Each summer, Dr. Buzz Thunen teaches ANT4990, Archaeological Fieldwork. Students can register for three credits for the fieldwork and another three for the archaeological lab work. In the first part of the course, students work in the field to learn how to conduct an archaeological excavation. Fieldwork is from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, five days a week. In the second part of the course, students work in the lab to identify and analyze artifacts discovered in the field.

This past summer, students conducted a survey dig in an area on Black Hammock Island, looking for the presence or absence of artifacts from the Mission period. Pottery shards were found from this and other periods. During the dig, Dr. Thunen used a variety of digital cameras to photograph the ongoing work, as well as artifacts found. He later created a DVD for students with a catalog of images as well as short movie clips.

During their lab work, students wash and clean the artifacts, analyze, and enter pertinent information into a database. Dr. Thunen used printing services available in CIRT to create ″11 x ″17 prints from his photographs that help students identify the artifacts recovered in the field during that process.