California Field School – Clear Lake Archaeology Project

Location: 257Q+HG Lucerne, CA, USA

Season: July 5, 2026 to July 14, 2026

Session Dates: 10 day session in Clear Lake, California.

Application Deadline: June 30, 2026

Deadline Type: Rolling

Website: https://foothill.edu/anthropology/field/summerfs.html

Program Type:
Field School, Volunteer, Staff Position

RPA Certified:
No

Affiliation:
Foothill College

Project Director:
Dr. Samuel Connell

Project Description:

Foothill College’s Department of Anthropology is offering a low cost field program in California.  Anyone can take part, no experience required.  Do not have to be a California resident. Foothill College is a community college in CA, so everyone can enroll.

The project focuses on the Clear Lake basin for a research and service learning program of study. Program fees are limited ($400) to costs for equipment and camping reservations for ten days in the Clear Lake State Park. Course credits are offered for Anth 52 – Archaeological Field Methods.  All other costs will be directly incurred by the students, to include food and transport.  We will provide options for group dining, fees to be arranged by the project directly with the provider. Preliminary application is here.

Foothill College’s Department of Anthropology is excited to be offering a low cost field program in California. Led by Dr Samuel Connell and colleagues, we are studying the remarkable history of the Clear Lake region through time. In 2025 survey of the lake side will continue, and the excavation component will be at a locally important site that is to be determined.  In 2024 we were at the Kelsey Creek Schoolhouse, the last standing original one room schoolhouse in Lake County.  In 2021 summer student survey and excavations focused on the historically significant site of the Ely Stage Stop, which was used as a stage coach stop, public house, hotel and a school for boys. Students will be learning all aspects of fieldwork from survey, ground-penetrating radar, excavation techniques and laboratory work. The work involves defining foundations of the main building, finding the privies and excavating the out buildings. Each student is required to create a legacy project on a topic of their choice with the idea being everyone should leave something postivie behind. Lastly, every student will be heavily involved in community development projects with various stakeholders.

Preliminary application here puts you on the mailing list for all Foothill College’s California field schools.

 

Period(s) of Occupation: 1850s colonial contact with Pomo indigenous peoples and beyond. Clear Lake is the largest fresh water lake in California. It was densely settled by indigenous peoples as a central gathering place for millennia. In the 1850s the region escaped the Gold Rush, but farming and mining eventually came to dominate the colonial landscape. The native Pomo are world famous for basketry, and the farm land is as famous today for its pears and grapes. The climate mirrors the Mediterranean and the people are eager to show its riches. During the last century Lake County was the go-to destination for tourism because of its amazing thermal springs fed by active volcanic underground water sources. Massive resorts surrounded the lake, this was Hawaii and Cancun all-in-one. What happened? What is the story behind the relationships we see today between native California populations and western farmers. It is a complex history, it is an American story, all taking place in a beautiful lake basin that has been relatively isolated for centuries from the massive development that much of the rest of California has undergone. But it is coming. Roads are getting wider, highways are being developed, and people are moving in - forced out by rising housing costs and Covid, or an interest in the potential of making great wine from these grapes - the landscape is changing once again. There is a pressure to document what we can before it is lost.

Project Size: 25-49 participants

Minimum Length of Stay for Volunteers: 10 days

Minimum Age: 18

Experience Required: No experience required, only a willingness to have fun in the sun.

Room and Board Arrangements:
Group camp ground at Clear Lake State Park which holds 40 people (project takes care of cost). In addition, cabins are being rented, but will cost more (your dime and you sign up for them). People can also choose to stay in local accommodations. Fishing and water activities are all within the state park. Food is student organized, you can eat in local restaurants or prepare meals in camp.

Academic Credit:
Anth 52: Archaeology Field Methods (4 units)