The Fiske Center Blog

Weblog for the Fiske Center for Archaeological Research at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

February 23, 2023
by Christa Beranek
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Digitizing Legacy Archaeological Collections

Students and staff from the Fiske Center for Archaeological Research at the University of Massachusetts Boston have recently completed a joint project with the Collections Department at Plimoth Patuxet Museums, funded by the Humanities Collections and Reference Resources program at … Continue reading

September 24, 2019
by katherinealbert001
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Working in a New Medium: Filming the Burial Hill Excavations

By Kati Albert Early in the morning during the last week of the Plymouth Field School, a general question went out to the students: “Does anyone know how to use a video camera?” Tentatively, I raised my hand. I didn’t … Continue reading

June 13, 2019
by katherinealbert001
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The View from the Hill: A Brief Progress Report on the Burial Hill Excavations

Greetings from Plymouth, MA! The excavations on Burial Hill are in full swing, and there is quite a lot happening. Every day the piles of dirt grow, and every day, as the students dig deeper in their excavation units, more … Continue reading

June 6, 2019
by Christa Beranek
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Plymouth field school 2019: shovel test pits

By Anya Gruber Excavations are underway for UMass Boston’s 7th field season in Plymouth, MA! Over the years, UMass’s team has excavated in three areas across the town–Burial Hill, Brewster Gardens, and Cole’s Hill–and this year we’ve added a lot … Continue reading

August 22, 2018
by Fiske Center
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Digitizing the Allerton/Cushman Collection at Plimoth Plantation

This summer Anya Gruber and Elizabeth Tarulis, graduate students in UMass Boston’s Historical Archaeology program, have been working at Plimoth Plantation to digitize the Allerton/Cushman collection. This work is part of an ongoing collaborative project funded by a grant from … Continue reading

April 10, 2018
by Christa Beranek
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NEH Grant for Digitization

  We are excited to announce that the Fiske Center for Archaeological Research at UMass Boston, in partnership with Plimoth Plantation, has received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Division of Preservation and Access!  This grant, Digitizing … Continue reading

April 23, 2017
by Dennis Piechota
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Studying the lost temper of Native American ceramics

Some Native American ceramics of the Woodland Period were made by adding to the local clays a temper of crushed shell. During burial this temper can be dissolved out of the clay by acidic soil water leaving the potsherds riddled … Continue reading

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