Embedded Files
Public Archaeology
Calliope Jane, the goodest good girl, surveying the Pawnee National Grassland.
2025 Survey & Testing in Weld County, CO
The heart of my fieldwork lies in public archaeology - making the process of archaeological investigation accessible, inclusive, and meaningful for everyone. During the upcoming 2025 PAAC Summer Field Project, I will be leading teams of volunteers, including current students, interested members of the community, new archaeological professionals, and retired professionals, on the Pawnee National Grassland and adjacent State Trust lands in Weld County to document the archaeological record in the Plains of Colorado.
This project offers a unique opportunity for individuals, regardless of previous experience, to directly engage with the archaeological process. From walking the land in straight transects during pedestrian survey to learning techniques of sub-surface archaeological testing to recording sites in both buried and surface contexts, this is an opportunity to foster a sense of stewardship for our past, learn about the importance of preservation, and see firsthand how archaeological knowledge can be generated.
More to come on this!
Photos from our first session in in the field, August 11-20:
Documenting a large surface scatter of chipped stone material
Volunteer documenting attributes of chipped stone tools in the field
Colorado wildfires making for a hazy sky - the Rocky Mountains are barely visible!
Me photographing & documenting chipped stone tools
photo by Chris Johnston
UW ZooMS & Geoarchaeology Laboratory
ZooMS
Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) is a cutting edge proteomics method that allows for taxonomic identification of faunal remains. At the University of Wyoming, we have built a lab capable of performing ZooMS analyses in-house. ZooMS is especially useful for identifying fragmented faunal remains that lack landmarks permitting traditional taxonomic identification.
Featured Research
Use of hare bone for the manufacture of a Clovis bead
Early Paleoindian use of fur bearers for bone needle production
Photo by David Ian Howe
Geoarchaeology
Geoarchaeology is the application of geological methods to anthropological problems. As Colin Renfrew wrote in 1976, "since archaeology, or at least prehistoric archaeology, recovers almost all its basic data by excavation, every archaeological problem starts as a problem in geoarchaeology." And while every archaeologicaly problem may start as a problem in geoarchaeology, it is important to remember that every geoarchaeolgoical problem must end as an anthrpological one.
Three fundamental methods to characterize soils and sediments:
calcium carbonate content
A chittick apparatus is used to determine the inorganic carbon content of a sample by measuring the volume of liquid that is displaced by gases released when a sample reacts with acid.
loss on ignition
LOI is a method used to determine the organic matter content by measuring the weight difference of a sample before and after it has been heated to a high termperature (pictured above).
particle size analysis
Digital hydrometers help us determine percent sand, silt, and clay content in a sample by measuring the change in density of a soil-water suspension over time as particles drop out of suspension at different rates.
Warren Mammoth Project
The Warren Mammoth (48LA3800) was discovered by a local landowner in Laramie County, WY. Fieldwork began at the site in 2022, and was completed 2023 with funding from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund.
While we have determined this to be a non-cultural site, our excavations produced valuable data for the interpretation of other proboscidean sites and for proboscidean bonebed taphonomic studies.
2022 Excavations
A volunteer crew excavated approx. 15 sq. m over 10 days in 2022.
Biface
This biface was recovered from the surface nearby the scattered mammoth remains. No unambiguous archaeology was found in situ associated with the mammoth remains. We are interpreting the site as non-cultural.
Working Hard
Jack the dog taking a quick nap on the job while crews excavate in 2023.
Back at the lab
Work continues back at the lab to stabilize and catalog all of the mammoth remains recovered.
Hay Gulch Investigations
Middle Park, CO
University of Wyoming Archaeological Field School 2022
Paperwork
Students learning how to determine soil texture in the field while augering.
Total Station
Junior Supervisor Jack-dog overseeing UW Archaeology Field School students learning how to use the total station.
Screening
Senior Supervisor Callie-dog resting in the shade of the screens at Hay Gulch, CO.
In Situ
Students gathering to look at the first in situ find at Hay Gulch during the 2022 field season.
Profiling
After excavations are complete, students gather together to learn how to draw a profile.
Backfilling
Last step: backfill!
Galactic Neighborhood Model Run with 10ly capabilities
Modeling the Settlement of our Galactic Neighborhood
I presented the preliminary findings of this research at the Society for American Archaeology 87th Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL, March 30 - April 3, 2022 and for the Western Regional Space Grant Meeting in Houston, TX, October 17-18, 2022.
Jack Yeller posing for the camera on a cool pile of back dirt, June 2021.
Investigations of the Red Buttes property in the Laramie Basin, WY
Laying out the auger buckets allows for a quick view of the subsurface stratigraphy. September 2019.
Rehder Ranch Investigations
Read about our investigation of a reported Clovis point find from the Rocky Mountains in Southwestern Lore, vol 87, no 4: 1-10.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse