Lincoln University Students Participate in Archaeological Survey at Don Carlos Historic Archaeological Site

Lincoln University of Missouri students participated in an archaeological survey at the Don Carlos Historical Archaeological Site.

On Saturday, September 21, students from Lincoln University, under the guidance of Dr. Christine E. Boston, associate professor of anthropology and sociology, took part in an archaeological survey at the Don Carlos Historic Archaeological Site in mid-Missouri. The purpose of the survey was to investigate previously unexplored areas surrounding the former Don Carlos home and barns to assess the potential expansion of the site’s boundaries.

A team of Lincoln students, including Travis Barrett, a biology major, and Cierra Hein, a pre-nursing major, conducted a pedestrian survey of an area adjacent to the home where a carriage token had been discovered by the property owner prior to Dr. Boston's research at the site. The team also examined a larger section of land behind the barn and around a man-made lake, constructed by the Don Carlos family during their time on the property.

Dr. Christine Boston and Travis Barrett examine the carriage wagon. 

“My first survey on the site helped solidify why I wanted to do anthropology in the first place,” Travis Barrett says. “Two years later and surveys like this with unanticipated artifacts help reaffirm that decision.”

In addition to the survey, the team evaluated a previously identified artifact, a carriage wagon, which had been damaged by a fallen tree. Dr. Boston and her students carefully salvaged the remaining pieces of the wagon for future analysis. Barrett, along with Dr. Boston, will continue their work, examining these pieces alongside other artifacts excavated earlier in the spring and summer. Their findings will be presented at the Missouri Conference on History and the Missouri Academy of Science meetings in March and April 2025, respectively.

Travis Barrett removes part of the carriage wagon from the archaeological site. 

“It's always exciting to leave with unexpected artifacts on surveys,” Barrett says. “I was hoping for antique glass fragments or ceramic pieces, but excavating those pieces of the wagon was rewarding.”