2014 UConn Field School in Battlefield Archaeology
May 28 through July 3, 2014

Sponsored by:
UConn Department of Anthropology
Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center
National Park Service American Battlefield Protection Program

The University of Connecticut and Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center will offer a field school in battlefield archaeology at a seventeenth century battlefield from the Pequot War of 1636-1637.  The Battle of Mistick Fort: English Retreat & Pequot Counterattack took place on May 26, 1637 immediately following the English & Native-allied attack on the Pequot fortified village at Mistick.  Preliminary surveys of the English & Native-allied withdrawal from Pequot country identified battle-related objects along a four-mile route of retreat as the Pequot counterattacked from swamps and thickets. The project is funded by grants from the National Park Service American Battlefield Protection Program, and is part of a long-term effort to document the Battlefields of the Pequot War.

The 2014 UCONN field school will be based at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center with fieldwork taking place at Mystic (Groton), Connecticut.  The 6-week, 6-credit field school will include training in standard archaeological field survey and excavation, artifact conservation, cataloging and analysis, and research and field methods specific to battlefield archaeology including as analysis of primary sources, use of military terrain models, metal detecting survey, and GPS/GIS applications.  The field school provides a unique opportunity for students to work on a nationally significant collaborative research project alongside tribal members, archaeologists and military historians.  In addition to the fieldwork, students will participate in training workshops in laboratory and research methods, attend guest lectures, complete assigned readings, and maintain a daily field journal.

Fees: Summer Session courses are paid on a per-credit basis at a rate of $363 per credit hour. If you choose the full six-week program, your cost will be $2,350.  In addition, there is a $50 lab fee, payable on the first day of class.

Application and Registration: All students must fill out an application in order to be considered for the field school and receive a permission number so they can register. Contact Dr. Kevin McBride (kevin.mcbride@uconn.edu) for an application and/or more information.

Registration Process

Housing