Ice Age to Industrial Age: 10,000 years of human-copper entanglement in Michigan’s Copper Country

Location: 7804 Delaware Rd, Eagle Harbor, MI 49950

Season: May 5, 2025 to June 20, 2025

Session Dates: May 5 - June 20, 2025

Application Deadline: April 10, 2025

Deadline Type: Contact for Details

Website: https://www.mtu.edu/social-sciences/undergraduate/field-school/

Program Type:
Field School

RPA Certified:
No

Affiliation:
Michigan Technological University

Project Director:
Timothy Scarlett

Project Description:

April 14 update: The field school is still welcoming participants! The project is happening, but we still have spaces- email scarlett@mtu.edu! With budget changes and site adjustments, the plan remains largely the same with a few changes. Because the Keweenaw was blanketed by 305″ of snow this season, things are still melting and we are expecting a few more inches tonight!), we may not have immediate access to the Delaware Mine’s blacksmith shop site for the first week of the field season. We will be focusing first to learn about metallurgy, spending a few days visiting blacksmiths and metalshops. We’ll also start learning about paleostrandlines (ancient beaches) and archaeological landscapes from the ice age to the modern day. Then after things melt and dry out for a week or two, we’ll start our fieldwork at the blacksmith shop and survey of ancient mining in the Keweenaw!

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Michigan Technological University’s 2025 Archaeology Field School continues archaeological research examining 10,000 years of human history on the Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan, USA. Evolving study is demonstrating that these are the first places in the Americas (and perhaps the world) where humans developed a unique practice of metallurgy. Student teams will work on a multi-sited study, examining archaeological sites and landscapes that document more than ten millennia of human-landscape entanglement. Focused on copper extraction and metallurgy, students will survey and excavate to understand how people have managed extractive and other activities over time, from the ice age through the industrial and post-industrial periods. Student fieldwork will be primarily based at the Delaware Mine historic site, a partnership site of the Keweenaw National Historical Park. The Delaware Mine site includes industrial historic features and structures and many ancient and precontact mining pits. Excavations in 2025 will include detailed study of the blacksmith shop, while survey will continue to map ancient mining features. From this location, student teams will spend time on terrestrial and maritime sites located throughout the Keweenaw peninsula, reconstructing the deep time view of changing landscapes with focus on ancient beaches and sites along relic shorelines, above and below the modern water level. Every team will work in survey and excavation, using remote sensing and geospatial survey technologies, and ethical research design for terrestrial and maritime sites.

Course includes field trips and guest lectures. Course fees include room and board for communal cabins at Mount Bohemia Resort.

All students will have opportunities to participate in all aspects of the work: survey – both instrumental and pedestrian – site lay-out, excavation, remote sensing, field lab work, and public education. No archaeological experience is necessary.

Period(s) of Occupation: Paleo-Indian, Archaic, Woodland, Colonial, Industrial, Post-Industrial

Notes:
Permits and RPA certification pending, residential plans will be updated (current Oct 1st, 2024).

Project Size: 1-24 participants

Minimum Length of Stay for Volunteers: 7 weeks, except by permission

Minimum Age: 18

Experience Required: No experience required. Terrain is often rugged and unimproved post-mining landscape. Contact project directors if you have concerns about access. Michigan Technological University is an Equal Opportunity Educational Institution/Equal Opportunity Employer that provides equal opportunity for all, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.

Room and Board Arrangements:
$2,000 to cover equipment, room and board.

Academic Credit:
6-9 credits, depending upon enrollment and guest student registration requirements.