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Still Room in Summertime Archaeological Field School
There’s still time to sign up for the Fort Atkinson Cultural Resources Field School, which will be July 31-Aug. 6. Fort Atkinson State Preserve and related sites were important components of the Neutral Ground landscape, a U.S. Government-established buffer zone created to control indigenous regional populations in the 1840s.
Participants in this field school will engage in hands-on study of Upper Mississippi River Valley archaeology, Ho-Chunk (Winnebago), Meskwaki and Siouan interaction with one another and with the U.S. military and Indian Subagent, museum exhibit evaluation, and early frontier settlement of northeast Iowa. Specialists in archaeology, history, architectural history, Native Studies and education will lead the week's activities. There are no prerequisites for the course.
Adults and youngsters over the age of 14 (accompanied by an adult) may sign up. The project has been funded through REAP/HRDP and Iowa State Preserves Board grants.
Location: Fort Atkinson Museum and Library, and area locations, Ft. Atkinson, Iowa
Accommodations: Participants must find their own local accommodations (list available), and transport themselves to the class location each morning. Vans will take participants on field trips. Lunches, snacks, and course materials are provided.
Course costs: $250 registration; $75 per credit hour
Credit hours: 3 recertification/grad credits (AEA 1)
Contact: Deanna O'Brien, Licensure Renewal Secretary Keystone AEA 1400 2nd St
NW Elkader, IA 52043; dobrien@aea1.k12.ia.us
Times of class meetings: Sunday, July 31: 1:30-9 pm; Monday,
August 1-Friday, August 5: 8:30 a.m.-9 p.m.; Saturday, August 6: 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Box lunches and breaks provided each day.
Course content: Participants will engage in geophysical mapping at Ft. Atkinson State Preserve and the purported location of the fort cemetery; evaluation of existing exhibits at the Ft. Atkinson Museum; archival research and site recording of a previously unrecorded 1840s Euroamerican site; and curriculum development. Results of this research should assist the Iowa State Preserves Advisory Board with research and interpretive efforts at Fort Atkinson.
Participants also will be offered presentations by specialists on Ft.
Atkinson area natural and human history, the prehistory of the Upper Mississippi
River area, and tribal history as well as tours to area sites including Ft. Crawford,
Wisconsin.
Instructors: Lynn M. Alex, Director of Education and Outreach, University of Iowa-Office of the State Archaeologist
Dr. William Whittaker, University of Iowa-Office of the State Archaeologist
Shirley J. Schermer, University of Iowa-Office of the State Archaeologist
Leah D. Rogers, Tallgrass Historians, L.C., Iowa City, IA
Dr. Rebecca Conard, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN
Al Becker, AEA 1 instructor, retired, Ft. Atkinson Historic Preservation Commission, Ft. Atkinson, Iowa
Contact: Lynn M. Alex at 319-384-0561; lynn-alex@uiowa.edu
