Artifact Central

Maxwell’s archaeologists recently got new digs (so to speak) in Lyman Hall.

In her new Lyman Hall lab, Theresa Singleton (center) with undergraduate anthropology major Kate Butlein (left) and doctoral student Jessica Bowes.

The physical anthropology lab in Lyman Hall, where Shannon Novak studies the Spring Street burial vaults, is part of a brand-new suite of archaeology research and teaching labs. Novak's lab relocated to Lyman from Bowne Hall a few years ago. This spring historical archaeologists Doug Armstrong and Theresa Singleton moved into new, state-of-the-art labs down the hall in Lyman, with expanded and upgraded space for research and teaching.

"With historical archaeology there's a lot of material culture - ceramics, glass, and other things - that we analyze," says Armstrong, who helped design the Lyman labs. "The new labs provide layout space for comparative analysis and matching of artifacts, or for reconstructing vessels." Both of the new labs have wet sinks and dirt traps for washing and preparing artifacts, plus photography equipment and computers for data analysis.

Alongside the faculty labs are a fully equipped teaching lab and offices for teaching assistants, making Lyman a new hub for both faculty and students of archaeology, and giving the department significant room to grow.

— Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers 

Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers is a contributor to National Public Radio’s All Things Considered and the author of The Complete Singer-Songwriter.

This article appeared in the spring 2011 print edition of Maxwell Perspective; © 2012 Maxwell School of Syracuse University.