UPG students find joy in buried history
As Ellen Hoffman pulled a layer of sod from the ground, her shovel scraped against something.
"Ellie, you're hitting that foundation," Karen Babyak said, wincing as if in physical pain.
But as the sod broke away, part of a brown glass bottle appeared, leaving Babyak in tears.
"I love that you're crying," Hoffman, 22, of Allison Park, Allegheny County, said as she and Babyak embraced.
Such is life at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg's archaeology field school, a four-week, hands-on program held at a Ligonier Township farm where discoveries large and small are met with enthusiasm and, sometimes, tears of joy.
The field school, a credit class that ended July 2, is run by Dr. Anthony T. Boldurian, professor of anthropology at Pitt-Greensburg, who was brought to the campus 20 years ago to start an archaeology program.
Boldurian said archaeology began to take on commercial importance in the 1970s, when legislation was enacted protecting cultural resources from public land development.
"This has turned into big business for archaeology and training and hiring young archaeologists," Boldurian said.
He's had summer field schools at several locations throughout the years but moved to the Thru the Field farm at the insistence of longtime friend Steven Patricia and his wife, Helen.
The couple has owned their 38-acre Ligonier Township farm for seven years.
Steve Patricia said he's been trying to learn more about the history of the farm, which began operating in the 1780s.
He believes the site where the students have been excavating the past two summers may have been a blacksmith shop, and he's hoping the field school can prove it.
Patricia started to remove a concrete foundation at the site because it was a mowing hazard. As he dug, he discovered sandstone that might have served as an earlier foundation.
"That said, 'You better stop digging. This might be something,'" he said.
Now he's letting the students do the digging.
Boldurian is quick to acknowledge the support of Pitt-Greensburg.
"Very few people realize the real world practical application of archaeology," he said. "My institution is one of them, and I am very proud and pleased about that."
Boldurian lets the students run the program and hangs back to let them make the discoveries and do the work.
He is a stickler for cleanliness -- insisting that the students keep their instruments clean. The blades of their shovels and trowels gleam in the sun.
"A dirty archaeologist ... a slovenly archaeologist cannot be poised to make major discoveries or recognize things when they emerge on the tip of their trowel," he said.
He focuses on attention to detail, critical thinking and teamwork.
Not all of the students take the course because they want to be archaeologists.
Blake Chaney, 17, of Murrysville is getting college credits for the field school, and he hasn't even graduated from Franklin Regional High School yet.
He signed up for the class because he's interested in a career in medical research and figured field work would give him an upper hand.
"It's been a lot of fun," he said. "Different from anything else you would ever get to do."
Not all of the students Boldurian has had over the years at the field school end up being archaeologists.
He doesn't consider that a failure.
"I say to them, 'Good for you, because our program provided for you an answer to a key question to your future,'" he said.
Others can't get enough of it and keep coming back.
In fact, four of the 10 students who worked at the field school this summer have returned as volunteers. The rest are taking the class for credit.
For first-time field school participants like Meghan Kyle, 22, of Matamoras, Pike County, the experience is a relief.
"It's good to know I actually enjoy what I'm going to be doing," she said.
Crew chief Molly Henderson, 21, of Bedford has been coming to the Thru the Field site since it began in 2005.
She's wanted to be an archaeologist since middle school.
Henderson said the experience she's gained is invaluable. She's confident she'll be able to get a job -- even one as a crew chief -- when she graduates.
"I have more experience, and I know what I'm doing, and I'm not going to fool around," she said.
Babyak has returned as a volunteer and loves to show off some of the more than 1,100 artifacts that have been found on the site -- from arrowheads to pottery -- some dug up by students and others found by the Patricias.
She showed off part of a plate from the Fort Ligonier Hotel.
"So obviously someone was stealing dishes," she said.
Meticulous records are kept of where the artifacts are recovered. They are taken back to the lab at the college, where students will work with them throughout the academic year.
"Even though I have to wake up really early, I love it. I love coming here," Babyak said. "I'm the kind of person driving down the road saying, '18th century foundation, yes!'"
