Tracing the Lake-Dwelling Fever:

Findings and Further Applications of an Internship in Collection History

by

Barbara McClendon

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Graduate Student

During the European Neolithic and Bronze Age many groups lived in villages along lakes and built their structures on platforms. As lake levels changed, much of their material culture was covered by water and has only recently been exposed as water levels have recently fallen. Stories of the artifacts discovered at these sites excited the antiquarians of the late 19th century. Prior to legislation preventing looting of these artifacts, they were dispersed worldwide, and a museum collection was thought to be incomplete without examples of Lake-Dweller artifacts. Through the efforts of Frank Logan and others, artifacts from the Three Lakes region of Switzerland came to be housed at the Logan Museum of Anthropology. These artifacts were inventoried and photographed as part of a Barbara McClendon’s 2013 collections internship. The Lake Dweller collection is an asset for researchers and an exceptional resource for Beloit College.

Monday, December 8, 2014, 7:00 p.m.

Room 102, Godfrey Anthropology Building, Beloit College

Free and open to the public