I'm assuming there are many people who, like me, imagined being an archaeologist as a kid. Though not as reckless as Indiana Jones, I imagined an archaeology dig as a wealth of ancient artifacts just waiting to be discovered. However, in a volunteer-based archaeology dig I participated in over a four-week period over the summer, I observed and practiced the tedious methods involved in the recovery and analysis of historical artifacts. And rather than a focus on ancient artifacts, this dig was centered on the period 1900-1943 at a women's retreat in Lake George. The Wiawaka Center for Women has been the subject of a historical archaeological study for the past two summers by Megan E. Springate, doctoral student in historical archaeology in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Maryland. Some of you may recall the work that archaeologists like David Starbuck or Joseph Zarzynski have been doing in the Lake George (see links below). While their work in Lake George was focused on American warfare, the research being conducted at the women's retreat is documenting an important period of modernization and social change in America.
Images taken on the grounds of the Wiawaka Center for Women by Emily Baker
I learned about the history of the property through conversations with Springate as well as through The Wiawaka Project website (link below). The Wiakwa Center for Women used to be the Crosbyside Hotel before Mary Wiltse Fuller, the first Wiawaka director, leased the property from Spencer and Katrina Trask in 1900. They eventually sold the property to Fuller for one dollar and a bouquet of flowers; they were known for their philanthropic work in the area. The original Crosbyside Hotel burned down in 1905. However, the Wiawaka Holiday House (the original name of the retreat) became a new source of an affordable vacation for Troy and Cohoes factory women. The low-cost room and board was provided in large part by Fuller's philanthropic activities while director. The retreat remained a valuable resource for women even after Mary Fuller's death in 1943. It was added to the National Register of Historical Places in 1998 as the oldest continually operating women's retreat in America. The retreat is still under operation to this day on the shores of Lake George. Women are the primary visitors, but men are allowed to accompany women during July.
After the research and grant money was secured, Springate traveled from Maryland to Lake George in order to perform the fieldwork necessary in recovering artifacts. Springate's research and field work focused on subjects such as gender, sexuality, labor, and class and how these components fit together in an all-women environment during the early twentieth century. The artifacts dug up on the site aren't all from the period in which Fuller was director. However, artifacts from before and after Fuller's time will provide Springate with information on how the culture at Wiawaka changed since it was initially founded.
This is where I came in. Digging over a meter into the earth and sorting through the disturbed soil isn't as simple as it sounds. Springate's field work could only be performed with many helping hands and enough sponsorship to buy the necessary tools for excavation as well as the travel expenses of Springate and her intern (you can see Springate's financial aid on the Wiawaka Project page). This financial aid didn't cover a team of workers necessary for an excavation this large. Springate sent out a call to many historical and archaeological organizations as well as to the Lake George area for volunteers looking for some adventure and experience. Volunteers weren't required to have any archaeology experience to participate. They just needed to learn quickly and perform the steps of a professional archaeology dig.
I was in the group of volunteers with no field work experience whatsoever. We were surrounded by professional historians and archaeologists who made up for our lack of knowledge. I was one of a few students gaining experience in the field of archaeology. It seemed like a good thing to have in my arsenal of skills and references and simply sounded like a great project to participate in. However, there were many women volunteering their time and money to stay on the site and excavate simply for an exciting activity. The community created by the work of the Wiawaka project was a fantastic illustration of women's solidarity. Mary Fuller would have been proud.
The actual excavation process began with samples of specific regions of the Wiawaka property for potentially artifact-rich land. I arrived as they were finishing the space behind Fuller House (the main building). Small cylinders of land were slowly dug up and then sifted through by the volunteers. We poured the soil into a standing screen apparatus that rolled back and forth on a platform with space in the middle for particles to fall through. We pushed the screen forward and backward until only the bulky remnants of the soil were left. This is what we sorted through, looking for potential artifacts formerly buried in the ground. Things like coal, charcoal, mortar, brick, roof slate, churt, nails, and identifiable/unidentifiable household objects had to be sorted, bagged, cleaned, and then later counted and weighed so Springate and her intern could analyze the artifacts.
The major digging I participated in went layer by layer in one-square meter plots of land near the groundskeeper’s house. The entire dig from start to finish was visually documented through photos, soil type, and maps. Teams measured out exactly one-by-one meter plots of land Springate had previously mapped out. The elevation from the ground to the bottom of the hole had to be measured at every new layer of strata. After photos were taken, volunteers began carefully digging up that layer with trowels. The layer had to come out of the ground completely level; we had to avoid what you call a "bath tub" effect as so affectionately named in the archaeology community (the center dug deeper than the edges). When the next layer was reached, it had to be carefully monitored in order to prevent mixing of artifacts from different strata. And as the volunteers at the screens began running out of artifacts in the sifted dirt, the diggers had to dig another ten centimeters to clarify that they were at the end of an excavation. Entire eight-hour days were used to clean artifacts with toothbrushes and buckets of water. For clean-up in the fourth week, volunteers finalized the paperwork on the artifacts and organized bags of artifacts by location. The soil displaced was put back in the ground and the caution tape around the site was taken down.
