Bruce's Northern Plains Dig

Keywords:

• field school
• unit
• animal vs. human bone

Case Study

Bruce Spinner is a student on his first dig in the northern plains. The paleo-period cave site was first excavated in 1989 but has not been excavated since. Three weeks into his field school, he finds a phalanx in his unit, but he is unsure if it is from an animal or an ancient human. His supervisor, Max, tells him and the rest of the students that they better hope it’s from an animal, otherwise they will have to stop the dig and will be unable to complete their field school experience. Max stores the bone away from the rest of the cataloged finds, and it is not discussed again.

Six months later, Bruce is talking with a friend who was hired as a graduate assistant and learns that the finger bone was from a human and probably dated to over 10,000 years ago. He is surprised and confused, because he has learned about repatriation in his courses. He has a meeting with the field school supervisor in two days to ask for a letter of recommendation for a fellowship.