Kansas Archeology Training Program Field School Archive

The Kansas Archeology Training Program (KATP) field school is a partnership between the Kansas Historical Society and the Kansas Anthropological Association (KAA).

Find aKansas county map showing locations of KATP field school sites.

2024 - Crawford and Bourbon Counties, 14BO14 & 14BO361, Skinner Homestead. 

• Tod Bevitt of Buried Past Consulting, LLC. served as principal investigator for the project June 7-16, during which 83 participants contributed 2,383 hours of labor.
• The analysis of artifacts and report writing is ongoing. 
• Reported in: Nikki Klarmann (2024) Unearthing the History of the Skinner Homestead Property at the 2024 KATP Field School. Zephyr, from the Kansas Historical Society, September/October 2024: 5.

2023 -Scott County, 14SC409, Historic Lake Scott State Park

• KSHS Archeologist Shelby Beltz served as principal investigator for the project June 2-18, during which 127 participants contributed 4,578 hours of labor. 
• KSHS and KAA partnered with Drs. Sarah Trabert (University of Oklahoma) and Matthew Hill (University of Iowa) on the project to conduct directed excavations to specifically identify whether the site could be potentially eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.
• Not many artifacts were found, but a lot of information was identified about this Dismal River aspect site. It is likely that the site was utilized as a seasonal campsite as opposed to a habitation site due to the low density of artifacts. 
• Reported in: Shelby Beltz (2023) 2023 Kansas Archeology Training Program in Scott County.Zephyr, From the Kansas Historical Society, September/October 2023: 4-6. 

2022 - Shawnee County, Monroe School Property (14SH113), Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park

• KSHS Archeologist Nikki Klarmann served as principal investigator for the project June 3-18, during which 114 participants contributed 4,630 hours of labor.
• KSHS and KAA partnered with the National Park Service's Midwest Archeological Center (MWAC) on the project to learn more about the Monroe School Property, part of the Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park, which commemorates the 1954 Supreme Court decision ending legal segregation in the United States.
• The project expanded our knowledge of the early life of the Monroe School property from when it was purchased by John Ritchie in the 1850s, through the time when the current Monroe Elementary School was built in 1927, up to today, by exploring the remains of some of the structures that are buried on the property.  
• A summary of excavations is being prepared by KSHS Archeologists.
• Reported in: Nikki Klarmann (2022) The 2022 KATP Field School: Exploring the Archeological Past of Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park.KAA Newsletter 34(2): 5-9.

2020-2021 - There were no KATP field schools during this period due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2019 - Rice County, Tobias site (14RC8)

• KSHS Archeologist Nikki Klarmann served as principal investigator for the project June 1-16, during which 196 participants contributed 7,451.5 hours of labor.
• Excavations focused on exploring day-to-day life of the ancestral Wichita or Great Bend aspect inhabitants, who lived at the site between 1400 to 1700 CE. 
• A summary of excavations is being prepared by KSHS Archeologists.
• Reported in: Nikki Klarmann (2019) 2019 KATP Returns to Tobias,KAA Newsletter 31(3):1-5.

2018 - Morris County, Kaw Mission State Historic Site (14MO368)

• KSHS Archeologist Tricia Waggoner served as principal investigator for the project, June 1-17, during which 110 participants contributed 5,195 hours of labor. Initial metal detection and excavation during the 2016 KATP, subsequent geophysical survey, and documentary evidence indicate the presence of buildings that once stood on the grounds of the Mission. Excavation during the 2018 KATP concentrated on identifying anomalies found during geophysical survey and exploring the location of the blacksmith shop.
• Reported in: Tricia J. Waggoner (2021) "Investigations at the Kaw Mission in Council Grove."The Kansas Anthropologist 42:65-114; Christine D. Garst (2022) “Gunflints in the Kansas Historical Society Collection” The Kansas Anthropologist 43: 63-74.

2017- Jefferson County, Quixote Site (14JF420)

• 179 volunteers donated 6,941 hours to the project, June 1-15, 2017, at the Quixote site near Valley Falls. Excavation concentrated on one of the two low mounds present at this Early Ceramic-age (AD 500-1000) site. Two roasting pits with burned rock and charred wood will yield radiocarbon dates. Most of the fill dirt was bagged for waterscreening and flotation.
• Reported in (2017) "Kansas Archeology Training Program Field School to be at Valley Falls June 1-15, 2017"KAA Newsletter 29(1):4-6; Morris Floyd and Chris Hord (2017) "KATP Field School--14JF420, Quixote Site"KAA Newsletter 29(2):1; Brad Logan (2019) "The Quixote Site: Late Woodland in Northeastern Kansas."The Kansas Anthropologist 40: 43-158.

2016 - Morris County, Last Chance Store (14MO367)

• 134 volunteers donated 6,693 hours to the project, June 2-17, 2016, at the Last Chance Store, a Santa Fe Trail-related site in Council Grove. Principal Investigator Bob Blasing was particularly interested in establishing the occupation sequence of the site, based on artifacts and features. Excavations on the grounds and in thecellar were coupled with detailed recording of the interior of the 1857 stone building.
• Reported in: (2016) "KATP Evening Programs"KAA Newsletter 28(2):1-2; Mary Conrad (2016) "News from the KATP at Council Grove"KAA Newsletter 28(3):6-10; Stephen J. Hanna "Reading a Newspaper: An Exercise in History and Archeology"KAA Newsletter 28(3):10-12; Virginia A. Wulfkuhle (2016) "Evaluation of the 2016 KATP Field School"KAA Newsletter 28(3):15-19; Robert K. Blasing (2019) "Archeological Investigations at the Last Chance Store, Council Grove, Kansas, June 2016. A report of fieldwork conducted by the Kansas Archeology Training Program field school, June 2016, sponsored by the Kansas Historical Society and the Kansas Anthropological Association." Submitted to the Archeology Office, Kansas Historical Society, Topeka

2015 - Ellis County, Kraus Site (14EL313)

• 2015 was the 40th year of the KATP field school.
• State Archeologist Bob Hoard served as principal investigator for the project, June 5-20, during which 120 participants contributed 6,130 hours of labor. The Kraus site was inhabited between 500 and 1100 CE, the transitional period between foraging Archaic-period populations and semi-sedentary farmer-hunters of the Central Plains. They made pottery and used both spear throwers and the bow and arrow. While deer and bison were common prey for them, pronghorn also were important, as were fish, mussels, and small mammals. They built small temporary houses with round packed-earth floors that left only a faint impression for archeologists to discover.

• Reported in: Robert J. Hoard and Virginia A. Wulfkuhle (2015) "People, Technology, and Environment in Transition: 2015 Kansas Archeology Training Program Field School to Focus on a High Plains Prehistoric Site"Kansas Preservation36(4):8-9; Robert J. Hoard (2015) "People and Environment along Big Creek"Kansas Preservation 37 (3):10-13; Robert J. Hoard, John R. Bozell, and Gina S. Powell (2017) "The Kraus 1 Site, 14EL313: Archeological Investigations by the 2015 Kansas Archeology Training Program Field School."The Kansas Anthropologist38: 19-113. With contributions by Margaret E. Beck, David L. Maki, Rolfe D. Mandel, Edwin J. Miller, and James L. Theler.
   

Continue to 2014-2005

Kansas Archeology

Kansas Historical Society
6425 SW 6th Avenue
Topeka KS 66615-1099

Nikki Klarmann, PhD

State Archeologist
Agency NAGPRA representative
785-272-8681, ext. 269nikki.klarmann@ks.gov

Related Content

• Archeology bibliography
• Archeology opportunities
• Kansas Archeology Training Program
• KATP Archive 3