A specific aspect of the upper Midwest's natural history, or techniques for studying natural history; amphibians and reptiles, birds and birding, nature photography, mushrooms and other fungi, Iowa's trees and forests, fish biology, prairies, common algae, common insects, aquatic plants, life in rivers, life in lakes, mosses and liverworts, natural history of Iowa Great Lakes region, field archaeology, scuba diving, astronomy, nature sketching; five-day, nontechnical introductions.
*This course is offered in one and two-week sessions (1 semester hour of academic credit/week of coursework and course attendance).
June 21 - June 25, 2021 1-week course
June 21 - July 2, 2021 2-week course
The 2021 Lakeside Laboratory archaeological field school will continue on-going research efforts in the Iowa Great Lakes region including excavations at a Woodland era site within the
Mini-Wakan State Park adjacent to Spirit Lake. Previous Lakeside Laboratory summer archaeological field schools have investigated late prehistoric/protohistoric Oneota tradition sites since 1995 and Woodland adaptations since 2014, recovering large assemblages of diverse materials including arrow and spear points and other stone tools, decorated ceramic sherds, copper fragments, bison bones and other faunal remains, and worked catlinite and glass trade beads. Features related to semi-subterranean houses includinghearths, storage, and refuse pits will be investigated as opportunity permits.
Assignments: As this is primarily a field course, excavation and mapping notes as well as recording of general observations while digging will be required. Lab processing forms will also be completed by field school
participants. No formal tests or writing assignments are required beyond the field notebooks (which will include building an annotated bibliography from pertinent source materials provided by the instructor).
Course Objectives: Participants will be introduced to the essential methods of field archaeology including artifact identification, site mapping, excavation techniques, artifact processing, and beginning analytical
methods. The field school will include lectures on Iowa archaeology and the culture history sequence of western Iowa as well as day trips to the Sanford Museum in Cherokee, Iowa and the Dixon Oneota site, and possibly the
Blood Run National Historic Landmark, Jeffers Petroglyphs, and Pipestone National Monument.
Required Course Materials: AT LAKESIDE LAB: many articles, texts, manuscripts, and reports pertinent to the archaeology of Northwest Iowa will be available for use by the course participants.
Textbook to Purchase: There is one required text for those signing up for the full four-week session (a used copy from Amazon.com is recommended): Hester, Thomas R., Harry J. Shafer, and Kenneth L. Feder. 1997. Field
Methods in Archaeology. 7th Edition. Mayfield Publishing Company, Mountain View California. [ISBN No.: 1- 55934-799-6 paperback]
Equipment: This is a field course so be prepared to be outside all day. Sunscreen, hat, rain gear, and good footwear (no open toe sandals) are required. Excavation and surveying equipment will be provided.