Campus Archaeology

Hamline became Minnesota’s first university when it was founded in 1854, so what better place for students to unearth pieces of history.

Dr. Brian Hoffman’s archaeology class “Excavating Hamline History” has been busy this fall digging up and sifting through sites near the university’s oldest building, Old Main. The original building was destroyed by fire in 1883, but students have discovered remnants that have been hidden below ground all this time.

Watch the students at work.

“It is special when you have a university as old as Hamline you can do this right on campus,” said Professor Hoffman. “We are excavating around in the community too—across the street at the original Methodist Church and in people’s backyards.”

Students are not only learning how to determine the age of the bricks, glass, slate, and nails they uncover, they are bringing their own unique views to the project.

“We’re all representing different majors, and we’re coming at it from different ways,” said German and global studies major Cat Polivoda. 

The class will culminate in a project in which the students will relate their own area of interest to archaeology and their recent discoveries in the dirt. 

Watch the students at work and keep up on their progress by reading Professor Hoffman's blog.