An archaeological dig is a large community of like-minded history and social science nerds hoping to expand our knowledge of the past. This knowledge is useful not only for our present museums and research, but for future decisions and studies in which important subjects and populations are affected. The amount of hard science that goes into archaeology makes me think that this field should be brought up more in STEM classes and subjects. Megan Springate's dissertation has as much to do with earth sciences and chemistry as it does with history, anthropology, and gender studies. The deterioration of these artifacts even after just a century of being weathered and in the ground makes me grateful for those in the field of museum conservation. Whether your interests are in STEM fields, in Social Science, or even in the Adirondack region, an opportunity like this would be the opportunity to take come next archaeology season.
The Social Scientific Method will be updated once a week with posts involving the happenings on campus, in the HSS department, and my experience as a student. Please comment, share, and enjoy for many weeks to come!
This is where I came in. Digging over a meter into the earth and sorting through the disturbed soil isn't as simple as it sounds. Springate's field work could only be performed with many helping hands and enough sponsorship to buy the necessary tools for excavation as well as the travel expenses of Springate and her intern (you can see Springate's financial aid on the Wiawaka Project page). This financial aid didn't cover a team of workers necessary for an excavation this large. Springate sent out a call to many historical and archaeological organizations as well as to the Lake George area for volunteers looking for some adventure and experience. Volunteers weren't required to have any archaeology experience to participate. They just needed to learn quickly and perform the steps of a professional archaeology dig.
I was in the group of volunteers with no field work experience whatsoever. We were surrounded by professional historians and archaeologists who made up for our lack of knowledge. I was one of a few students gaining experience in the field of archaeology. It seemed like a good thing to have in my arsenal of skills and references and simply sounded like a great project to participate in. However, there were many women volunteering their time and money to stay on the site and excavate simply for an exciting activity. The community created by the work of the Wiawaka project was a fantastic illustration of women's solidarity. Mary Fuller would have been proud.
The actual excavation process began with samples of specific regions of the Wiawaka property for potentially artifact-rich land. I arrived as they were finishing the space behind Fuller House (the main building). Small cylinders of land were slowly dug up and then sifted through by the volunteers. We poured the soil into a standing screen apparatus that rolled back and forth on a platform with space in the middle for particles to fall through. We pushed the screen forward and backward until only the bulky remnants of the soil were left. This is what we sorted through, looking for potential artifacts formerly buried in the ground. Things like coal, charcoal, mortar, brick, roof slate, churt, nails, and identifiable/unidentifiable household objects had to be sorted, bagged, cleaned, and then later counted and weighed so Springate and her intern could analyze the artifacts.
The major digging I participated in went layer by layer in one-square meter plots of land near the groundskeeper’s house. The entire dig from start to finish was visually documented through photos, soil type, and maps. Teams measured out exactly one-by-one meter plots of land Springate had previously mapped out. The elevation from the ground to the bottom of the hole had to be measured at every new layer of strata. After photos were taken, volunteers began carefully digging up that layer with trowels. The layer had to come out of the ground completely level; we had to avoid what you call a "bath tub" effect as so affectionately named in the archaeology community (the center dug deeper than the edges). When the next layer was reached, it had to be carefully monitored in order to prevent mixing of artifacts from different strata. And as the volunteers at the screens began running out of artifacts in the sifted dirt, the diggers had to dig another ten centimeters to clarify that they were at the end of an excavation. Entire eight-hour days were used to clean artifacts with toothbrushes and buckets of water. For clean-up in the fourth week, volunteers finalized the paperwork on the artifacts and organized bags of artifacts by location. The soil displaced was put back in the ground and the caution tape around the site was taken down.
An archaeological dig is a large community of like-minded history and social science nerds hoping to expand our knowledge of the past. This knowledge is useful not only for our present museums and research, but for future decisions and studies in which important subjects and populations are affected. The amount of hard science that goes into archaeology makes me think that this field should be brought up more in STEM classes and subjects. Megan Springate's dissertation has as much to do with earth sciences and chemistry as it does with history, anthropology, and gender studies. The deterioration of these artifacts even after just a century of being weathered and in the ground makes me grateful for those in the field of museum conservation. Whether your interests are in STEM fields, in Social Science, or even in the Adirondack region, an opportunity like this would be the opportunity to take come next archaeology season.
The Social Scientific Method will be updated once a week with posts involving the happenings on campus, in the HSS department, and my experience as a student. Please comment, share, and enjoy for many weeks to come!
Wiawaka Project's website: http://www.wiawakaproject.com/
Wiawaka Center for Women's website: http://www.wiawaka.org/
Video on David Starbuck's work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ere_v8sGaVM
Article on Joseph Zarzynski's work: http://www.saratogian.com/general-news/20130127/wilton-resident-joseph-w-zarzynski-co-authors-book-documentary-filmmaking-for-archaeologists
Wiawaka Center for Women's website: http://www.wiawaka.org/
Video on David Starbuck's work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ere_v8sGaVM
Article on Joseph Zarzynski's work: http://www.saratogian.com/general-news/20130127/wilton-resident-joseph-w-zarzynski-co-authors-book-documentary-filmmaking-for-archaeologists
Note that any writing or opinions on this blog do not reflect the views of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences or Clarkson University.