Social Sciences Newsblog

Author: College of Engineering

Sue Hill is the Digital Content Manager for the College of Engineering.

Alumni Here for Cliff Mine Tours

Published
By

Cliff Mine Tours
Tim Scarlett explains the history of the Cliff to visitors.

A successful Seafood Fest
Venerable event survives weather

Despite low temperatures and rain, thousands of people came to the Houghton waterfront for their annual taste of lobster, mussels and more at the Houghton Rotary’s Seafood Fest.

The 27th annual festival took place Friday and Saturday at the Ray Kestner Waterfront Park.

Chris and Sarah Fraley were at Seafood Fest for the first time. Chris, a Michigan Technological University graduate, was up here for a project at the Cliff Mine.

“We saw the Seafood Fest sign where you drive in, and we said ‘Okay,'” Sarah said.

Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Garrett Neese.

Continue Reading →

Cliff Mine Tours Start This Weekend

Published
By

Cliff Mine 2013Tech archaeologists hosting free tours of Cliff Mine site

The free tours start this weekend, beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, with the last tour starting at 3:30 p.m. both days. Tours, which leave from the east end of Cliff Drive, about a mile from the town of Phoenix, near the junction of U.S. 41, will also be held June 22-23 and 29-30, the final two weekends of the seven-week field school program.

People are welcome to stop by and ask questions between 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday as well while the teams work on the site.

“It’s critical to us that the public be involved in this. We’re not doing this just for ourselves,” said Sam Sweitz, Michigan Tech associate professor and co-principal investigator and instructor at the site, along with Tim Scarlett. “Yes, we want to train students so they can go on and be good archeologists, but that idea of sharing this site and sharing the knowledge that we gain from this site with the public is critical to what we’re doing here.”

Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Stephen Anderson.

Visit the Cliff Mine Blog

Tech archaeologists hosting free tours of Cliff Mine site

The Michigan Technological University Industrial Archaeology Field School is in its fourth year excavating sites near the Cliff Mine – the first profitable copper mine in the Keweenaw – and students in the program are once again preparing to guide the public on tours of the historic site.

The project has continuity through the leadership of Sweitz and Scarlett, and through several graduate students who have pursued theses and dissertations based off work at the site. Lee Pressley, a Ph.D. student in Tech’s industrial heritage and archaeology program – the only such program in the country – for example, is in her second year studying food systems, local farming and consumption patterns at the site.

Read more at the Mining Journal, by Stephen Anderson.

Continue Reading →

Tour Mine Waste Remediation with Carol MacLennan

Published
By

Agassiz TourCopper Country Youth Invited to Ride the Waves on Michigan Tech’s Agassiz

Copper Country school students in grades 4-12 are being invited to participate in guided explorations of Lake Superior and its tributaries this summer, on Michigan Tech’s research vessel Agassiz. The program, called “Ride the Waves with GM,” is sponsored by General Motors and Tech’s Great Lakes Research Center.

Among the tour leaders is Carol MacLennan, who will join with Noel Urban to lead the exploration “Mine Waste Remediation Tour and Torch Lake Restoration” on June 19, July 3, and July 12, 2013.

Read more at Tech Today.

Continue Reading →

Susan Martin Tours with Tech Choir

Published
By

Susan Martin Concert Choir 2013The former area of Yugoslavia conjures up images of war and civil unrest for many people, but for some members of the Michigan Tech Concert Choir, the Eastern European region is where many great memories were recently made.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen clear evidence in Bosnia of the conflict after the break-up of Yugoslavia,” said Susan Martin, Tech professor and choir member for about 20 years. “There are cemeteries that are crammed full of people that all died during the same month and same year.”

Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Stephen Anderson.

Continue Reading →

Archaeology Tours at the Cliff Mine, Clifton

Published
By

Berg Will Cliff Mine 2013The public is welcome to free tours of the 2013 archaeological dig at the historic Cliff Mine and Clifton town site on the weekends of June 15-16, 22-23 and 29-30.

The tours are led by faculty and students in Michigan Technological University’s industrial archaeology program. The tours leave from the east end of Cliff Drive, about one mile from the small town of Phoenix, near the junction with US-41. Tours start at 10 a.m. and begin about every 30 minutes. The last one will begin at 3:30 p.m.

The team will provide maps with self-guided trails for people who wish to explore on their own. “We’re cutting new paths through the woods this week and will put historic photos and maps around to help people see the site,” said project co-director Sam Sweitz.

“We’d like to be able to look at the map of rose bushes, for example, and see how the different plants overlap with residential buildings,” said project co-director Timothy Scarlett.

Read more at Michigan Tech News, by Marcia Goodrich.

The Cliff Mine Archeology Project Blog

Continue Reading →

Susan Martin Speaks June 9 on Prehistory Copper Mining

Published
By

Susan MartinArchaeologist Susan Martin to speak on prehistory copper mining June 9

Keweenaw Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (KUUF) will continue the monthly forum series on mining in the UP with a presentation by Susan Martin, Michigan Tech University professor emerita of archaeology, at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, June 9, 2013.

Martin will speak on prehistory copper mining in this region. The early Native Americans lived primarily by fishing, gathering and hunting. They had great knowledge of the physical properties of materials they used.

Read more at Keweenaw Now.

Continue Reading →