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Vermont Agency of Transportation Archaeological and Historic Resources |
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Vermont Agency of Transportation Archaeological and Historic Resources |
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ARCHAEOLOGY DAY CAMPS |
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The highlight of the Archaeology outreach program consisted of 2, 1-week Archaeology Day Camps for 8-12 year olds. The camps were organized and directed by Elizabeth Subin, UVM CAP's Public Education Coordinator for the project. There was no fee for the camps, thus allowing all income levels to take part in the learning experience. Campers participated in a variety of activities including archaeological excavation, making Native American arts and crafts, preparing and firing clay pots, playing Native American games, and learning how to make traditional Abenaki baskets, fishhooks and toys.
Judy Dow, Abenaki artisan and educator, spent one day during the week teaching the campers about traditional Abenaki lifeways and crafts. She brought real hafted arrowheads, children's toys (such as toy boats, moccasins and snowshoes), and traditional baskets. As she passed these items around she stressed their relationship to the archaeological site, explaining that only some artifacts would preserve in the soil for archaeologists to find. Later she showed the students how to make wooden fishhooks, sweet grass bracelets, cattail ducks, and toy "birch bark" canoes using colored tissue paper. When restless, the students played a game of target practice using a feather dart weighted with a corncob or threw spears using an atlatl (spear thrower). Jesse Laroque, Abenaki master basketmaker and educator, spent part of a day with the campers demonstrating the process involved in making traditional baskets. For this purpose he brought along a large log of Black Ash. He then pounded the log and pulled off different sized strips of wood suitable for making baskets. The strips were then smoothed using a small pocketknife and a deerskin. His work is done completely from scratch, without using power tools. Logs that he uses were harvested from trees he found in swamps near his home. Each camper was given an opportunity to dig and screen an excavation unit under the supervision of professional archaeologists. Before heading to the site, Director John Crock, introduced archaeological concepts to the students in a lecture using teaching tools, topographic maps, and an aerial photograph of the project area. At the site, campers applied the concept of stratigraphy, or digging by natural layers, in order to "control" for different temporal/depositional episodes within the soil. They also learned about types of disturbance that can upset the natural deposit of soil and placement of artifacts through time. Finally, students learned how to record the results of their excavations by taking careful measurements of each 10-cm level. By the end of the week, students were able to identify plow zones (mixed upper later disturbed by plowing) and intact deposits beneath it. They learned about how sites are oriented though a system of grids, learned how to screen soil, and how to read topographic maps. Students were also given the opportunity to take photographs with disposable cameras in order to "record" their experiences. Volunteer Excavators and Visitors Throughout the 2-week outreach program, adult volunteers came to the site to assist archaeologists with the ongoing excavations. Many of these volunteers expressed a life long desire to have become career archaeologists and getting a chance to work at an actual site was a dream come true. Visitors also came in order to see a real excavation underway and to learn about the site. Article and Photos by Catherine Glidden, Archaeologist, Federal Highway Administration Return to Archaeology and Historic Resources Home Page |
