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New equipment empowers archaeology students to see beneath the surface

Archaeological Field School held in and around Harmonist Cemetery

June 25, 2015

In previous years, students in the University of Southern Indiana's Archaeological Field School have primarily searched for artifacts from the Harmony Society, the German separatists that founded a community in New Harmony, Indiana, in 1814.

But the Harmonists were not the first humans to inhabit the area by the Wabash River - it was a "hot spot" for Native Americans in the Middle Woodland period, says Dr. Michael Strezewski, associate professor of anthropology who has led the field school since 2008.

"There was an occupation here surrounding the mounds, dating to the Crab Orchard phase, about 2,000 years ago," he said.

Students found evidence of that during this summer's field school, held from early May to mid-June near the Harmonist Cemetery, an expanse of green space surrounded by a brick wall. The cemetery is said to contain the unmarked graves of 230 Harmonists. There are also eight Native American burial mounds within the walls of the cemetery.

At the east end of the cemetery (outside the wall), students unearthed artifacts including pottery and blades from about 2,000 years ago. On the west end, objects from about 400 CE predominated. "This is an indication that the site was used over and over again," Strezewski said.

New equipment funded by the USI Foundation and National Science Foundation (NSF) allowed students to investigate the subterranean world beneath the cemetery without disturbing the graves.

An NSF Major Research Instrumentation grant purchased a resistivity meter and software. The resistivity meter puts an electrical current into the ground and records differences in the ability of the current to pass through the soil.

"The instrument is used to 'see' beneath the surface so that we can map out underground archaeological features like structures, ditches and pits without any digging," Strezewski said.

Through a Bristol-Myers Humanities Grant secured by the USI Foundation, Strezewski was able to purchase a magnetometer - an instrument that identifies magnetic differences beneath the soil, indicating human activity.

These tools revealed a row of 40 to 50 rectangular objects lined side-by-side from north to south in the middle of the cemetery. Strezewski speculates that they may be the graves of Harmonists who contracted malaria and died soon after arriving in the swampy town in 1814.

Another interesting discovery was a never-before identified earthwork surrounding the Native American burial mounds. Using online Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data, which provided information on elevation levels within the cemetery, Strezewski identified the earthwork, which may have served a purpose similar to the wall around the Harmonist Cemetery - separating and protecting a sacred space.

The program's new magnetometer and resistivity meter confirmed the existence of the earthwork, which is barely visible to the naked eye. "It was probably low even when it was built," Strezewski said. "A couple of thousands years wore it down."

The Archaeological Field School is an anthropology course designed to give students experience in archaeological field methods through participation in a site excavation. Students learn basic excavation techniques, mapping and artifact identification.

Junior anthropology major Abigail Krahling said the Archaeological Field School was "the most unique class I've ever taken."

"I feel like I learned so much more in a month of field school than learning any of those methods in the classroom, through actually doing it and digging it," she said. "We did a lot of recording data, and that was very interesting and fascinating. We had to be very thorough and get as much information as possible."

Krahling, who is minoring in history and arts and heritage administration, hopes to work in a museum after she finishes her degree.

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