Cultural Resource Management, the legally required management and protection of our shared heritage, requires archaeologists to do more than just archaeology. CRM requires an understanding of legal frameworks, professional ethics, consultation, and project management. Conducting CRM in an underwater environment also requires specialized skills in marine remote sensing, landscape reconstruction, and, occasionally, SCUBA diving. This field school teaches the skills of underwater Cultural Resource Management through research on the submerged landscapes of Lake Erie. This program will not focus on shipwrecks (the more academic side of marine archaeology) but on understanding submerged landscape as this is the mainstay of Marine CRM work and where the greatest need for trained marine CRM professionals is. The skills taught in this course are similar to those employed in CRM to identify sites prior to offshore energy (wind, oil, and gas) development. This course is appropriate for students interested in both Cultural Resource Management and traditional academic archaeology in an underwater environment.

Until approximately 4,000 years ago, Lake Erie was lower than it is today, leaving large swaths of the modern lake bottom open for habitation. During earlier times, the lake basin contained two smaller lakes connected by a wetland and stream. This mixture of environments would have been attractive to humans, and the quick filling of the basin likely preserved sites in situ. By combining marine remote sensing, geoarchaeology, and Indigenous knowledge, we will identify areas on the lake floor that likely contain submerged habitation sites.