Digging the rain
Students, faculty, and Native American tribal representatives gathered in soggy Harvard Yard Thursday to officially open the fall archaeology season, during which students will get a taste of fieldwork even as they help to illuminate Harvard’s roots. The gathering occurred near Matthews Hall, where archaeology faculty members have led students in digs for the past several years. The excavations seek the remains of Harvard’s Indian College, one of the University’s earliest buildings. The Indian College initially housed a group of Indian students who were admitted to fulfill Harvard’s charter, which dedicated the institution to the education of colonial and Indian youth alike. The class, “Archaeology of Harvard Yard,” builds on the work of Summer School students who began to dig in July and continued into August. Class instructors hope to reach a feature uncovered when the College class was last offered in 2009 that appears to be a foundation trench for the...