Two minutes

A prof who digs buffalo kill sites

At the end of the last Ice Age, between 11,000 and 9,000 years ago, Paleoindian (literally, "old" Indian) hunter/gatherers on the Great Plains depended on extinct long-horned buffalo for survival. How do we know? Archaeologist Matt Hill spends each summer in western Nebraska excavating Paleoindian campsites and buffalo kills.

Real titles: Assistant professor of anthropology; a leading expert in the excavation, analysis, and interpretation of prehistoric buffalo kill sites.

Right in our backyard: In April 2006, Hill and his students excavated a pit, between Memorial Union and Lincoln Way, that contained the remains of nearly two dozen horses and associated artifacts discarded from comparative anatomy lab classes during the 1910-1911 academic year.

Seasonal job: Each summer, Hill and his students head to the field to excavate Paleoindian archaeological sites.

Coolest find: A 9000-year old fire hearth, surrounded by stone tools, bone tools, bird bone beads, and discarded food remains.

-- Diana Pounds