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.

Student Clare Pressimone in Pennsylvania

This summer I held an internship at the Reading Public Museum in Reading, PA. This internship was a self-guided experience with the help of the Director of Education, Anne Corso. My job was to develop an informational packet for students, teachers, and visitors to the Ancient Greece Gallery in the museum. I focused on the eight red-figure and black-figure vases that are displayed prominently in the gallery; in the packet, I discussed the techniques used to create the vases, described the characters on them, and compared the themes to those of our everyday lives. This packet will be available on the museum's website and in the museum itself by the end of the year so that all who wish to better understand this unique collection can do so.

Clare is a sophomore Archaeology and Art History double major.

Student Josephine Curtis in Tennessee

This summer I volunteered at the Customs House Museum and Cultural Center in Clarksville, TN. The Customs House Museum currently features exhibits on fishing history in Tennessee, landscape painting by the Chestnut Group of Tennessee, great sports and challenging feats done by Clarksville locals and Call to Arms, an exhibit about Clarksville veterans of the two World Wars. The museum also offers hands-on activities for children, including model trains, a Monster Maze, Memory Lane featuring artifacts and part of a cabin from historic Clarksville, an Explorers Gallery and a Bubble Cave. My job was usually to welcome visitors and take admissions at the reception desk, although I also helped with special events like a theatre performance put on at the museum by Austin Peay State University. All in all, I loved volunteering at the Customs House Museum.

Josephine is a junior Archaeology major at UE.

Alumna Profile: Dani R. ('08) in Hungary and Chicago

At the completion of my first year as a graduate student in the Anthropology PhD program at the University of Illinois-Chicago, I was invited to participate in the analyses of Copper Age skeletons and grave goods from the Great Hungarian Plain. The intent of this project was to perform a bio-distance study to determine how closely related people were across the Plain. As the Plain was a major path for migration from Asia to Europe, we wanted to see how this migration might have impacted the genetic makeup of the Plain’s peoples. We analyzed over 250 skeletons from 9 cemeteries around the Plain and concentrated on identifying genetic dental traits that could statistically indicate genetic similarities or differences. We also made sure to sex and age the skeletons and we will keep that in consideration when interpreting the material. This summer was spent gathering the information, whereas the upcoming months will focus on carrying out the statistics and the interpretations of the data.

Participating in this project has exposed me to a variety of scientific techniques, facilities (museums and universities), and researchers (American and Hungarian), all of which will aid in my own research in the coming years. However, I would not be where I am today without a strong foundational education in archaeology, which I received at the University of Evansville. I specifically chose UE because it focused on Old World Archaeology, a rarity in the States, and I have never regretted my decision. The continual support from the faculty, both during my years as a student there and after, has helped me to be where I am today and for that I am grateful.

Alumna Profile: Lisa D. ('08) at Illinois State U.

After graduating from UE in 2008, I was admitted into the MA program in Historical Archaeology at Illinois State University. In addition to taking graduate classes, I held a graduate assistantship, which is a great way to earn some cash, get to know the professors, and get some experience within the archaeology world. During the summer of 2009, I participated in a graduate field school in western Tennessee, where I was able to work with the Cherokee (I am on the left in this photo, which was taken at the field school).

This past summer, I worked in Cape Krusenstern, Alaska as a student research aide for the University of Washington. I learned right off the bat that there are plenty of jobs out there if you are willing to work hard and you don’t care where you live. Also, it doesn’t hurt to have some contacts. Now I am finishing writing my thesis as well as trying to find a part-time job for the time being. I hope to graduate in December 2010 and find a full-time job with a museum or the National Park Service in archaeological interpretation.

Alumna Profile: Latasha R. ('04) in South Carolina

When people ask me what I do for a living I simply state, “I’m the collections manager for the local museum system.” The general response is a nod followed by confusion as to what that actually means, prompting me to elaborate with, “I am responsible for the care of the objects in the museum’s collection.” As the current collections manager for the Culture and Heritage Museums in York Co., SC, I am a part of a small, privileged team of people who directly control access to the collection, decide appropriate use, storage, and display of collections pieces, and even decide which potential donations should or should not be added to the permanent collection. On any given day, I can be found doing a number of things at CHM. I may be at my desk doing data entry for a newly accessioned object, moving a mounted cougar from off-site storage to the Museum of York County in the back of a van while my fellow drivers stare in shock, or even getting down on my hands and knees to dust off objects on display in one of CHM’s historic buildings. Not all of my time is spent working directly with objects in the collection, trying to make sure they are “happy” in acid free containers with their proper tripartite identification numbers. I am also responsible for a good deal of paperwork related to potential donations, the legal ownership and provenance of objects, and the creation of loan agreements with other institutions. However, whether I am labeling and storing an archaeological surface find or sitting in a meeting and discussing the creation of a naturalist center, everything I do helps ensure that each object in our collection will not only be accessed and appreciated in the present, but will be here for future generations to enjoy and learn from as well.

Latasha earned an MA in Museum Studies from the University of Washington.

Student Megan Anderson in Key Largo, FL

Photo of Megan Anderson by Dan Ritt with the Slobodna Field School, PAST Foundation, Summer 2010.

Archaeology is already one of the coolest-sounding professions out there; add a wetsuit and an air tank and it probably surpasses those of “spy” and “astronaut.” This summer I was privileged to attend the Slobodna Underwater Archaeology Field School with the PAST Foundation off the coast of Key Largo, FL. The Slobodna was a down-easter composite ship that was carrying cotton when she ran into the reef; a few years later, a hurricane dragged the ship and deposited it in three separate locations. The Mainmast site, where I was working, now lies off the coast of Key Largo 15-30 feet below the surface. This area was littered with pins, hull plating, sections of the keel and mast, and spar rings.

Every morning for two weeks, I got to jump out of a boat with an underwater slate and measuring tape in hand. Doing archaeology underwater is an almost indescribable experience. You have to have a telepathic connection to your team members, as the only sound you hear as you work is the hiss of your regulator and the occasional growl of a damsel fish. It’s like visiting an alien world: everything is dipped in blue light and the artifacts are ghostly things, misshapen by several hundred years of concretions and coral.

The limitations that scuba imposes on underwater archaeology are sometimes frustrating. Sometimes, after only two hours at the site, we would return to the dormitory only to realize that we had forgotten some crucial measurement that would prohibit us from being able to map out an artifact, or we would find that a section of pencil marks had been rubbed off the waterproof mylar. We couldn't just hop back down to the site or extend our time at the site the next day. However, the excitement of finally figuring out what a particular artifact was, or locking in the coordinates of an artifact onto the master site map, made up for these minor inconveniences.

Working underwater is unlike anything I've ever done. Your life depends on your team, and you count on them to get you untangled, share air if something goes wrong, and stop you from brushing up against fire coral with your bare skin. I have found my passion in underwater archaeology, and in the future I plan to study and protect underwater sites as well as present them to the public.

Click here to read about Megan's experiences at the Rio Bravo Field School in Belize this summer.