Faculty Mentor

Brian Buchanan

Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

5-20-2020

Department

Anthropology

Abstract

This poster presents the project design of a student-led research project addressing the history and archaeological significance of Fort Spokane, a 19th century military fortification along Lake Roosevelt and south of Coolie Dam, Washington. Portions of the Fort were previously excavated, however, since then not much has been done in terms of archaeological research and key questions remain on the development and landscape history of the fort (Riser and DePuydt 2012). New methodologies and theoretical approaches make this an ideal time to reexamine the fort, and to address key questions on how the fort developed, why it was located where it was, and how the fort affected relationships in the region during the late 19th century. The aim of this project is to investigate the social history of the site using spatial analysis of the geographical locations of the fort’s features and its position in the wider landscape. This project will explore a number of research questions on on the significance of the Fort's Location, the social status of the fort's inhabitants, and how the fort structured relationships with the local indigenous communities. This research will contribute to the project design and future archaeological investigations of the site conducted by EWU and the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area. The hope is that by doing this research and several others that other students will take up this summer that we can collectively build a foundation of what has been done and what can be done.

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