Archaeology at Camp Michaux: A Productive Collaboration between Dickinson College, Cumberland County Historical Society, and Governmental Agencies in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania

Summary

Since 2013, the Dickinson College Archaeology program has partnered with the Cumberland County Historical Society, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, and PennDOT to conduct research in the Camp Michaux area of Michaux State Forest (Cumberland County, Pennsylvania). This partnership functions through the Archaeological Methods course offered by the college each spring, which teaches students how to plan and execute their own small research projects involving remote sensing, pedestrian survey, feature mapping, and test pit excavation. Students design their investigations around questions about one of the multiple phases of occupations at the site: Prehistoric/Indigenous, Farm/Iron Furnace, Civilian Conservation Corp Camp, and WWII Prisoner of War Camp. Despite time constraints and other limitations inherent in the nature of a semester-long class, yearly public presentations that involve the local community disseminate new information about what was learned and improve public understanding of the site. The partnership between Dickinson College and local heritage and government agencies has proved successful in working towards the preservation of regional archaeological and cultural heritage resources, while continuing to look toward the future of the project.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21022