Excavations will build on cartographic research and limited testing of the area, which may have located a portion of the entranceway. Students will receive basic training in archaeological field excavation and recording techniques as well as being exposed to historic document research, artifact conservation and basic laboratory methods. Housing will be provided at no charge at Fort Macon. A small fee will be assessed for breakfast and lunches. Dinners will be on your own.
Many restaurants are nearby and full kitchen facilities are available.
Maxwell is one of several Great Oasis village sites in central Iowa dating to circa A.D. 1000. This site is being destroyed by bank erosion and has produced evidence for house structures, storage pits, extensive corn farming, faunal remains, and pottery, stone, and shell and bone tools typical of the Great Oasis culture. Dallas County Conservation in cooperation with ISU, the State Historical Society of Iowa and the Office of the State Archaeologist is sponsoring the project. This is a residential field school and will be headquartered at the Kuehn Recreation area in Dallas County, Iowa. Students will have the opportunity to interact with volunteers and the public in the excavation of an endangered site, visit important sites and museums and engage in other activities such as a canoe trip down the Raccoon River.