The UWF Anthropology program typically offers two field schools each summer term: terrestrial and maritime. An option of combining maritime and terrestrial field schools is also available for undergraduate students. For the first time this summer, the UWF Anthropology program will also offer a forensic anthropology field school.
These field methods courses are the "heart" of the archaeology program and are well respected around the country for the quality of instruction, length of time students spend actually excavating, and the high quality archaeology sites at which the field schools are located.
Field schools are almost always conducted in the Pensacola vicinity so students can return home each night. Occasionally, field schools are located away from Pensacola and when this occurs, food and lodging accommodations are arranged.
The prerequisite for the archaeology and anthropology field schools is a core archaeology course at the junior level, such as ANT 3101: Principles of Archaeology. This course is offered in the spring term at UWF, but a similar course taken at other institutions can meet this requirement. Students from other universities often take UWF's archaeological field school and apply the academic credit to their degree. Maritime students are also required to have an open-water certification from a nationally recognized dive agency (PADI, NAUI, YMCA, etc.). Forensic anthropology students are also required to have Biological Anthropology (ANT 2511/L).
The archaeology field methods courses offer students the opportunity to learn the basic skills of archaeological excavation and field laboratory methods. Archaeologists and graduate students are on site full time to teach and assist undergraduate students. Experienced support personnel are often part of the field school operations as well. Whether terrestrial or maritime, UWF field schools include instruction in survey instruments, layout and use of grids, excavation of units and features, creation of scale drawings and images, field documentation and site mapping. Most UWF field schools have a field laboratory on-site or nearby where recovered material is organized, tracked and crosschecked, and images are cataloged and duplicated. Dates and times do vary, but field school classes usually meet Monday through Friday from late May/early June to mid August.
