TIGHAR Training Courses

Registration will open in January, 2012, for the 2012 edition of TIGHAR’s popular Field School in Aviation Archaeology. In a day of introductory classroom work followed by four days in the field, participants will learn the principles and basic techniques for finding, examining, and evaluating historic crash sites. Completion of the Field School is a requirement to be eligible for selection for TIGHAR expedition teams.

The subject aircraft for the 2012 Field School will be the historic Douglas B-23 “Dragon” wreck at Loon Lake in the Payette National Forest in northern Idaho. The “Lady of the Lake” remains the most intact WWII wreck surviving in the contiguous U.S. despite the depredations of vandals and forest fires. We have surveyed the site three times before, in 2000, 2009, and 2011. A report on the work done by the 2011 Field School will be available soon.

B-23

The instructors for the 2011 Field School were:

Principal Instructor – TIGHAR Archaeologist Megan Lickliter-Mundon

Megan has a Masters in Archaeology from the University of Edinburgh and is a veteran of TIGHAR’s Niku VI expedition to Nikumaroro in 2010.

Associate Instructor – TIGHAR Aviation Archaeologist Craig Fuller

Craig has extensive experience in wreck location and identification and is a veteran of many TIGHAR field investigations including the 2006 assessment of WWII Japanese aircraft in Yap, Federated States of Micronesia.

Associate Instructor – TIGHAR Aviation Archaeologist Gary Quigg

Gary has been active in TIGHAR field work for the past twenty-one years including five TIGHAR expeditions to Nikumaroro.

Assisting – TIGHAR Executive Director Ric Gillespie

Principal Instructor Megan Lickliter-Mundon describes what the Field School will cover:

The field school is designed for participants who want to have a solid understanding of the when, why, and how of terrestrial aviation archaeology and the heritage preservation that goes with it. We will use a grid mapping method as established in previous years, and GPS will be used for point reference. Various technology applications, excavation strategies, the basics of stratigraphic profile drawing, and field recording will be emphasized. The finds analysis, of course, will be highly airplane oriented and a parts identification component will be stressed.

Lectures will be conducted on a regular basis on various aspects of archaeological theory, excavation practice and analyses, as well as heritage management and site monitoring. We strive to give students the best instruction in theory vs practice.

At the end of this field course, the students should:

Understand archaeological research designs and their impacts on field investigations.
Have competence in field survey, excavation and documentation methods (including basic mapping, line-level, stratigraphic profiling, and excavation techniques).
Understand basic site formation and site disturbance factors.
Gain experience in field survey and working in remote settings.
Develop a working knowledge of metal detecting and GPS use.
Have an understanding and appreciation of heritage sites and public-use archaeology sites.

Note: The Field School involves strenuous outdoor activity.

It’s a seven mile hike from the trailhead to the wreck site on a good, but occasionally steep, trail. An outfitter will use mules to transport heavy gear and will provide meals on site, but participants will pack in their own tents and personal gear.

The dates for the 2012 Field School are not yet set. However, the schedule is similar each year: we assemble at Boise International Airport at 1 p.m. on a Wednesdayfor the 2.5 hour drive to the hotel in McCall, ID. In McCall we do some initial classroom work and have a chance to pick up last minute personal items. On Thursday morning we drive to the trailhead, hike to the site, set up camp and get to work. On Sunday morning we break camp, hike out, and drive to Boise. For those who need to fly out on Sunday night we have you back at the airport by 4 p.m.

Full tuition of $2,500 includes:

All instruction
Transfers from Boise International Airport to the hotel in McCall and from the hotel to and from the Loon Lake trailhead
Hotel in McCall (excluding meals)
All outfitter support and meals in the field

We can accommodate a maximum number of 20 students. A $500 deposit is required to reserve a place, with the balance due 30 days before the start date of the course. Registration opens January 2, 2012.

Previous Years’ Field Schools

Click on the photographs to read about the sites and the surveys.

Loon Lake, Idaho, 2000
Sierra Nevada Hills, California, 2001
Boron, California, 2002
College Park, Maryland, 2005
Loon Lake, Idaho, 2011	Full Report Soon!

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