Event
Public Archaeology Field School 2022
Fee:
Free.Location:
On 5th Street, just north of the fort stockade wallsRepeating Event
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Description
Portland State University, Washington State University Vancouver, and the National Park Service excavate one of the most important sites of colonialism in the Pacific Northwest: the 1844-1849 schoolhouses of the Hudson's Bay Company. The schools at Fort Vancouver educated the employees of the company but also formed the rationale for the company's license to trade as evidence of their "civilizing" influence on Indigenous children. The schoolhouses were rented by the US Army when the first military units arrived in the Pacific Northwest in 1849. The site has never been archaeologically tested and excavations will confirm the location of the schoolhouse structures, gathering material evidence of the people who inhabited them.
This archaeology dig is open to the public from 9 am to 3 pm Tuesdays through Saturdays. Visit the dig, speak with student archaeologists, and see historical research in action.
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