As Trent University students dug in the earth on a recent hot sunny May day, they excavated an 1854 Bank of Upper Canada penny, a full jar of facial cream, and a toothbrush made out of bone. The students, part of the Trent Archaeology Field School, are trying to find out more about the daily lives of people who lived in and around this former Nassau Mills community in the 19^th century.

“I love being outside with this kind of hands-on learning,” said Archaeology student Joel Tucker. “It’s a great learning experience.”

The field school is part of a third-year undergraduate anthropology course and is overseen by course instructor Dr. James Conolly.

A Closer Look at History

The excavation site on the Trent Symons Campus used to be home to a bustling industrial cluster including the Nassau Mill, also known as the Red Mill, on the Otonabee River.  The mill operation was a key industry in the area at the time, explained project director, Kate Dougherty.

“Today, this formerly nationally significant historic mill complex and associated structures have almost been erased from memory,” Ms. Dougherty said.

As students dug in pits, sifted through dirt and drew pictures of exposed stone walls, Ms. Dougherty explained this is the second year that the field school has worked on this site.

Last year, she said, they uncovered many curious artifacts from what used to be the community’s “garbage dump” including a wood-fired kitchen stove, mouth-blown bottles and parts of shoes. In one particular site, students found household items such as dishes and children’s dolls so they know that structure was likely a home.

From the Land to the Lab

When it rains, students often take to the lab, washing the artifacts in lukewarm water and scrubbing them gently with a toothbrush. When they’re cleaning animal bone and teeth, they try to determine which animal it came from such as pigs, cows, mice or squirrels.

“There were two boar tusks which was really cool to see,” wrote student Jodie Leach on the field school’s blog. “At first it was hard to identify what it was but once I cleaned the dirt off of the tusk it was easier to see what it was.”

After cleaning, the artifacts are catalogued and used in reports sent to the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport.  Fourth-year Archaeology student Andrea Mambro said she loves learning about artifacts as well as soil composition. Ms. Mambro also likes that the course focuses on cultural resource management, “It teaches us how Ontario heritage laws work,” she says.

This year’s field school runs May 1 to 31. Learn more about the field school and other Summer Courses at Trent.