Archaeology
Archaeology Class, Summer 2008, click here
My n
ame
is Matthew Rozell and I teach history at Hudson Falls High School. Since 1986 (even
before my teaching career began), I have been pursuing one of my passions, archaeology. That year I volunteered to work for Dr. David Starbuck at
Saratoga National Historical Park searching for the farmhouse that served as the
American Headquarters of General Horatio Gates during the climactic Battle
of Saratoga. Though Gates occupied it only for 3 weeks in 1777, we did find
evidence of military occupation-on the last day of digging I found canister
shot, which is 18th century anti-personnel ordnance fired from a cannon. I've
been hooked ever since!
Today I am a field supervisor for Dr. Starbuck at the field
schools that have been conducted every summer in conjunction with Adirondack
Community College. I have instructed dozens of HFHS students and alumni (as well
as students from other area high schools and across the country) in the
methodology of proper archaeological excavation, record keeping, and field
analysis. 
Our work has added quite a bit to the story of the formative years of our nation. Our specialty is the excavation of military sites of the French and Indian Wars of the 1750s and the American Revolutionary War site of the 1770s. This section of the historic corridor from Canada to Albany, New York (known as the the "Great Warpath") is full of sites that need to be at least defined before they are lost through development or looting. The corridor from the Hudson River to Lakes George and Champlain also has many precious Native American sites that we have been discovering and analyzing.
I am very happy to be living and teaching in an area that was so instrumental in shaping our nation's heritage. I am proud to have been involved in so many projects that have added to this rich history. Thank you for taking the time to download the information that follows. I hope that you will come away with an appreciation of what archaeology is all about and will want to find out more about protecting these important national resources before they are lost to pothunting or development.
See you in the pits!
To contact Mr. Rozell: