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WMU's anthropology department invites the campus community to donate prescription bottles

Cardboard box in front of stone wall containing a plastic bag inside along with orange pill bottles. All flaps of the box are turned down besides one that holds a sign saying "IIAS is Collecting Empty prescription/Medicine containers for artifact collections, Thank you for your support!" The Western Michigan University logo is below this statement.
Marshall Nesbitt
Anthropology Department collecting pill bottles for artifact collection.

The bottles are useful for storing artifacts from the site of an old fort.

Update: As of November 5, 2024, WMU's anthropology department says it has all the bottles it can use. It encourages the public to dispose of empty prescription bottles through a local recycler or a pharmacy collection kiosk.

There's a box in Western Michigan University's anthropology department where you can donate empty prescription bottles. They're used to store small artifacts such as the ones unearthed at the Fort St. Joseph archaeological site in Niles.

The fort was active in the 17th and 18th centuries. It served at various points as a mission, garrison and trading post. Formal investigation of the site began in the late 1990s.

The Fort. St. Joseph Archaeological Project lost some of its supplies this summer when the trailer they were stored in was stolen. Donations have built the supply back up but the anthropology department is still collecting empty pill bottles.

The pill bottle donation box are in Moore Hall, on WMU's main campus.