Dr. Bonnie Pitblado's Rocky Mountain Paleoindian Research Program

Professor: Dr. Bonnie Pitblado (my last name is pronounced with a long "a" sound)
Office: Old Main 245F Phone: 797 - 1496 E-mail: bpitblado@hass.usu.edu
Office hours: Tues, 12:00 - 1:00; Wed, 12:00 - 2:00; Thurs, 12:00 - 1:00

Introduction

Welcome to Anthropology 5300, archaeological field school in the Flaming Gorge area! The purpose of this 6-credit course is to provide you with a hands-on introduction to all aspects of archaeological survey. Over the course of your six weeks in the field, you will learn methods used by professionals doing archaeological survey in the academic, government, and contract archaeology realms. When you complete the course, you will be qualified to participate in any archaeological survey, anywhere in the world. You will be particularly well prepared for jobs in the contract archaeology world, which offers a wide array of summer positions that you may fill as a college student, and longer-term opportunities once you graduate.

Just a few of the skills you will "learn through doing" this summer include:

To earn your six credits, you must work the whole six weeks of the project. You will work long days, although not so long as you would work on many other projects. Archaeologists typically have a relatively narrow window in which to conduct fieldwork. That window is dictated by schedules (professors, for instance, have only a few free months a year) and weather, especially in the mountains! If you plan on a career in archaeology, it will behoove you to become accustomed to working the long hours that are typical of the discipline.

We will leave for the field promptly at 7:30 a.m., and we will typically be back at camp by 5:30 p.m. Please remember that we are a team, not a bunch of individuals. We are done for the evening when everyone is done, and it is important for everyone to pitch in to help others finish a task when necessary. There may be a day or two or five that we will need to stay in the field a little late in order to finish something important. We will of course try to keep such occasions to a minimum through careful planning, but when the inevitable occurs, I expect you not to stand there tapping your toe, but to help us all get out of there!

Attendance and punctuality - If you miss a day without a really good excuse (such as severe illness), your grade will drop one full letter grade. Tardiness is not acceptable and will adversely impact your grade. If you must miss a day for some foreseeable reason, you must make arrangements with me ahead of time to make that day up, or you will compromise your grade.

Attitude - I know that some of you have dreams of being archaeologists and some of you just want to see what archaeologists do. Whichever the case, I expect you to bring your full attention and positive energy to our survey program. Please keep in mind that we are representing Utah State University to professional and avocational archaeologists who work with or visit us, and we want to make USU look great! "Attitude" crosses over into our off-work time too. I expect k.p. (kitchen patrol/police) folks to show up on time and without grumbling for their shifts, and for everyone to pitch in when something around camp needs to be done.

Reading assignments - We will read E.B. Banning's (2002) textbook Archaeological Survey during the month of June. We will hold twice-weekly evening discussions on the readings, and I expect you always to have done the reading and to participate actively in our chats.