I chose to complete my ELT practicum on campus in one of the archaeology labs within the Anthropology Department. I volunteered in the lab from the 2009 excavation in Texas, Maryland run by Dr. Stephen Brighton, one of the University's anthropology professors. I am an anthropology major, so I found this project site by contacting my advisor who then was able to refer me to Dr. Brighton who became my site supervisor.

The purpose of my work was to wash and clean the artifacts recovered from the excavation. The excavation of Texas, Maryland is meant to look at the material culture from Irish immigrants and workers in the late 1800s in order to learn more about their lives. Texas is a quarry town from which marble and limestone have been quarried and used in important buildings such as the Washington Monument. The excavation took place for six weeks in the summer of 2009 and recovered a great number of artifacts including many pieces of glass and bottles, nails and other rusted metal, bone, and other materials. Some of the most interesting finds, in my opinion, were coins and tokens dating from the period. My job was to wash the artifacts and once they were dry, group and bag them according to material and the context from which they came. Washing the artifacts consisted of using just water and a variety of brushes, in some cases dry-brushing was necessary.

From my time volunteering in the lab, I learned more about archaeology. I have not yet participated in a field school such as the one run by Dr. Brighton, so from just working in the lab I learned a little more about field schools and excavation processes. Then I also learned about what needs to be done after an excavation -- the washing, sorting, grouping, cataloging, etc. Being an anthropology major with a focus in archaeology, it was really great to get some experience in an archaeology lab and get to know one of my professors.

Doing work in this lab has definitely encouraged me to participate in an archaeological field school. I will do so this summer in New Mexico for a span of five weeks. I am very excited about being part of an excavation, and I am eagerly looking forward to it.

My experience completing the hours for the practicum, constructing a poster, and presenting at the Scholars Showcase was certainly a great one! Like I said before, I really enjoyed being in the lab and learning more about archaeology. Designing and executing the graphic poster was actually very fun because I could change formats and manipulate colors. It was also great to learn how to do graphic posters because it could be a very useful skill. Finally, presenting at the Showcase was a lot of fun. Besides talking to other students, parents, and faculty about my own project, I was able to see the work that my peers had done, and I was very impressed. The Showcase really was an excellent way to show off the work that we all completed and to really make our advisors proud. Earth, Life, and Time was a great program to be a part of; Dr. Holtz and Dr. Merck encouraged us to do great things and as a whole group I think we did an amazing job. Being a part of College Park Scholars was a great experience for me because I met people who are now some of my best friends, I did things outside of my comfort zone, and I participated in awesome trips. Scholars was an amazing program to be part of!