CEDARVILLE, Ohio - A Wright State University professor who has been studying the same Hopewell Indian archaeological site each summer for 20 years says the more he goes back, the more there is to discover.

        “One thing leads to another and (once) you start answering one question, two more have posed themselves,” Robert Riordan said.

        Mr. Riordan teaches students the excavation process hands-on at Indian Mound Reserve near this Greene County community.

        Next week, they'll replace the dirt they removed and fill in the work site, leaving future discoveries hidden until Mr. Riordan's 2003 summer archaeological fieldwork class.

        “I never expected to be here this long,” he said. “It's a wonderful site, and the kinds of questions we can address here are really interesting.”

        The course is a 12-credit-hour, full-time commitment, with students working from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays.

        This year's biggest finds were remnants of a wooden fence on top of an outer wall that dates from about A.D. 150. Mr. Riordan doesn't know what the fence was used for, but hopes to find more clues when he digs deeper next summer.

        Mr. Riordan enjoys the process, but some students find it tedious, said Julia Frasure, field supervisor and Wright State adjunct professor, who has spent several summers at the site with Mr. Riordan's class.

        “We have the advantage of coming out year after year, so we see the progress,” Ms. Frasure said. “Sometimes you have a student who is too enthusiastic, and they want to dig to China, so you have to slow them down.”

        Traditionally, about half the students in the 10-week course are anthropology majors and the remainder is a mix of students, Mr. Riordan said.

        “It's a lot of detail work, but of course that's necessary,” said Robert Hoschar, 26, an environmental geology senior.

        Chris Kleather, 28, who will enter medical school in January and is not an anthropology major, said he took the class because he thought it would be interesting.

        “It's better than spending all summer in the library,” he said.

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