Our Crowdfunding Groups
Each summer the SIUC Anthropology Department and Center for Archaeological Investigations (CAI) offer students a unique “experiential learning” opportunity in the form of a six-week long archaeological field school in which students work along experienced professional archaeologists, gaining hands-on training in learning how to excavate and record the remains of Illinois’s rich past. Field schools are a crucial step in training undergraduate archaeology students that help provide them with the skills they need to obtain jobs after graduation. The 2019 field school will be held at three sites—Ft. Kaskaskia, Garrison Hill, and Miller Grove—at which students will investigate French colonial and early American lifeways (Ft. Kaskaskia); the history of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in Illinois (Garrison Hill); and the lives of freed African-American involved in the Underground Railroad (Miller Grove) who helped runaway slaves on their pathway to freedom.
Our goal is to make the SIUC field school accessible to undergraduates who cannot otherwise afford to take it. Many students who wish to take the field school cannot do so because of the costs involved, which is over $2000 for a six-week course. We need your help in reducing the cost of the field school to financially needy students through donations that will be used to cover their housing costs and other expenses. Our goal is to support up to 10 students through targeted grants of $500 to $1000 each.
Each student who participates in SIU's archaeology field school will experience what life was like for people during the 18th and 19th centuries by excavating and analyzing the material remains those people left behind. This type of experience is invaluable. Your contribution will help insure we are able to offer this educational experience to a diverse group of students.
For $20 you will receive a personal tour of either Ft. Kaskaskia or Miller Grove on select days during the field school investigations.
For $50 or more, you can participate in either the archaeological field or laboratory excavations at Ft. Kaskaskia or Miller Grove for a day.
For $75 you will receive a guided tour of either site on select days plus replica French and British gun flints (one each) and a Center for Archaeological Investigations hat.
For $100 you will receive a guided tour of either site on select days plus a replica 1/2 inch diameter 1801 Thomas Jefferson Peace Medal of the type carried by Lewis and Clark and a Center for Archaeological Investigations hat.
For $250 you will receive a guided tour of either site on select days plus lead printing type, an augmented reality card illustrating Abby Miller's house and a Center for Archaeological Investigations hat.
For $500 you will receive a guided tour of either site on select days plus lead printing type, a 3D printed replica of one of the artifacts from the site, and a Center for Archaeological Investigations hat.
