Local archeologists awarded for work
ONALASKA, Wis. — The highway 35 project in Onalaska not only spruced up that part of the city, it also unearthed an ancient village.
Now the archeologists who dug up the site are being recognized for their work.
The UW La-Crosse Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center received the 2012 Wisconsin Department of Transportation Tribal Excellence Award. It’s recognition for months of work unearthing thousands of artifacts from the site that belonged to an ancient Oneota tribe that lived in the area hundreds of years ago.
The archeologists say they took our responsibilities out there very seriously and there was a lot of pressure.
“The schedule for the construction itself was quite tight. There were people and businesses all along there that were really dependent on the work going ahead and so we did everything that we could and the award for us is really an acknowledgement of the successful partnership between everybody who was involved in the project,” said Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center Project Director Kathy Stevenson.
The archeologists are now cleaning and cataloging the thousands of pieces they recovered.
