Fieldwork and Forgotten Towns
Archeology researchers Meredith McMahon (left), Jack Helmericks (middle) and Josh Reiff excavate a privy in 2023 at the Chena Townsite.
A recent Fairbanks Daily News-Miner feature, “Unearthing Chena: How local archaeologists are working to uncover a lost gold rush town,” highlights the exciting work of UAF Anthropology faculty members Assistant Professor Justin Cramb and Professor Josh Reuther. The article by Carter DeJong showcases their efforts at the historic Chena Townsite, located just downriver from Fairbanks, where the team—alongside UAF students—has been excavating and interpreting remnants of a once-bustling gold rush community.
Cramb and Reuther's work at the Chena site represents a blend of archaeological investigation and historical research. “It was a town where real people lived, and lived out, maybe not their whole lives, but a portion of their lives. It was a lot more than gold,” Cramb shares in the article. “It was a whole community that came up here around this potential enterprise.” Their work goes beyond unearthing artifacts—it revives the stories of everyday people who made their lives in this now-vanished town.
The Chena project is more than just excavation—it’s also a window into the value of archival research in modern archaeology. Cramb and Reuther both emphasize how documents like insurance maps, personal diaries, historic newspapers, and catalog listings help piece together a fuller picture of life in early 1900s Chena. “The unsung heroes of everything are the folks over at the archives,” Cramb said. “They help us identify all this material.” That archival work not only drives the research forward—it shapes how students are trained. “The archives have been extremely influential — both in our research on Chena but also in the way that we train students to do historical archaeology,” Cramb said. “It’s not just going out and digging a hole and running some radiocarbon dates. It also has this very heavy archival and historical aspect students need to learn.”
Paywall Tip
Did you hit a paywall on the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner? Don’t worry — UAF students, faculty, and staff have free access to the article and many others through the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library’s online databases using their UA credentials.
To read "Unearthing Chena" and other local journalism:
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Professor Reuther, whose interdisciplinary approach connects archaeology with geosciences and community collaboration, adds, “Chena has its own history and its own right to have that history told. It’s not like its memory was lost, it just wasn’t as prevalent as other things in Interior history.” Their shared goal is to spotlight the complexity and significance of Chena’s past, contributing to a more inclusive narrative of ňňň˝´«Ă˝â€™s development.
These field investigations are part of UAF’s broader commitment to experiential learning, and the Department of Anthropology’s field schools are central to that mission. These programs offer students hands-on experience in excavation, documentation, and analysis—skills crucial for future careers in archaeology, heritage management, and academic research.
Looking ahead, Cramb will lead the 2025 ňňň˝´«Ă˝ Highway Archaeological Field School, a certified RPA program that explores construction camps built in 1942 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This year’s focus includes the African American soldiers of the 97th Regiment, who endured a brutal Interior winter while maintaining the highway. Students will live and work in remote camps between Delta Junction and Tok, uncovering and studying materials that tell the story of a pivotal—yet often overlooked—moment in World War II and ňňň˝´«Ă˝n history.
The UAF Department of Anthropology is dedicated to the study of humans past and present through biological, archaeological, linguistic, and cultural lenses. With a strong emphasis on field-based and experiential learning, UAF offers students the opportunity to actively engage in research that explores human-environment interactions, historical narratives, and cultural resilience across ňňň˝´«Ă˝ and beyond.