notes: from Professor Rogers
How was the trip? “You never know what you are going to find in an excavation — that’s the fun part about it! We were lucky to find several interesting artifacts and a few fossil bones of extinct antelopes in the excavation at BSN-70 [Busidima North 70], thereby confirming the age of the materials and their depositional environment. “We also revisited several other sites of different ages and collected artifacts that had eroded out of the hills
Scenes from camp, including a moment of relaxation for Southern students Jeff Banks, Patrick Whitney, and Travis Rohrer.
since the last time we were there.”
You’ve been bringing advanced Southern undergraduates on these expeditions since 2007, which I understand is rare. “The usual undergraduate archaeological experience
What’s camp like? What are some of the challenges the students face? “I never know how a student will react to the heat, dust, rustic conditions (tent camping, no bathrooms, no electricity, “bag” showers), remoteness, etc. until they actually
is to go to a local summer field school. Those are great,
get there. But all the Southern students who have gone with
and there are several around Connecticut and New
me over the years adjusted well, and perhaps learned a bit
England. There are a couple of paleoanthropology field
about themselves and what they are capable of.”
schools in Africa, but they are expensive. I don’t know of
How did they handle the transition?
any other research project in East Africa that incorporates undergraduates to this extent. Usually, graduate students are lucky to be able to work at one of these famous paleoanthropological sites.”
“They did great. All three students had taken my archaeological methods class (a field class over at the West Rock Nature Center), so I knew their level of interest and excavation ability.”
continues on page 35 14 | Southern ALUMNI MAGAZINE