This week’s post was written by first-year graduate student Sofia Arias about her summer work with IUP.

Pretty drive to the site.

This summer, I was able to be a Graduate Assistant for the Field school in Germany in partner with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) to help identify missing in action WWII soldiers. This experience allowed me the opportunity to see what it is like to lead a crew one day as well as learn new methods in general. Methods on the site included test units, shovel test pits, ground penetrating radar (GPR), total station, pedestrian surveys and artifact cleaning/analysis.

Sofia and Ella (another GA) on site.

A typical workday for us was getting up at 6 am, going to breakfast at 6:30 am then leaving to go to the field by 7 am. Being able to work at the site was so beautiful with the huge trees and birds singing all day. Around noon we would eat lunch for about 45 mins. I have never eaten so many PB&J’s than I did on this trip! On some hot days, the local historian/archaeologist Andi would bring us Radlers chilled in the nearby creek. We’d wrap up the workday around 4:30 pm then head back to the town. We would all get back, shower than group up to go get food in the town. It was such a small town we would usually all see each other during the evening. After dinner, it was more than likely you’d end your night with ice cream from the parlor down the street. This was the usual routine everyday Monday through Friday.

This was my first time out of the country which was exciting. Being immersed in another culture across the world was so amazing to experience. The group of students were very fun to be around and go on excursions with. Some of the weekend trips we did include going to Heidelberg, Rothenburg, doing a cave tour and brewery tour.  My favorite part of this trip was seeing all the architecture and nature in Germany. I’m so thankful for this opportunity—I learned a ton about leading fieldwork and got to work with some awesome people along the way.

Department of Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences at IUP