- Anthropology Department University of Nevada Reno
- 1664 North Virginia MS0096 Reno, Nevada 89557-0096
- (775) 784-6704
- FAX (775) 327-2226
- anthro@unr.nevada.edu
Page Maintained by: Verla Jackson
Page last updated: April 22, 2009
2009 FIELD SCHOOLS
During the summer of 2009 the UNR Anthropology Department will hold three field schools. All students will earn three to six undergraduate semester credit hours from UNR for participating in the field schools listed below. All field school costs do not include the $60 undergraduate application fee to the university for students not already registered at UNR.
1. Historical Archaeology - Archaeological field school in Hawai'i. June 1st - June 26th, 2009. Directed by Dr. Carolyn White.
The program will consist of a four-week course of survey and excavation on the slopes of Mauna Kea on Hawai`icombined with lectures, laboratory work, and study tours of the island’s cultural and historical monuments, as well as relevant natural and ecological sites. Following several seasons of survey and excavation on the slopes of Mauna Kea, this summer's field season will focus on the site of Laumai`a, a 19th century ranching settlement later used as a training ground for WWII soldiers near the border of the North Hilo District and Hamakua District at an elevation of 6700 ft.
The field school will address research questions focusing on the use of material culture, domestic space, and landscape in the development of paniolo ranching culture of Hawai’i and during World War II. This is a three-credit field school.Cost of this field school is $3,100.
Applications are due to the department office by March 15th, 2009. A $500 deposit is due to the department office by April 15th, with the balance due by May 5th, 2009. 
Laumai'a Field School 2009 Flyer
Laumai'a Field School Application
Photos courtesy of Dr. Carolyn White
2. Historical Archaeology -Mining Your Past, Public Archaeology of the Great Depression, Pershing County, NV - June 8th - July 10th, 2009- directed by Dr. Donald Hardesty and Dr. Carolyn White.
In 1893, prospectors discovered placer gold at Rabbithole Springs, earlier known as a watering hole on the Lassen-Applegate Cut-Off of the Oregon-California emigrant trail. Local county government relief programs during the 1930's depression era grubstaked the unemployed to work the deposits. The field school students will survey and excavate the sites of mining camps in Nevada's Black Rock Desert in the vicinity of Rabbithole Springs. This will be our fourth season at this site and the field school will be led by Dr. Donald Hardesty and Dr. Carolyn White. This is a six-credit field school. Cost of this field school is $1,500. A $100 deposit is required with the application. 
Applications due with the deposit to the department office by May 15th, 2009 (new extended date).
Rabbithole Field School Flyer 2009
Rabbithole Field School Application 
Photos courtesy of Nicholas Pay
3. Historical Archaeology - Archaeology of Mark Twain's Comstock, Virginia City, NV -July 13th-August 13th, 2009 - directed by Dr. Donald Hardesty and Dr. Carolyn White.
Emigrants traveling along the California Trail in 1850 found placer gold at the mouth of Gold Canyon on the Carson River in what is now northwestern Nevada. Miners working these deposits discovered the Comstock silver lode in 1859. The Comstock emerged as a world famous center of precious metals mining. Industrialization of its mines and mills in the early 1860s revolutionized the mining industry around the world. Mark Twain described life on the early Comstock from his residence in Virginia City.
In this five-week field school, students will locate and explore archaeological sites associated with the earliest period of Comstock history while learning methods of historical archaeology. Students will investigate the location and social and cultural characteristics of the earliest Comstock mining camps; boardinghouses, brothels, and households; patterns of gender and ethnicity; and commercial development. This is a six-credit field school. Cost of this field school is $960. A $100 deposit is required with the application.
Applications due with deposit to the department office by June 15th, 2009.
Comstock Field School Application
Students digging a unit and processing artifacts from the site in Virginia City during the 2008 fieldschool. Pictures courtesy of the Reno Gazette Journal, July 25, 2008.