Capilano University Archaeology Field School
2012 Information
The Field
School program at Capilano University was started in 2000 by Bob Muckle
(professor and project director) and has been focused in the Lower Seymour
Conservation Reserve. The project has been successfully helping to piece
together the history of human occupation in the Seymour Valley since the early
1900’s using archaeology to form hypotheses and test them in the field/lab with
excavations as well as examining/researching any artifacts that have been
found. Each year, 15 students from Capilano University are selected to join the
Field School learn archaeological methods, document evidence of culture, and
provide the public with education about the logging and settlement of the LSCR
in the very beginning of the 20th century.
How does it work?
The program
runs for 7 weeks starting in May until the end of June which includes a
combination of time in the field with experience working in the lab environment
on Capilano University campus. The students are assigned individual projects to
focus on during the program such as artifact cataloging, mapping/surveying
areas in the LSCR, organizing level bags (items found during excavations that
are not quite artifacts but evidence of culture nonetheless), presenting
information to the public for educational purposes, as well as photographing
and blogging the progress. All of the crew/students get a chance to excavate in the field, set up units, and learn to map/navigate the site.
Where? Why?
This year’s
Field School is at the McKenzie Creek site in the LSCR. This area was occupied
in the early 1900’s by Japanese inhabitants that logged the land and lived in
cabins close to the Seymour River. We can see by the artifacts and data collected
during previous Field Schools that there were several spots where Japanese
people were living during this time including the Suicide Creek site which is
about an hour long hike from the main entrance to the LSCR. Our aim is find out
to the best of our ability just how long Japanese people were living in the
valley up until the beginning of World War 2, as Bob Muckle has a working
hypothesis that they remained in camps there after the logging was completed.
With this theory in mind, we are hoping to find artifacts that date between
1920 and 1940 as evidence. When World War 2 began (specifically after the bombing of Pearl Harbor), Japanese people living in
the Lower Mainland area were interned and only allowed to bring a single
suitcase of personal items with them, leaving the rest of their possessions
behind.
What becomes of all the work done in the Field School?
Results of the
Field School research have several benefits to scholarly and public education.
Television program features and news articles have been published so that
anyone can learn about the history of the LSCR and about early
logging/settlement in the Seymour Valley. Scholarly conferences and papers are
great pieces of information that are taken into consideration when Metro
Vancouver makes plans for that section of land in regards to heritage
preservation and water reservoir protection. There are have been educational
field trips by elementary and high school students to past Field School sites so
that kids and young adults can gain some insight and education on
archaeological methods and the LSCR heritage.
For more information, see the Capilano University Field School Information page or contact:
Bob Muckle
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