Anthropology Field Schools

Students must make their own necessary travel and accommodation arrangements. Students will be responsible for getting to the field site on time each day. The site is a short walk or bike ride from the main Corvallis campus. Parking at the site during our workday may be possible during the summer.

This course spans eight weeks (June 23-August 15), involving 4 weeks of online activity followed by 4 weeks of in-person activities. Weeks 1-4 (June 23-July 20) will occur online. Weeks 5-8 (July 21-August 15) will be taught in person at the OSU Corvallis Campus.

Field school participants will stay in OSU campus housing or can obtain other housing and commute from local communities. Summer 2024 room and board for students staying on the OSU campus for four weeks was $1400 for a double private room and $340 for a cafeteria meal plan.
No camping is allowed at the field site.

Our field school excavations will take place at the OSU South Farm, which is located in the city limits of Corvallis, at the southern edge of the OSU main campus. While our setting is in a beautiful pastoral landscape, we will not be isolated.

Students register for ANTH 438 (12 credits) or ANTH 538 (9 credits). This course has no academic prerequisites, and all OSU and non-OSU students can apply and qualify for in-state tuition during the summer session. Summer 2024 tuition and fee costs for ANTH 438 (12 credits) were $3435 and $4875 for ANTH 538 (9 credits) and may be a bit higher in 2025. Because this is an accredited course, we do not take on volunteers.

Please review the list at http://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/bring

The short answer to this question is: some, but not too much. The long answer is more telling, however.  Although everyone mainly associates archaeology with the discovery of amazing artifacts, a successful field expedition is built on the establishment and maintenance of many logistical aspects that must be in place before anything else can happen. During the first day, we will do some basic site preparation to clear grass in our immediate work areas and will establish a safety fence around our workspace. We will unload and reload equipment (buckets, shovels, screens) each day from a truck. During the excavation, our physical labor demands are modest and are primarily limited to loading and unloading gear each morning and afternoon, digging with shovels and trowels, kneeling and standing while working, carrying buckets of sediment to the screens, and screening excavated sediments. In the last week of the field school, we’ll put special plastic crates into the excavation block, bury them, spread grass seed, and break down our fencing. Students generally have no problem with the labor required in the field. While some people are more physically capable than others, all we expect is that you work to the best of your abilities. Maintaining a safe and happy workplace is our main goal. Nearly everyone finds archaeology’s combination of physical and mental effort to be highly rewarding.

To be honest, no one ever asks this question; however, it’s an important topic that needs to be discussed up front. For nearly all students, the ability to participate in an archaeology field school at a great site, set in a beautiful and rugged environment is a grand adventure that they will remember fondly for the rest of their lives. These students focus on the task at hand—learning contemporary field methods and concepts in the pursuit of archaeological knowledge—and revel in the new experience of living and working well with others in a field setting. Although students of this type come from all corners of our nation (and sometimes from beyond), they all share similar traits: they are respectful of others, they are polite and patient in their interpersonal interactions, and they do not engage in offensive, disruptive or illegal behaviors while participating on the field school. To be clear as to what these behaviors entail and how sanctions may be applied read the Code of Conduct at this link: https://studentlife.oregonstate.edu/pre-student-conduct-community-standards

Students demonstrating significant behavioral problems at any time will be removed from the field school. Students performing illegal behaviors will be reported and turned over to local law enforcement agencies. Everyone deserves to work and learn in a productive, professional setting and the nature of our work demands a high level of performance from participants. Working at the Devils Kitchen site is a privilege, not a right. Because we are guests at Bullards Beach State Park and in the local community, your actions reflect upon our project and OSU as well.