Archeology has an extraordinary power to evoke stories about the past.
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Archeologists read the dirt in the same way that historians read documents.
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Hayes is driven to give everyone the opportunity to learn, explore, and tell their own history and stories.
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“Finding new material evidence at your excavation site,” Hayes says, “can send you different directions and reorient your questions for you.”
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All kinds of environmental data are collected to build a bigger picture of what was once the story.
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“The beauty of collaboration,” Hayes says, “is that it helps you understand better. What others tell you may lead you to look for evidence in other places you wouldn’t have thought to look.”
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“Archaeology is extremely hands on and being able to literally dig back into time keeps you on your toes and ensures you are always learning something new. Prof. Hayes’ professionalism and ability to teach Minnesota's history accurately and passionately is inspiring and refreshing," says Maryrose Spencer, one of Hayes' students who worked on the site.
Professor Kat Hayes and her students started the excavation with one question: Are there any remains of the military prison? And if so, what do those remains have to say about the prisoners’ lives?