Uncover buried stories

Students excavating a site in Southwest Colorado with FLC's Field School

Learn professional field methods while working on archaeological sites during this 6-week summer course. Specific sites that are excavated may change from year to year, but research is focused on sites throughout the Four Corners region. You will be trained in and gain experience with:

  • Archaeological survey and excavation methods
  • Manual and digital mapping techniques
  • Artifact recovery and processing

You will also take field trips to significant archaeological sites to broaden your knowledge of our region’s history and pre-history.

Details about upcoming field schools are normally announced during the Spring semester, including information about site locations, requirements, costs, and application process.

Field School projects

Current project

Summer 2020

Continuation of the Paleoindian survey and land use study in Southwest Colorado.

Previous Field Schools

  • Disappointment Valley: Clovis site and examine looters' damage. Watch the field school video
  • Excavation at the Pueblo I / Pueblo II Bowthorpe site in Southwest Colorado
  • Survey and excavation at Petrified Forest National Park
  • Cultural Resource Management project at three Pueblo I sites in the Durango area
  • Archaeological testing and historic preservation at Los Ojitos, a 19th/20th Century Hispanic village in eastern New Mexico
  • Excavation at the Pueblo III Pigg site near Lowry Ruins in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument.

Students will have additional opportunities to work with data and material from the field school in subsequent lab classes or through independent research projects. 

To apply

Contact Dr. Jesse Tune at jwtune@fortlewis.edu or Dr. Charles Riggs at riggs_c@fortlewis.edu.

Download the application

*Prerequisite ANTH 201: Introduction to Archaeology (or equivalent at another institution)