Visit Archaeology at Macleish Field Station by Gwendolyn Jones ’19

About This Project

MacLeish Field Station is a 260-acre patch of forest owned by Smith College to provide research opportunities for students and faculty, as well outdoor education and recreation. At this field station there is an eighteen-acre plot of land, referred to in deeds as the “West Whately Pasture.” This parcel was once the center of Consider Wait’s homestead, a modest farm at the turn of the nineteenth century. This site provides a unique opportunity for research at the intersection of historic ecology and household archaeology, investigating a homestead that was once a busy farm and is now nearly invisible under relatively young New England forest. For my Departmental Honors Project within the Anthropology Department, I conducted an archaeological investigation of the site, using it as a case studying in exploring class and capitalism at the turn of the 19th century. This research also provided an excellent opportunity for exploring digital archaeology. Using geographic information systems (GIS), Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), Photogrammetry, and photography, I have created a digital tour of the site for use as a teaching tool.