University of Illinois
Field School in Archaeology
Anth. 354 and 355 (6 credits)
June 6, 2005 to July 31, 2005
This field school will provide training in the techniques of excavation,
mapping, controlled surface surveys, artifact classification and
contextual interpretation. Students will work in supervised teams,
learning to function as members of a field crew, with all of the skills
necessary for becoming professional archaeologists. Several students from
past University of Illinois field schools have gone on to graduate study
and professional field-archaeology positions. Laboratory processing and
analysis will be ongoing during the latter portion of the field season.
Evening lectures by project staff, visiting archaeologists, and historians
will focus on providing background on how field data are used to answer
archaeological and historical research questions.
The first six weeks of this field school will focus on the past town site
of New Philadelphia, located in Pike County, Illinois, just 20 miles east
of Hannibal, Missouri and the Mississippi River. The New Philadelphia
story is both compelling and unique. Many studies in historical
archaeology that concentrate on African-American heritage have focused on
plantation life and the pre-emancipation era. The history of New
Philadelphia is very different. It is a chronicle of racial uplift and the
success of African-American families and their ability to survive and
prosper in a racialized society. In 1836, Frank McWorter, an African
American who was born into slavery and later purchased his own freedom,
acquired 42 acres of land in the sparsely populated area of Pike County,
Illinois, situated in the rolling hills bounded by the Illinois and
Mississippi rivers. He founded and platted a town, subdivided the
property, and sold lots. McWorter used the revenues from his
entrepreneurial efforts to purchase the freedom of sixteen family members,
with a total expenditure of $14,000 (over $300,000 in today's currency) – a
remarkable achievement.
Families of African American and European American heritage moved to the
town and created a multi-racial community. New Philadelphia likely served
as a stopping place for the "Underground railroad" as enslaved African
Americans fled northward escaping the oppression of southern plantations.
The history of New Philadelphia serves as a rare example of a multi-racial
early farming community on the nation's Midwestern frontier. The town's
population reached its peak of about 170 people after the Civil War, a
size comparable to many Pike County communities today. However, by the end
of the century racial and corporate politics of America's gilded age likely
resulted in the death knell for the settlement: regional transportation
investors routed a new railroad line to pass to the north of the town.
Many of New Philadelphia's residents eventually moved away and, by the
early 20th century, only a few families remained (see Walker 1983/1995).
The excavation and analysis of artifacts and archaeobiology data will
provide students with a hands-on learning experience and mentoring process
for students in an interdisciplinary setting. Ultimately, these different
data sets will be integrated and the students will gain an understanding
of the importance of scientific interdisciplinary research as they examine
the growth and development of the town. This research will elucidate how
individual members and families of this integrated community made choices
to create their immediate environment, diet, agricultural practices,
social affiliations, and consumer choices.
The field school at the New Philadelphia site will be taught by Prof.
Christopher Fennell, an historical archaeologist with the Department of
Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Our field crew
will work in collaboration with a nine-student National Science Foundation
field school conducted at the same site during the summer, under the
supervision of Dr. Fennell, Dr. Paul Shackel (U. Maryland), and Dr. Terry
Martin (Curator, Illinois State Museum).
The last two weeks of this field school will likely be spent working under
the supervision of Prof. Tim Pauketat of the University of Illinois in
excavating a Mississippian period site in the American Bottom region
surrounding the famous site of Cahokia, just east of St. Louis. Thus,
students will likely be presented with an extraordinary educational and
training opportunity -- to work in and experience the process of both
historical archaeology and prehistoric archaeology in an eight-week field
school.
For additional information about this field school opportunity, please
contact Chris Fennell by email at [log in to unmask], by phone at 217-244-
7309, or check his web page (see below) for background information on the
multi-year archaeology project at New Philadelphia. To apply for
participation in this fieldschool, please complete a short application
form and submit it to Dr. Fennell by March 30, 2005. Students will be
notified of acceptance no later than April 15, 2004. Accepted students
should register for the related course numbers (listed above) for the
summer session. Please note that all students must register for both
courses (a total of 6 credit hours). Students enrolled at an institution
other than the University of Illinois can enroll through the University's
Academic Outreach program.
Field school brochure, application, and additional information are
available online at:
http://www.anthro.uiuc.edu/faculty/cfennell/fieldschool/fieldschool.h
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