The Ducks can dig it
Meet Gabi Gauthier, a UO student with a passion for Oregon history who studied at Connley Caves Field School this past summer under the mentorship of UO alum and Professor Katelyn McDonough.
Story by Sage Kiernan-Sherrow and Monique Danziger
Photos and video by Andy Nelson
For archeology students like Gabi Gauthier, field school is where the rubber meets the road—or in this case, the trowel hits the dirt.
“I knew after taking some courses in archaeology, that's what I wanted to do as a career and that field school is a very necessary component of applying to jobs in the future,” Gauthier said. “So I applied to the Connley Caves Field School program.”
This past summer Gauthier joined fellow archaeology students and archaeologists from across the country, as well as from local tribes, in the high desert of Eastern Oregon. The Connley Caves Field School focuses on one of several unique archaeological sites in the region,— with signs of human occupation dating back to more than 12,800 years ago. That makes it one of the most significant sites of early human habitation in North America.
Led by Katelyn McDonough, a UO professor of anthropology, in collaboration with the University of Nevada Reno, the field school is an immersive six-week experience where students learn about excavation, surveying, and other skills vital to a career in archaeology, as well as team-building and project planning.
Gabi Gauthier works at a screening station at the 2024 Connley Caves Field School. Gauthier plans to be an archaeologist after graduation from the University of Oregon and recognized the field school as a critical hands-on career development opportunity.
“When I saw that for the first time, I thought ‘this is real.’ This was touched by somebody 12,000 years ago." And that’s when it really clicked for me that this is what I want to do for a living. It's important work. It's really incredible to see how slowly time moves but also how quickly time moves. Because as humans, we're only a blip in the entirety of time on earth. But here you can really see that a lot is going on and technology changes quite drastically.”
As a freshman, Gauthier was considering a STEM field. However, after taking classes with McDonough, BS ’14 (anthropology), Gauthier knew she wanted to officially major in anthropology with a focus on archaeology.
In talking about finding her passion, Gauthier also noted the role of her PathwayOregon Scholarship. “Because of Pathway, I was able to discover anthropology in a lot of ways, and this helped me realize what I wanted to do, because it took me a second to know which major was right for me.”
Students and researchers work at the excavation site during the 2024 dig. This season concluded 10 years of excavation at Connley Caves.
Researchers record their finds to reconstruct the site in the lab.
Bits of charcoal, bone and stone flakes are meticulously sorted at screening tables, placed in bags for storage and recorded for further study.
Part of the University of Oregon’s Museum of Natural and Cultural History’s archaeological field schools, Connley Caves is part of a legacy of leadership dating back to the 1930s, when faculty member Luther Cressman began his trailblazing archaeological work in Oregon.
Today, that work is carried on by people like McDonough, an assistant professor, curator of Great Basin archaeology at the museum, and director of the Connley Caves Field School.
McDonough’s experience in the Great Basin dates to 2011 when she was a field school student at the Paisley Caves, and 2014 when she was a supervisor at the Connley Caves with then-Director Dennis Jenkins. The field school also is partnering with Geoffrey Smith at the University of Nevada, Reno.
“Archaeology is a rapidly growing field,” McDonough said. “I love being able to share job opportunities with our students, and this hands-on training is key for them entering the job market. It's one thing to read about this in a book or a magazine and imagine what it might be like, but it is another to experience field methods for yourself.”
One of the things that makes Connley Caves site special, she said, is its age. Students participating in the field school can touch history and uncover the stories left behind by bones, tools, and other records.
Research assistant Miranda Harding, BS ’20 (anthropology), left, Katelyn McDonough, center, and UO student Stephanie Alexander look at a grindstone uncovered by Alexander that is thought to be more than 12,000 years old representing a significant discovery.
“Recognizing how long Indigenous people have been stewarding the land and seeing these long-term relationships with plants and animals is important,” McDonough said. “We are also thinking about conservation and how the long-term historical view of landscape changes can help us understand and prepare for the future and issues we're experiencing right now with climate change, water shortages, and invasive plant species.”
As a UO alum, McDonough said that one of the most rewarding parts of her job is keeping in touch with students like Gauthier and helping them find their career paths in a booming field. According to her, more than half of the students who attend Connley Caves Field School have gone on to become professional archaeologists.
University of Oregon Assistant Professor Katelyn McDonough, curator of the Great Basin Archaeology at the Museum of Natural and Cultural History, and director of the Connley Caves Field School.
Dennis Jenkins, left, was the director of the field school when McDonough, the current director, was an undergraduate at Oregon and student at the Paisley Caves excavation site in 2011.
“I just love teaching and seeing students find their passions and realize that they can do this,” she said.
Key to the program’s success has been support from national and local foundations, as well as funding from UO donors. The project has partnered with the National Science Foundation and is currently funded by the Artemisia Archaeological Research Fund, Sven and Astrid Liljeblad Endowment Fund, UO MNCH Paleoindian Fund, an UO OVPRI Faculty Research Award, and NewSun Energy. The UO museum also offers the C. Melvin Aikens Scholarship to eligible students, helping them gain access to field schools.
With the wrap-up of the 2024 summer season, the project will move into a new phase where the objects and materials collected by students and faculty at the site over the last decade at the site will be processed, analyzed, and researched.
“Phase 2 is a long-term project that will involve many different types of studies," McDonough said. "We're going to work with a diverse team of colleagues who have specific expertise, as well as graduate and undergraduate students. We are looking at the animal bones, plant remains, even the dirt itself, and spatially mapping everything that we've found to reconstruct the archeological site across many millennia.”
University of Oregon students Stephanie Alexander and Gabi Gauthier head to their vehicle at the end of the day during the 2024 Connley Caves Field School. The next phase for the artifacts uncovered at the site will take place in the lab.
Find out more
For more information about the Connley Caves Field School, visit the UO Museum of Natural and Cultural History website or contact McDonough directly. To give to the program and support the next generation of students uncovering Oregon history, give online through the UO Foundation.