Digging into teamwork: Gettysburg alumni, students broaden anthropology education in France
Anthropology Prof. Benjamin Luley brought Ava Hochard ’27, Payton Merwin ’28, Heather Fusco ’24, and William Thompson ’20 on an archaeological dig in Lattes, France, last summer. Students and alumni turned their classroom education into a hands-on learning experience.
This past summer, Anthropology Prof. Benjamin Luley, anthropology and English double major Ava Hochard ’27, anthropology and history double major Payton Merwin ’28, Heather Fusco ’24, and William Thompson ’20 worked on an archaeological dig in Lattes, France, as part of an immersive summer research program. The dig site, once a coastal settlement conquered by the ancient Romans, allowed the students to conduct hands-on research on this port area along the waterline.
Luley, who teaches in the Anthropology and Ancient Greek and Roman Studies departments at Gettysburg College, centered this trip at the heart of his main research interest. By excavating the facilities, workshops, shops, and docks of this coastal area, he and his alumni and student research team learned about the economic changes associated with Roman rule. They mainly worked on a wine storage facility, uncovering coins, ceramics, bowls, and the walls of the building.
“Since it was right on the port, it gave us huge insight into what their trading and economic income and outcome was like,” explained Merwin.
The student research team found this coin from the reign of Emperor Antoninus Pius, A.D. 161.
Luley began working on this site 20 years ago as a graduate student, and in 2017, he began taking students with him. Luley, Merwin, and Hochard were joined by a team of French archaeologists as well as Fusco and Thompson. Both alumni have worked on this site with Luley before, and their knowledge was vital to this archaeological dig.
Hochard and Merwin have been taking anthropology classes with Luley for years. They noted he always brings his real-world findings into the classroom.
The students completed Luley’s “Civilizing the Barbarians?” class in the spring, a course that focuses on the Roman conquest and relies heavily on Luley’s research in Lattes.
Hochard and Merwin said they were able to use their classroom knowledge to identify artifacts in the field. “This trip really reinforced everything that they had seen in class,” according to Luley. “It’s a nice full circle, completing everything they learned.”
This trip was especially enlightening for Hochard, who has always had a passion for archaeology but didn’t have much experience with the subject until coming to Gettysburg.
“I got into archaeology when I was young, but I put it on the back burner,” she explained. “I came here, met Luley, and loved his classes, so I just kept doing it.”
Hochard had planned on going into education after graduation, but the trip opened up a new path for her. “I feel like it clicked for me,” she said. “Now I could get a master’s in this and teach. As a senior, this has changed my trajectory for after graduation.”
The team spent many early mornings doing difficult physical labor, but the work was extremely rewarding. Each day, students excavated layers of dirt, sifted through artifacts, and helped with recording objects found.
Hochard explained how she and Merwin learned through hands-on experience and by simply observing Luley. “He was definitely the brains behind the operation,” she said. “He would come up with the plans based on our daily findings. It was cool to see the split between physical labor and scientific work.”
(Left to right) Ava Hochard ’27, Payton Merwin ’28, Heather Fusco ’24, William Thompson ’20, and Anthropology Prof. Benjamin Luley in Montpellier, France
This trip was especially enlightening for Hochard, who has always had a passion for archaeology but didn’t have much experience with the subject until coming to Gettysburg.
“I got into archaeology when I was young, but I put it on the back burner,” she explained. “I came here, met Luley, and loved his classes, so I just kept doing it.”
Hochard had planned on going into education after graduation, but the trip opened up a new path for her. “I feel like it clicked for me,” she said. “Now I could get a master’s in this and teach. As a senior, this has changed my trajectory for after graduation.”
Merwin previously worked on an international dig, but she said this experience was vastly different. The intimate, personal scale enabled her to have more independence and take initiative. Since she knew her professor beforehand, she had a deeper level of trust and personalized learning that she could only receive through a research experience like this at Gettysburg College.
“One of the things that I love about it is that I get to know the students as people,” Luley said. “There’s always a special connection when you run into them on campus because doing a lot of hard work together builds that team mentality. It’s a really unique experience that I appreciate as a professor.”
Both Hochard and Merwin hope to continue with this research and return to Lattes in years to come.