During the summer of 1995, USD's Archaeological Field School excavated on the north side of Old Main. Students placed three five feet square units on the west side of the east wing and the east side of the west wing in locations where new exterior stairs will be built. The purpose of these units was to see what architectural information would be destroyed by construction. Additional smaller units were excavated along the west side of the building and in the dirt floor of the west wing basement.

USD students Don Choate, Damita Hiemstra, and Dean Warrington excavating

The stairway units produced some architectural surprises. On both wings, pairs of window wells appeared as excavations progressed. The window wells were semi-circular. The pair on the east wing was underlain by large Sioux quartzite blocks and probably had a brick top, although no evidence of the brick was found. The pair on the west wing was made entirely of brick.

East wing window wells during excavations

West wing window wells during excavations

These window wells demonstrated that much of the foundation of University Hall became part of the foundation of Old Main. On the exterior, archaeologists could barely tell that the old windows had been filled in. On the interior of the west wing, however, the wall showed the filled in windows.

Filled in window on interior of west wing

Return to Old Main first page

Artifacts from Old Main excavations

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