Students at Moorpark College are active in the field of archaeology.  On this page you will find information about the degree program, current fieldwork, student activities, and more!

Current Fieldwork

Fall 2006 field methods students are involved in the excavation of a shell midden site (VEN-1691), located on private property in Ventura County, California.  The work is related to Colleen's WSMOP project. 

Students in the field:

 Katie, Jacob and Rosemary working on Unit 8 (Fall 2006)                  Andrew and student screening Unit 3 (Fall 2005)        Natalie, Marcelle and Gen in Unit 5 (Fall 2006)

October 2006---Students are also wet screening materials from the Fall 2005 field season---                             look what came out of one 10cm level!

More pictures coming soon!  Check back!

Students in the laboratory:

Jacob and Teri sorting during our "rain day"           Michelle & Katie hard at work           Stone bead recovered from Unit 6

Fieldtrips

Fieldtrips include stops at the tar seeps in Carpinteria, Mission era Ventura, and the cultural resources of Vandenberg Air Force Base.   

Vandenberg Air Force Base Visit December 2006

 The class had the opportunity to visit several archaeological sites dating from 9000BP up to the 1920s.  Many thanks for Dina Ryan for providing such as wonderful experience

    Left:  students examining material from site surface                Middle: view of coastline                           right:  shell midden profile of 9,000 yr old site

                                                                          Moorpark College Fall 2006 Field Excavation Class with our 'guides'

Ventura Visit October 2006

Above left: Bob Lopez describes Mission Buenaventura filtering station              Center and right:  Fall 06 Field Methods class visiting Tar Pits Park in Carpinteria, Califiornia

Faculty:

      Colleen Delaney-Rivera                                     Andrew Kinkella                                                       Robert Lopez, Professor Emeritus

Degree Program

The college offers an Associates of Arts (AA) degree in Archaeology.  This is a specialized program designed to award a designated Associate degree to those students who have completed a course of specialization in Archaeology. At no time is this program intended to be used as a license for independent unsupervised archaeological research. Rather, it is a program designed to introduce the student to archaeological research and to give them the opportunity to actively participate in supervised archaeological research. These requirements were also chosen to optimize students' preparation for upper-division course work in Anthropology/Archaeology offered by four-year institutions. Since course work in Anthropology/Archaeology is somewhat sequential at most four-year institutions, students may spend less time earning an Associate in Arts degree and/or Bachelor of Arts degree by deferring some of the university general education requirements until their Junior and Senior years and giving priority to the requirements for a major in Archaeology. In addition, the earning of this degree will be evidence of achievement of technical skills which may be helpful towards active participation in archaeological research projects.  Look on the MC Anthropology link  on  Colleen's homepage for degree requirements.  Please note that the degree requirements are being re-evaluated during the 2006-2007 academic year, and may change in the near future.

Courses

    Students complete courses in methods for excavation, reconnaissance, and laboratory work, as well as topics such as the Chumash and the Maya.  See the MC Anthropology website for a list of specific courses.

Former students: 

If you participated in archaeology classes at Moorpark College, let us know!  We'd like to hear what you are up to...

Last updated 10 December 2006