The Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project is well into the excavation season. Made up of Western Michigan University students and summer campers, participants in the Archaeological Project dig up artifacts left behind by past inhabitants of the area.

This summer, diggers have discovered objects from common findings to rare and interesting ones. However, the students and campers see every artifact, no matter how common, as a way to see into the lives of the fur traders who previously lived in the Niles area.

Lance Meister and his excavation group has uncovered a 45 cm x 15 cm segment of a possible foundational wall. This means that the Project diggers are closing in on building locations. Once they determine which artifacts are found inside or outside the buildings, they will be able to find out more about how the fur traders lived.

“We love finding nails,” said Kelley Walter, Public Outreach Coordinator. “It means we are getting close to structure.”

Bones that at one point were heated, metal fragments and cut glass that may have been in a ring or some other personal item have been found by Jordan Freeman and her group.

Another digger, Ken Sarkozy, discovered a small piece of thin, flat glass, but hasn’t yet determined what it came from or how it was used.

Recently, the group found a lead bale seal, which was used to identify and regulate the quality of merchandise. The seal has the words “B Graine de Lille” impressed on its surface. Lille is a city located in northern France, that specialized in textile production. They concluded that the seal was used for cloth merchandise.

“It’s history of the local area, it’s what really happened,” said Kaye Smith, receptionist at the Fort St. Joseph Museum. “People need to know the history of their culture. It’s important.”

The Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project will host an Open House on Aug. 13-14 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., which will be free to the public. Visitors will observe a dig in progress, meet archaeologists, watch reenactments of activities that took place at the Fort in the past, and listen to information about the dig and the Fur Trade. There will be an arts and crafts area for children.

The dig site, as well as the open house, is located off of Fort and Bond Streets in Niles, off the St. Joseph River.

For more information, contact Carol Bainbridge at 683-4702 ext. 212.