Field Work 2018

This page should focus only on what students and Dr. Carter did during the 2018 iteration of Field Archaeology. Content about charcoal, etc. should be on other pages.

In the fall of 2018, the Muhlenberg Field Archaeology class studied the Blue Mountain land that was used for charcoal and iron production. The class conducted some surveys and a small excavation of a colliers hut, utilizing several different methods including examination of LiDAR maps, pedestrian survey, shovel test pits, and metal detecting.

The purpose of this research was to introduce students to survey methods and orient them to the landscape. The second was to investigate the three collier’s huts on the side of the mountain through excavation. Through the field work, four new collier’s huts were identified in the field and three more potential ones were noted. The confirmed identification of four more collier’s huts however, increases the total confirmed huts to eleven.