Our museum work takes place at Western New Mexico University, where the WNMU Museum and other campus facilities are located on 83 acres in the town of Silver City. Collections research takes place at the WNMU Museum), a newly renovated historic building with classroom, laboratory, and exhibit space.
Silver City has is located in pine forests at an elevation of 5,895 feet, with just under 10,000 residents and easy access to outdoor activities, historic sites, and a local arts scene. We will live on the WNMU campus in apartment-style dormitories with private bedrooms/bathrooms and shared living rooms, and have meals in the WNMU dining hall. Students will also camp overnight for 1–3 nights during experimental archaeology rotations at our field camp in nearby Cliff, New Mexico, with one-person tents, one-person outdoor solar shower enclosures, and an enclosed portable toilet.
Although much of our time is spent on museum, survey, and experimental archaeology work, we also take several field trips during the course. Expenses for field trips are covered by the field school fee, including meals and overnight camping (3 nights). We also provide transportation during all field trips and required course activities, and between Tucson and Silver City at the beginning and end of the program. During our course orientation in Tucson, field school students reside in University of Arizona campus housing (covered by the field school fee).