ARCHAEOBIOLOGY RESEARCH EXPERIENCE FOR UNDERGRADUATES
SPONSORED BY THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION AND THE ANDREW FISKE MEMORIAL CENTER FOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH, UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS BOSTON

During the summers of 2003-2005, the NSF and the Fiske Center at UMass Boston are supporting a ten-week program of archaeological excavation and laboratory work focused on the collection and analysis of archaeobiological data, including animal bones, shells, macrobotanicals and pollen. The program is comprised of one week of orientation in the laboratory; four weeks of archaeological excavation and sample collection at Sylvester Manor; and five weeks of laboratory work studying excavated materials and field data.

The fieldwork takes place at Sylvester Manor, Shelter Island, New York, and the laboratory work takes place in the archaeology labs at UMass Boston. Sylvester Manor is a 250-acre site with extensive archaeological remains of a Late Woodland (pre-contact) Native American settlement, and a 1652-1735 agricultural plantation established to ship provisions to the Caribbean. UMass Boston is currently in its fifth season of work at the site. The primary goals of the research are to understand the patterns of cultural interaction and cultural change among the diverse groups on the plantation, and to reconstruct land use and landscape change through time. At UMass Boston the program participants will work in five Fiske Center archaeology laboratories which include a zooarchaeology type collection; equipment for making petrographic thin section; equipment for extracting pollen; reference collections for the identification of archaeological wood, seeds, and pollen; a Flote-Tech machine for processing archaeological sediment samples; and equipment and microscopes for extracting and identifying archaeological parasites.

Students receive a $300 per week stipend with the project covering most living expenses. Participants must be US citizens or Permanent Residents enrolled in college. Applications are due April 4 each year for the following summer. Application forms can be downloaded from the web site: http://www.fiskecenter.umb.edu/reu.html

For more information contact: Dr. David B. Landon * Anthropology Department * University of Massachusetts Boston * 100 Morrissey Boulevard * Boston, MA 02125 * 617.287.6835 * [log in to unmask]