The entire program will be delivered in the field; there will be no classes on the Prince George campus. The field school crew will leave Prince George on June 7 and set up a field camp upon arrival at Babine Lake. Classes will begin within 2-3 days and will feature: lectures, seminars, field trips and practical exercises on survey and mapping. The second phase will consist of testing and excavations at Babine Lake until July 30. At that time, the excavation will come to an end, the field camp will be struck down and students will be transported back to Prince George. Students will have until August 25 to complete and sumit any outstanding assignments and exercises.

 

Students will have to bring their own tents and sleeping bags. Everyone will be a full participant in camp life, including helping with the camp set up and take down, preparing meals and caring for the equipment. Camp life will be rustic but comfortable. A very limited amount of electrical power will be available via portable generators; however, priority of use will be given to teaching and research equipment. Please note that there is no cellular coverage in this area.

During the initial weeks participants will become familiar with basic concepts in archaeological survey and mapping, and they will receive training in the use of appropriate equipment. Students will learn to operate a variety of equipment from aerial photos, compass and Abney level to GPS, and total stations, and to create maps using a number of techniques. Participants will be introduced to the variety of archaeological sites that occur within the region and elsewhere. Local and long distance field trips may be undertaken to enhance learning. Students will also be introduced to issues on conducting archaeology with First Nations peoples, particularly on the importance of integrating Traditional Knowledge and oral histories. If available, Elders an other community members may share their knowledge on culture and history. In past field schools such knowledge has been in the form of story telling and song, collecting plant foods and medicinal plants, constructing summer dwellings, creating roasting pits, learning fishing and processing techniques, working with traditional technologies and more. An important goal of the field school is to encourage participants to bridge the gap between Traditional Knowledge and Western Knowledge. To foster this, university students will take field school courses side by side with community members.

 

The second phase consists of several weeks of field survey and excavation at an archaeological site int he region. The first two weeks involve a shovel-testing program around the lake, including the recording of any new archaeological sites. It is anticipated that new sites will be found, such as cache pits, culturally modified trees, and sub-surface sites with artifacts such as stone tools. Following this, one or more areas will be chosen for excavation for the remainder of the field school.

 

Upon completion of the field school, students will have a good grounding in the techniques and methods of archaeological survey and excavation, as well as  legislation pertaining to heritage management in British Columbia. Participants will also have an awareness of the social context of conducting archaeology on Aboriginal history, and the importance of Aboriginal perspectives and community-based approaches. With this training and upon graduation, students will be eligible for employment in the Cultural Resource Management (CRM) sector in British Columbia. Successful completion of an archaeology field school is a necessity for employment in archaeological consulting. Several participants of our previous field schools are now employed in CRM. In the last three years along, more than a dozen of our field school graduates have found employment in CRM, a very high success rate. This training will also greatly benefit students that intend to continue their studies in graduate work, or those with an interest in archaeology and/or First Nations History.

 

 

 

The fiels school package consistes of three courses, for a total of 15 credits. All participants muyst register forall three courses.

 

 

(click here for printable copy of calendar course descriptions)

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