Stories Beneath Your Feet:
Sandpoint's Unexpected Histories

Thursday, November 21 | 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM | Water Center

Bars, brawls, and brothels—standard fare for the Wild West.  How did these fabled aspects fit in with the everyday life of people settling the Idaho Territory?

From 2005 to 2008 archaeologists conducted what became one of the largest archaeological projects in the state of Idaho's history.  Almost 600,000 artifacts were recovered from the project providing us with many unexpected stories about how people lived during the rough and tumble early years of the town.  This talk will present some of the invisible histories that were uncovered as a result of the excavations.  A note of caution, however:  Part of the excavations were done on the proverbial "other side of the tracks"  the part of the town that locals referred to as the "Restricted District" making it unavoidable that some of what we learned was about Sandpoint's seedier histories.  

About the Presenter

Mark Warner is an historical archaeologist with over twenty years of experience in archaeology.  He has worked in many parts of the U.S. and conducted major excavations in Maryland, Oklahoma and most recently in Sandpoint, ID. The Sandpoint project is the largest archaeological project in the state of Idaho’s history, resulting in the recovery of almost 600,000 artifacts. Mark did his Master’s work at the University of Maryland and his Ph.D. at the University of Virginia. He has been teaching at the University of Idaho since 1998.When not obsessing over various archaeology-related topics Warner is fixating on the current state of Detroit’s professional sports teams and the well-being of Michigan athletics in general. He is married to Amy Grey and they have two children, Tom and Sam.