Program in Midwestern Archaeology (PIMA)

Lake Koshkonong 2002/2003: Archaeological Investigations at Three Sites in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, prepared by: Robert J. Jeske, Principal Investigator

The Crescent Bay Hunt Club Site: Oneota in Southeast Wisconsin. Material compiled by Robert J. Jeske and Chrisie L. Hunter

Program in Midwestern Archaeology (Southeastern Wisconsin Archaeology Program): 2000-2001, edited by Robert J. Jeske

Goals of the Program

  1. Expanding on our knowledge base through research that benefits undergraduate and graduate teaching and training. Activities pursued include archival searches, field surveys, site excavations and laboratory analyses.

  2. Disseminating knowledge to peers and students. Publication via books, scholarly journals and Reports of Investigations is a critical aspect of the center. Teaching courses that benefit, and benefit directly from, our field and laboratory research is also essential.

  3. Engaging the community with multiple levels of interaction. We maintain a partnership with state and local governments, tribal governments, and other institutions such as the Milwaukee Public Museum.

  4. Outreach programs for the general public. Outreach encompasses many activities from schoolroom lectures and demonstrations at Milwaukee Public Schools and other districts, to public speaking engagements at local historic societies, to adult and precollege field school excavations.

Recent Activities

Archaeological fieldwork is a combination of field school and grant supported research in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana. Archaeological field schools for undergraduates and graduate students are run every other year. Our next field school will be held in the summer of 2008. In the summer of 2006, 24 students and faculty excavated for six weeks at the Crescent Bay Hunt Club site, a 700 year old farming village on Lake Koshkonong, near Fort Atkinson. Additionally, we conducted test excavations at the Schmeling site, another Oneota site near Crescent Bay. Our fifth field season uncovered large numbers of storage pits, a house structure, several palisade walls, and unusual ceramic types. Other recent field excavations include work at Late Paleoindian, Middle Archaic and Late Archaic components at Carcajou Point in Jefferson County. Future projects include continuing work at Crescent Bay, Schmeling and Carcajou Point. We also will continue work with Nitschke Mounds site, in conjunction with Dodge County, the Ho-Chunk Nation, and the Milwaukee Public Museum.