Conley dig starts
Date, Author, and Source Unknown

Mizzou students and professors are conducting an archaeological survey at the 
Conley House this fall, the first such effort ever carried out on campus.

The work began in September in the yard of the 1868 brick home listed on The 
National Register of Historic Places.  The University recently began 
rehabilitating and restoring  the Conley House to include areas of historic 
restoration, a gallery for cultural heritage exhibitions and offices for the 
Honors College and the Missouri Cultural Heritage Center.  

The archaeological work on the grounds will help scholars and students 
understand the original site’s biography and landscape, which one included an 
assortment of outbuildings and gardens typical of the late 19th century 
Columbia.

“We’ve made a couple of discoveries, which are consistent with what we 
anticipated,” says Robert Bray, associate professor of anthropology who is 
directing the study.  “We have located a portion of a sidewalk and a portion of 
a limestone outbuilding that existed on the lot.”  Students also hope to 
discover artifacts that may help explain everyday life in the past.  Both 
graduate and undergraduate students receive anthropology course credit for their 
participation.  

The archaeological study will continue on Saturdays through early December.  The 
materials located will be part of an exhibition on historic preservation at the 
University being developed by Osmund Overby, professor of art history and 
archaeology, and the Missouri Cultural Heritage Center.

The cultural heritage center organized the archaeological survey as a 
cooperative effort involving the Office of the University Architect, the 
Department of Anthropology and the Division of American Archaeology.