The Campus Archaeology program works to mitigate and protect archaeological resources on the MSU campus. Due to the rich history of the campus and its prehistoric beginnings, there is a high archaeological and academic value to the area.
Campus Archaeology works with multiple departments across the University to make sure that this cultural heritage is protected. Each construction project on campus that disturbs the earth is properly mitigated by CAP. Almost the entire process of completing an excavation project, from design to historical research to excavation to reporting to outreach is completed by MSU undergraduate and graduate students, advancing their education in unique ways. CAP also works to contribute to the public understanding of MSU’s cultural heritage, through contributions to academic journals, giving talks and presentations on campus, and developing outreach opportunities throughout the community. Over the past years, Campus Archaeology has done all
excavation on campus prior to any construction in order to prevent loss of MSU’s past. These digs have revealed a high number of artifacts and even old campus buildings. The Saint’s Rest excavation stands as the exemplar of the work being done through the program. Saint’s Rest excavation was a dig of the first dorm building ever created on campus in the mid-19th century.
However, the problem is that the majority of information gleaned from our continuing work across campus is in site reports or spread across a number of campus websites, none of which are easy to find. Created by Katy Meyers (PhD Student, Anthropology), the goal of the Campus Unearthed project is to unite the archaeological research papers with the images of the artifacts to create an online museum of sorts that properly highlights the work being done by the Campus Archaeology Program. The site, which is built using the Omeka platform (http://www.omeka.org) has a number of exhibits sections exploring the various excavations that have taken place, showing the impressive history of MSU from an archaeological perspective.
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