REU Site: Archaeological Investigations of Colonial Maryland

该项目由SBE理事会的本科生研究经验（REU）站点计划资助。它具有科学和社会效益，并将研究和教育相结合。REU遗址是马里兰圣玛丽学院和马里兰考古保护实验室（MAC实验室）的合作项目。REU的目标和正在进行的研究是为本科生提供考古学的经验，包括最新的科学和方法论方法，考古实地考察，文物管理，材料分析，策展解释和公众参与的学术内容。这个REU将产生对马里兰州历史的原创性研究，并可能重新集中对17世纪和18世纪切萨皮克经济和政治动态的主要理解。该研究将调查乡村庄园是否在殖民时期通过指导该地区的社会经济关系而成为马里兰州的社会经济基础，以及其居民是否依赖于发展中的城市中心。该项目超越了对17和18世纪遗址的传统研究，强调了第一个定居点和重要人物的遗产，如托马斯·杰斐逊和乔治·华盛顿，通过调查前西阿什科姆庄园。这个REU建立在马里兰州圣玛丽学院25年来作为该州的公共荣誉学院的基础上。这种区别包括学生驱动的研究和与教师合作的传统，符合REU计划的使命。REU项目将提供本科生经常无法获得的考古和博物馆实践领域的全面培训。通过利用和指导学生最新的技术（例如，无人机使用和摄影测量），现场方法和实验室程序，参与者将获得考古收藏生成（即挖掘），护理（保护和管理）和分析（材料表征和编目）的各个阶段的经验。12名学生将被招募参加为期8周的暑期研究项目，该项目每隔一年提供三次。这种交替安排允许根据年度评估和评估改进项目内容和结构。REU将针对学术生涯早期的学生，特别是那些来自代表性不足的人群和社区大学的学生，他们对获得实践领域和实验室技能感兴趣。学生们将参加位于克雷莫纳庄园的西阿什科姆的考古发掘，在MAC实验室获得藏品管理和保护方面的培训，并在SMCM博物馆研究实验室进行创新的文化材料表征。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project is funded from the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Sites program in the SBE Directorate. It has both scientific and societal benefits, and integrates research and education. The REU site is a collaboration between St. Mary’s College of Maryland and the Maryland Archeological Conservation Lab (MAC Lab). The goals of the REU and ongoing research is to provide undergraduates experiences in archaeology including the latest scientific and methodological approaches to archaeological fieldwork, artifact curation, materials analysis, curatorial interpretation and public engagement with scholarly content. This REU will generate original research on Maryland history and likely refocus the dominant understanding of economic and political dynamics in the Chesapeake in the 17th and 18th centuries. The study will investigate whether country estates served as the socio-economic foundation of Maryland during the colonial era by steering socio-economic relations in the region, and that its inhabitants were not dependent on the developing urban centers. This project moves beyond traditional studies of 17th and 18th century sites that emphasize first settlements and the estates of important personages such as Thomas Jefferson and George Washington by investigation the former West Ashcom Estate. This REU builds upon St. Mary’s College of Maryland’s 25 years as the state’s Public Honors College. This distinction includes a tradition of student driven research and collaboration with faculty in line with the mission of the REU program. The REU project will provide comprehensive training in areas of archaeological and museum practice frequently unavailable to undergraduates. By utilizing and instructing students in the latest technology (e.g., drone use and photogrammetry), field methods, and laboratory procedures, participants will gain experience in all stages of archaeological collections generation (i.e. excavation), care (conservation and management), and analysis (materials characterization and cataloging). Twelve students will be recruited for an 8-week summer research program, offered every other year for a total of three times. This alternating schedule allows for improvement of program content and structure in light of annual assessment and evaluations. The REU will target students early in their academic career, especially those from underrepresented populations and community colleges interested in gaining practical field and laboratory skills. Students will participate in archaeological excavations at West Ashcom located at Cremona Estate, gain training in collections management and conservation at the MAC Lab, and carry out innovative cultural materials characterization in the SMCM Museum Studies Lab.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.