Documentary film on Skidmore archeological dig in Colorado

Thanks to Skidmore's Student Opportunity Fund and its student-faculty collaborative research program, filmmaker Sarah Burns '09 was able to travel to South Park, Colo., this summer with Professor of Anthropology Sue Bender and her students to document their fieldwork on a hunter-gatherer domestic site. This is the seventh summer that Bender has taken Skidmore students on this journey.

Students, all of whom took a lab course with Bender, test their newfound archeological skills while struggling to interpret a complex excavation of hunter-gather domestic floors. Along the way, they connect with local members of the South Park community through their joint exploration of the archeological landscape. In so doing, they discover, as Bender puts it, that "archeology is not only a technical process but also a profoundly social one."

The compelling and beautiful 50-minute film, which captures the essence of the liberal arts experience, is enhanced by the voiceover work of Francesca Fanelli '09 (voiceover) and Josh Cipolla '09 (music). For the sake of online viewing, it is divided into three parts. There is also a five-minute trailer for those seeking an overview.

[ Trailer] [ Part I] [ Part II] [ Part III]

You can view pictures of the dig here.