Recent RESEARCH PROJECTS
& ACTIVE FIELDWORK
Winter 2022 Current Research (pending & underway), Conferences, and Writing:
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Sabbatical Book: The Remoteness Factor: Islands, Coasts, and Frontiers in the Great Lakes - An Archaeological Perspective.
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Invasive deer mice investigation on Beaver Island, with Dr. Zachary Taylor, Thomas Moore University
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Ethnobotanical analysis of charred plant remains and seeds from the MPS-Isle du Castor Site on Beaver Island, with Kathryn Parker
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Fall 2021 - Fall 2022 Sabbatical - The Remoteness Factor - Continuing my island and coastal research and beginning to write my book summarizing my archaeological work on Beaver Island.
Fall 2020 Chocolay Bayou Nature Preserve (CBNP), Harvey, MI
Despite Covid-19 and numerous restrictions and safety protocols, masked students participated in our first ever, fall semester archaeology field school (AN355). Students systematically surveyed the south half of the CBNP property, using shovel probes spaced at a 10-meter interval. Our discoveries include foundation pillars from a former train depot that parallel the roadway,
a former cabin foundation and a possible small prehistoric site on ancient beach ridges.
The analysis of artifacts was initiated during the winter Archaeology Lab class and is ongoing.
Spring 2019 Mormon Print Shop/MPS Isle de Castor Site, Beaver Island, MI
To assist the Beaver Island Historical Society, NMU archaeologists returned to the MPS site to conduct salvage archaeology operations under the recently removed summer kitchen that was part of the Gibson Boarding House. A small group of hand-selected students participated in helping document the remaining evidence of the Mormon occupation. Personal items such as clay pipes were recovered, as were these 1850s printing type letters. Late Woodland materials were also encountered, and additional investigations into the LW anthrosol occupation level revealed pottery, charred botanicals, faunal remains, lithics, and a piece of copper ore. Exhibits, banners, and posters created in my Museum Studies exhibiting NMU’s work at the MPS museum are forthcoming.
Fall 2018 Mt. Mesnard Quarry and Camp Site, Marquette, MI
This site investigation involves students in an ongoing, multi-year, experiential learning project on Mount Mesnard, just south of the City of Marquette, MI. Students in Historical Archaeology courses (AN430) or Honors courses (HO211) have systematically surveyed and tested portions of this multi-component site. Our work has discovered the location of a red sandstone quarry operation from the 1890s that appears to have been abruptly terminated by forceful eviction. An ancient quartzite quarry lies beneath, complete with large quartzite bifaces, an abundance of debitage, and a Middle Woodland dart point (Brannon type, 7-8,000 ya). The analysis of artifacts is ongoing. Recently, an exhibit of these investigations was displayed at NMU's Beaumier UP Heritage Center. Students in my Museum Studies course created the exhibit from the material culture we recovered, as well as from their research.
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Summer 2018 MPS-Isle du Castor Site, Beaver Island, MI
This site investigation has been active since 2012, when the NMU field school began to excavate at this multi-component archaeological site behind the Mormon Print Shop (built in 1852) on Beaver Island. Since then, we have returned and expanded our test excavations in 2014, 2016, and 2018 (also recent volunteer work in May of 2019). Students excavate through many occupations of this former beachfront property, including an early twentieth century shoemaker shop/post office, the Gibson boarding house, the Contact Period, and a Late Woodland anthrosol. NMU returned to the site once again this May to test beneath the old summer kitchen, which has been subsequently removed to make way for a new museum wing. The excavation of another 14 square meters ensued (~7 cubic meters); cataloguing and analysis of artifacts is underway.
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Summer 2018 Theodore Protar Farmstead Site, Beaver Island, MI
This inland site was the home and farmstead of the beloved Protar, the island's first homeopathic doctor of sorts. Protar's modest farmstead included a barn, outbuildings, animal pens, and a privy. The two-story cabin has withstood the test of time and is now a tourist destination. The 2018 NMU field school students documented the remaining above-ground structures and farmstead layout. Shovel probes and test pits helped determine the location for three excavation units, one of which included a former privy. The refitting and analysis of artifacts is ongoing.
Sample of Previous Chicago Archaeology Projects
Camp Douglas - participation with NMU students in the Camp Douglas Restoration Project at Lake Meadows Park with Loyola University, and nearby with DePaul University.
http://www.campdouglas.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Newsletter-%E2%80%8CSummer-2012.pdf
Field Museum Campus - collected artifacts and sampled landfill deposits from the Field Museum's Collection Resource Center construction. Over 4,000 artifacts were collected that date from 1904-1921 during the creation of the museum campus. The Trash-to-Treasure Exhibit was popular with educators and students.
Chinatown - Participation in the survey and test excavations at the new Chinatown Museum location in Chicago; co-curator of exhibit.
https://ccamuseum.org/chinese-american-objects-from-excavations-in-lakefront-landfill-in-chicago-1910-1915/
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Pullman - Participation as Co-Director in the DePaul University archaeology field school at the Pullman Historic Site. Test excavations at the Power Plant/Steam Building and more.
Hopkins Park/Kanakaee - Participation as Co-Director of the Budding Archaeology summer camp with the Field Museum.
DuPage County Forest Preserve District - Participation as Co-Director in the mastodon dig; with the Field Museum and high school teacher/student teams.
Dunning Cemetery - Participation in the recovery of human remains from housing development; with M.A.R.S, Inc.
Burr Oak Cemetery - Participation in the recovery of graves and human remains from disturbed contexts; with Loyola University, Chicago Police Department, and the FBI.
Rogers Park Boarding House - Participation in the GPR survey to relocate a 19th century boarding house on Chicago's north side; with the Field Museum.
Midwest Archaeological Research Services (M.A.R.S.), Inc - participation in phase I, phase II, and phase III archaeology projects in Illinois and the Midwest.
Argonne National Laboratory - phase I surveys with M.A.R.S., Inc.
Morton Arboretum - phase I survey with M.A.R.S., Inc.
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