About 20 men and one woman (all unknown) were photographed in front of the old astronomy building around 1888. The circular structure with a tiled roof was the first observatory on the campus of Michigan State University, but no one knew its exact location. once stood
In June, construction workers on the University campus in East Lansing, Michigan, unexpectedly discovered the foundations of an 1881 building. However, little is known about how long the building stood, why it was demolished, or what observations were made. It may have been a concession beyond being built by a former professor and his student.
The site will be transformed into an undergraduate field school next summer, where anthropology professor Stacy Camp and her students will continue to dig for answers. Students earn credits while learning about the practice of archeology.
“One of the things we’re interested in is whether we can find artifacts related to the students who studied there,” Camp said. “Pencils, glass jars, pottery, etc. that the students may have left behind help us identify when they were there.”
Camp, who is in charge of the university’s archaeology program, which aims to protect archaeological sites and historic sites on campus, said in June that a worker had hit something hard while setting up a hammock pole. received. At first she didn’t think much of it.
“There are a lot of difficult things underground that are not important at all,” she said.
After the report, however, researchers from the Campus Archeology Program began examining maps and campus archives and discovered that an old observatory was located in the area.Michigan State University has a window to the stars at a more modern observatorywith a 24-inch reflecting telescope, was nearly completed in 1969.
The map made it appear as though there was an old observatory in the area, but there was no guarantee, Camp said. This foundation may have been destroyed during the many construction projects on campus over the course of more than a century.
Archaeologists on campus conducted a shovel test. This involved digging a small hole about 50 by 50 centimeters in the ground to see if it hit anything. They ended up hitting some kind of rock and decided to drill a one meter square hole. They excavated more hard surfaces and concluded that they had hit some kind of foundation.
After drilling another hole, the foundation was found to be crooked, just like the historical photos the observatory had found.
Ben Akey, a graduate student and university campus archaeologist tasked with investigating the building’s history, was convinced it was an observatory after the second hole was opened.
“Once we could confirm and calculate the curvature to some degree, it was pretty convincing,” they said. “Especially because circular building foundations aren’t found often.”
The 16-foot-wide circular building was built by Laura Carpenter, who taught civil engineering, astronomy, and more, and who also planned the campus.
Mr. Carpenter enlisted the help of students to build the structure, as was common at Michigan State University at the time. The building itself cost him $125, or about $4,000 in today’s dollars. Including the cost of the telescope, the observatory cost $450, or about $14,000 today.
It is unknown when the building was demolished, but it was probably sometime in the 1920s. According to research By Horace A. Smith, professor emeritus of physics and astronomy, he researched maps, campus building inventories, and class schedules.
The campus archeology program didn’t have enough staff on campus over the summer to excavate the entire foundation right away, Camp said. She said she is looking forward to the discoveries that will be revealed once undergraduate field school begins.
Up-and-coming senior art historian and anthropologist Morgan Manuzak is helping with excavations this summer and hopes to attend field school.
The excavation work was her first excavation work, and she said that it was a rare opportunity for undergraduate students. Students are usually required to travel abroad for fieldwork, and those programs are usually looking for graduate students. While she was on site in Greece last summer, she was mostly photographing and digitizing the collection.
“Ability to accumulate excavation experience in the field as an undergraduate” It’s really rare,” said Manuzak. “They want people who are looking to go on to masters or graduate school.