UW-La Crosse MVAC

UW-La Crosse MVAC Since 1982, the Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center (MVAC) at the University of Wisconsin - La Cro

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Courtesy Wisconsin Historical Society
09/03/2026

Courtesy Wisconsin Historical Society

Knives and scraping tools are easy to recognize in their modern form, and the same principles apply for stone tools. In ...
09/03/2026

Knives and scraping tools are easy to recognize in their modern form, and the same principles apply for stone tools. In this video MVAC Senior Research Associate Dr. Connie Arzigian will look at the factors that make each kind of tool efficient. The knife should be sharp, probably straight or slightly curved, and with a thin edge, and it might be serrated. Scrapers will usually be flat along the bottom, with a beveled edge on the top. They will be straight to convex. The edges will be smooth so as to avoid jagged spots that might rip the surface.

Link to video: https://youtu.be/pW-muncG3hk

MVAC e-News for September 2026Find out what’s happening at MVAC in the September 2026 e-News – Availability, upcoming le...
09/01/2026

MVAC e-News for September 2026

Find out what’s happening at MVAC in the September 2026 e-News – Availability, upcoming lecture by Connie Arzigian, MVAC Video Glossary – Knives vs Scrapers, Gresens reviews “Caesarion” by Jack O’Brien (4/4 trowels), news and new MVAC Web content.

Read MVAC e-News for September 2026 at:
https://mailchi.mp/c534b4c3398f/mvac-e-news-september-2026

Sign up to receive MVAC e-News at: http://eepurl.com/bboDFX

Bill Gresens’ Archaeology Book Review for September 2026“Caesarion” by Jack O’Brien (4/4 trowels)Cleopatra was to have t...
08/31/2026

Bill Gresens’ Archaeology Book Review for September 2026

“Caesarion” by Jack O’Brien (4/4 trowels)

Cleopatra was to have taken her own life when she learned of the death of her lover Marc Antony and rival Octavian was to assume control of the Roman Empire. But what if it didn’t happen quite that way? What if the son of Cleopatra—the rightful heir under Roman law—lived to possibly challenge Octavian? The imaginative novel “Caesarean” addresses those questions!

Read the entire review at: https://www.uwlax.edu/mvac/book-reviews/?review=385639

This late Middle Woodland vessel was excavated from a pit feature at the Overhead site in 1983. The feature was a shallo...
08/27/2026

This late Middle Woodland vessel was excavated from a pit feature at the Overhead site in 1983. The feature was a shallow, basin-shaped pit about 60 cm (2 feet) in diameter, with an ashy lens at its base. The top half of the feature had been cut off by plowing and bulldozing, leaving only about 15 cm (6 inches) of the base. A test trench placed through the west half produced grit-tempered Woodland pottery, charcoal, a few pieces of debitage, and burned rock. The ceramics have a sandy paste, possibly tempered with (leached) limestone and grit, and represent a single vessel. Decoration consists of tool stamping below the lip, with an exaggerated form of linear notching on the lip itself. The Overhead site is south of La Crosse, Wisconsin.

08/24/2026

Exploration and sharing of traditional canoe-making methods continues, with birchbark as well as dugout canoes.

Schoen Family Charitable Trust Donates to MVAC’s Educational EndowmentGreat news for MVAC’s Education Endowment. The Sch...
08/21/2026

Schoen Family Charitable Trust Donates to MVAC’s Educational Endowment

Great news for MVAC’s Education Endowment. The Schoen Family Charitable Trust just donated $1,000 to MVAC’s Educational Endowment. Thanks so much to the Schoen Family Charitable Trust for their support of MVAC’s public outreach efforts.

Contributions to our Educational Endowment are particularly important and are especially appreciated. Contributions such as this allow us to continue to bring fascinating information about the area’s pre-European inhabitants and the process of archaeology to adults, teachers, and students through a variety of opportunities such as classroom presentations, fieldwork opportunities, and lectures. Link to make an on-line donation to MVAC: https://www.uwlax.edu/mvac/about-support/donate/

Pictured is a hoe fashioned from a subtriangular section of elk antler. The thickness of this artifact was reduced to 4-...
08/20/2026

Pictured is a hoe fashioned from a subtriangular section of elk antler. The thickness of this artifact was reduced to 4-7 mm during manufacture by scraping away much of the porous interior. The cutting edge of this tool was modified by grinding and shows traces of soil polish. Excavated in 1984 from the Sand Lake Archaeological District in La Crosse County, Wisconsin.

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La Crosse, WI
54601

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