By Jamie Bowen, Staff Writer

The department of anthropology is accepting applications for its summer field school of archeology in Range Creek Canyon.

Range Creek is a canyon located about two hours east of Price, said Shannon Boomgarden, assistant director of Range Creek.

The field school was established in 2003 with a focus on teaching undergraduate students archeological field tactics, Boomgarden said.

“The great thing about the field school is that it’s two months long, and by the end of it, you are working like you are an archeologist,” she said.

The school accepts 12 students every year. The students are taught by graduate students with a 1-to-2 ratio of teachers to students, said Duncan Metcalfe, director of the Range Creek project.

During the eight-week period at the school, students receive fairly intensive training in field tactics from mapping to excavating, he said.

Students will also have the opportunity to work on over 400 sites, and the department is always looking for sites to excavate, Boomgarden said.

Students will be camping at the Wilcox ranch, which was a working ranch within Range Creek Canyon until a few years ago. Students will provide their own camping equipment, but a professional cook will prepare meals for them. Costs for the school are based on tuition fees that are scheduled for summer 2009.

Rachelle Green, a graduate student in archaeology and a former student at the school in 2006, said she went to the field school to see if archeology was something she wanted to pursue as a career.

Green said that the school shows students whether or not archaeology is the right field for them.

“It prepared me with the experience…(employers) want the people to have basic skills to work in the field,” Green said.

Boomgarden said the land research is especially beneficial because while there, the school trains students in every part of the job and afterward, they can put the experience on their resume.

The summer training session will begin June 1 and last until July 22.

Applications are being accepted until late May, but according to the department’s Web site, preference will be given to applications received prior to March 30.

Applications are posted on the Archaeology Field School Web site for the Department of Anthropology.

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Range Creek Research Project

Students have the opportunity to immerse themselves in archaeological study this summer at Range Creek canyon, two hours east of Price. The anthropology department is accepting applications for this summer?s field school of archaeology.