2012 Field School Scholarship Awarded to Kate Pontbriand

Kate Pontbriand working on mapping the wreck at the Seal Cove Shipwreck Project. NPS Photo.

The 2012 Abbe Museum Archaeological Field School Scholarship has been awarded to Kate Pontbriand of Gouldsboro. Ms. Pontbriand is a 2012 graduate of Mount Desert Island High School with plans to attend Franklin Pierce University in the fall. “I love learning about cultures of the past,” she says, and looks forward to “learning field skills to see if archaeology is really what I want to pursue in the future.” Ms. Pontbriand has worked at the Acadia National Park Visitor Center and in the Cultural Resources department at the Park, and served as a junior intern at Schoodic Arts for All for several seasons. In 2011, she participated in the Seal Cove Shipwreck Project with ANP, assisting with background research and mapping the shipwreck site.

The Abbe Museum’s annual archaeological field school takes place in August 2012. Participants will work with Maine State Archeologist Dr. Arthur Spiess on the Tranquility Farm coastal shell midden site in Gouldsboro, Maine. Field school participants will conduct excavations, practice mapping the site, and learn about the analysis of artifacts. Fieldwork wis complimented by lab sessions and lectures to give participants a broad understanding of archaeology and Maine's Native American heritage.

The 2012 excavation will build on previous discoveries at the site, including a house floor and hearth feature that date to about 1200 years ago. Burned plant remains from the hearth include raspberry, chenopodium, smartweed, wild rye and dewberry. A variety of pottery, stone tools and bone tools, as well as food bone remains, are plentiful at the Tranquility Farm site.

While the 2012 field school is already full, please visit the Abbe Museum’s website to learn more, and for information about attending future field school programs.  And visit our blog in September for news from this year's field school!