K-State's earliest involvement with archaeological study traces back to Dr. Linwood Hodgdon in the early 1950s. Although his expertise was in sociology, he brought to K-State ancillary training in anthropology and an interest in archaeology. Archaeology, a subdiscipline of anthropology, seeks to understand cultures of earlier peoples. This is achieved through systematic recovery, documentation, and analysis of material evidence of past human behavior.
Early Archaeological Field Trip with Dr. Hodgdon, 1950s
Dr. Hodgdon became involved with archaeological work in Kansas in 1953. This was in association with the Missouri Basin Project of the Smithsonian Institution River Basin Surveys. Archaeologists involved with this federal program worked to document and recover archaeological remains that would otherwise be destroyed through modern development. Dr. Hodgdon provided assistance in salvaging evidence of earlier peoples from archaeological sites threatened by construction of Tuttle Creek Dam and Reservoir. He also shared his growing knowledge of this region's Indigenous past through the first anthropology courses at K-State.
KSU Archaeology Through the Decades: 1960s
