint a theoretical picture for not only ourselves but any future observers to best interpret our findings.

So how exactly do we go about providing viable and accurate notes? We simply just journal the same way you would journal in your personal diary. We try to retell the daily events and steps we went through as best we can. We cover the processes that we partook throughout each specific day. Like for me personally, I have noted how we have marked out each plot or unit that we plan on digging in, then I covered the steps we went through to properly dig, and how best to maintain our units. I also make it a priority to not any specific findings that I and my partner may have accumulated each day. All in all, what I continue to learn throughout the note taking process is that every bit of information you can add to your journal is important. Essentially, any note you can make is a good note.

Dig UNI

Notes from the Field: 2023

Notes from the Field: 2022

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Notes from the Field: 2020

Notes from the Field: 2019

Notes from the Field: 2018

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