Trip to the Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit in Cincinnati

On April 6, 20 UE archaeology, art history, classical studies, history and Honors students traveled to Cincinnati to see the Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit at the Cincinnati Museum Center. The exhibit is only on for another week, so please try to visit if you're in the area and haven't already!

Alumna Profile: Rachael G. ('03) in California



I graduated from UE in 2003, and immediately began my graduate studies in Industrial Archaeology at Michigan Technological University. I spent two summers excavating at the West Point Foundry in Cold Spring, New York, and completed my thesis in May 2005.


I became a “shovelbum” after graduate school in an effort to gain more fieldwork experience. In two years, I worked for four different companies and surveyed in New Jersey, North Carolina, Kansas, Louisiana, Ohio, Indiana, and Georgia. The locations were less than glamorous, and the projects ranged from fascinating to boring. However, I met interesting people and learned something new with each project.


Mapping a dredge tailing pile in
Merced County, CA.

In May 2007, I became an archaeologist with the Indiana Department of Transportation. My responsibilities included archaeological records searches, survey, report writing, consultation with local historical groups, and documenting archaeological sites. My office time increased, but I learned how to use ArcGIS (highly recommended!) and gained a better understanding of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. However, I wanted to expand out of the Midwest, and began applying for jobs in the western United States.

 

In November 2009, I accepted my current position as a historical archaeologist with Garcia and Associates in Lompoc, California. In the past eighteen months, I have recorded shipwrecks along the Pacific Coast and historic farmsteads on Vandenberg Air Force Base, coordinated Phase II excavations at an oil storage facility, documented two hydroelectric power plants, and surveyed many prehistoric sites in the Owens Valley. 

Although my archaeological career is vastly different from my studies at UE, I owe my successful career to the supportive UE faculty and their high educational standards. I know the writing and presentation skills I gained as a student prepared me for the wonderful position I have today.

Colleen W. ('10) presents paper at graduate student conference

Colleen W. presented a paper entitled "The Effects of Media on Public Opinion: Case Study - Moorehead Circle, Fort Ancient State Memorial, Ohio" at the 5th Annual Anthropology Graduate Student Association (AGSA) Symposium at Indiana University in Bloomington.  The theme of this year's symposium was "The Technologies of Culture."  Colleen's presentation was based on her senior seminar paper written in fall 2010, which she wrote in response to her participation in the 2010 field season at Fort Ancient, OH.  Congratulations, Colleen!

Alumna Profile: Hillary C. ('07) at Florida State University

After graduating from UE in 2007, I was admitted to the Ph.D. program in Classics at Florida State University. I am currently in my fourth year of the program and intend to start on my dissertation on the Roman economy, trade goods, and cultural identity soon. Additionally, I hold a graduate assistantship which allows me to teach a course on Classical Mythology. Though challenging, this opportunity enables me to gain teaching experience at the college level while pursuing my degree. While at FSU, I have also been fortunate to intern at the National Park Service’s Southeast Archaeological Center where I have received further hands-on training in aspects of excavation as well as the care and storage of prehistoric and historic artifacts from the southeastern United States. This interest in local archaeology, as well as anthropological theory and methodology, was founded in my seminars at UE as well as the field experience I first gained working on Tin City. With the encouragement of the UE faculty, this interest was fostered in my experience with SUNY Geneseo’s excavation at a Hopewell settlement site, Brown’s Bottom (Chillicothe, OH) where in 2006 I received instruction in excavation practices. During the summer of 2007, I was admitted to IPFW’s Archaeological Survey, Research Experience for Undergraduates (Strawtown, IN) where I learned to use various methods of remote sensing and was also able to construct my own research project at a historical cemetery using resistivity and GPR.

In the summer of 2009, I married fellow UE alumn, Andrew M. (’06). This past summer (2010) I traveled to Rome and participated in The Howard Comfort, FAAR’29, Summer Program in Roman Pottery at the American Academy in Rome.  Under the guidance of former AAR Mellon Professor Archer Martin and his assistant Raffaele Palma, I (and eight other students) had the unique opportunity to actively engage with pottery from across the Mediterranean and meet various specialists in the field. By the end of the program we were able to apply our new skills to the pottery from the Domus Tiberiana on the Palatine Hill. Currently, we are collaborating on a publication about the pottery from the program.

I am truly thankful for the strong education in archaeology and classical studies offered by the faculty at UE. Their encouragement and support while at UE and even today, has been invaluable and laid a solid foundation from which I hope to continue my education.

Student Colleen Westmor at Fort Ancient, OH



Colleen (left) with shovel.

This summer I had the opportunity to participate in Wright State University’s field school at Fort Ancient in Warren County, Ohio with Dr. Robert Riordon. Despite its name, Fort Ancient is actually an Ohio Hopewell hilltop enclosure that overlooks the Little Miami River. Geophysical data from a 2005 magnetometry survey first showed a wooden circle 200 feet in diameter with possible interior structures. For seven weeks this past summer, the team continued to excavate Moorehead Circle in the North Fort of Fort Ancient. In previous summers the team discovered a large fired soil pit in the center of the circle surrounded by ritually broken pottery, which led to the suggestion that the site was being used for ritual purposes.

Laboring in the heat, the team uncovered numerous postholes (up 150 cm deep), alternating rows of limestone pavement and gravel trenches, stone-filled pits, and a large number of artifacts ranging from imported chert and mica flakes to burnt deer bones to shell beads. Thirty-five excavation hours a week gave me ample time to meet and network with archaeologists from local dig sites, CRM firms, and even an employee at the British Museum. The team was close and worked well together despite our diverse backgrounds and interests. I have to say, I miss every hot, bug-ridden, back-breaking, muddy second.

Colleen is a senior Archaeology and Classical Studies double-major at UE.

Student Katy Schmidt in Ohio

This summer I was able to gain experience both in a museum and at an archaeological excavation near my hometown.  First, I worked as a Museum Attendant at the Dr. John Harris Dental Museum in Bainbridge, OH. My responsibilities included opening and closing the museum on the days I worked and keeping it clean, and I also gave tours of the museum and answered visitors’ questions.

Katy on a visit to Cahokia.

I also volunteered at the excavation of a Middle Woodland Hopewell site called High Bank Works. The site is located in the Hopewell Culture National Historical Park outside of Chillicothe, OH. This summer, the team focused on excavating part of what appeared to be a large circle of post holes; however, by the end of the season we had only uncovered one post hole. I was responsible for many tasks during the excavation, including sifting, helping to measure and draw profiles of unit walls, and using a susceptibility meter, among other things.

Katy is a sophomore Archaeology major at UE.