Archaeology of Trinity Course Showcases Campus Artifacts and Research

One man's trash is another student's treasure: Tigers in "Archaeology of Trinity University" presented research and an exhibit about historic artifacts found on Trinity's campus. From Pearl beer bottles to pearlized oyster shells, students shared connections between artifacts and their contexts — even pecan pralines made from a (modern) bottle of Burnett’s vanilla.

For those less familiar with University history, Trinity is built on an abandoned limestone quarry that was used as an illegal dump site for decades. Thousands of historic artifacts from the 19th and early 20th centuries are rising to the surface and are now the focus of an archaeology class and long-term undergraduate research project with students and faculty.

Jennifer Mathews, Ph.D., professor of anthropology and a Z.T. Scott Faculty Fellow, is leading the project through the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, alongside University Archivist Abra Schnur.

“This project is going to help the University have a broader understanding of Trinity’s place within our city,” Schnur told Trinity magazine in 2022. “At the same time the city was tearing down so many buildings in downtown San Antonio and dumping the refuse at this site, it was using the rock quarry to construct new buildings, new structures, and new roads. It’s been exciting to go back through newspaper archives to understand what the land was used for at the turn of the century.”

Hunt for new treasures on Archaeology of Trinity’s instagram, @archaeology_of_trinity, or share your own treasures using the hashtag #archaeologyoftrinity. And keep digging, Tigers!