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Inspiring the Next Generation, Part 2: Creating an Excavation Exhibit for a Children’s Museum

By on July 13, 2012 in Community Archaeology, DayOfArch2012, Education, Excavation, Museum Archaeology

Our project coinciding with the Day of Archaeology 2012 was to build up an “excavation” for children to dig at the Cheshire Children’s Museum in Keene, NH, USA. The excavation activity will be in the Egypt themed area. At first I fretted over how we could possibly replicate an Egyptian excavation within our 2 m x 1 m box (that just wasn’t going to happen!). I decided to focus on simply portraying a few main ideas–the measured square units that archaeologists dig; the idea of layers– so that this excavation activity would look more like archaeology and a little less like a sandbox.

I am very lucky that my husband Randall, an architect, designer, and person who knows how to make anything with fiberglass, agreed to help with this project. First we stacked sheets of foam into an excavation grid with several different “layers.” After a messy first attempt that caused some of our materials to self-destruct, Randall worked with sticky resin and fiberglass fabric to mold the excavation units and places for artifacts, while I made some “ancient” ceramic sherds out of pots from Agway. (As I mentioned in my preliminary post, it proved to be rather difficult to find suitable artifact replicas to purchase for the exhibit.) Later, we applied more sloppy glue and a bucket of sand to the fiberglass surface, and glued the artifacts into their layers (based on rather loose relative dating).

Creating archaeology = messy basement!

What a relief when we delivered this mold to the museum and it fit right into its designated crate! To this will be added some loose sand, so that children can dig and discover the artifacts. Setting the scene further will be excavation tools (or, children’s shovels, etc.) and grid indicators/measurements, and an Egyptian desert mural behind the excavation. In addition to digging, we plan to provide clipboards so that children can choose to draw or record their finds. Based on my 7-year-old’s suggestion, we’ll also provide an “artifact report”/ “fun facts” sheet for each of the artifacts. She and her sister are really excited to learn more about these mysterious items, so I’m hoping that will be true for all the local children who visit the museum!

The mock excavation table, in situ in its museum home.

If time, space, and budgets permit, I’d love to add additional activities or games, perhaps some puzzle activities for the younger children. But this is only one small part of a museum with many different topics and activities. So for now, if a few children share in the fun of discovery, and leave with some idea that real archaeological excavation involves those neat square holes in the ground,* or if a few children are inspired to learn about ancient cultures, we’ll be thrilled!

 

*My subliminal anti-looting message for the youngsters!

In addition to thanking Randall Walter, who did all the dirty work here, I’d also like to thank the Cheshire Children’s Museum for the opportunity to work on this fun project, and Rita Elliott, a fellow archaeologist who, although I have never met her, took time out to discuss with me ideas for “mock excavation” activities. Thank you!


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My Day at Grave Creek Mound

By on July 9, 2012 in Day of Archaeology, DayOfArch2012, Education, Museum Archaeology

A Day in Archaeology at Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex, for this volunteer, means doing whatever is necessary to help the staff of the complex.

This location consists of a mound built from 250 BC to 150 BC by Early Woodland Indians to honor three persons who held some position of regard in their culture, a museum which holds exhibits of the Adena culture of these Indians, and provides background of other West Virginia sites and Adena mounds.  Added to this is the history of efforts of modern man to preserve the Mound. A recent addition to the museum is the research complex which houses and archives artifacts found throughout the State of West Virginia and also archives reports and other written material relevant to prehistoric and historical archaeology for the State.

I began volunteering two years ago after having retired from a social service agency here in West Virginia.  I have been interested in archaeology since I was 13, but at that time I thought it was done only in Egypt, so I put my energies into other studies.  It was unfortunate for me that as a teenager I was not aware that two very important archaeological sites (Meadowcroft Rockshelter in Pennsylvania and Grave Creek Mound in West Virginia) were within a 30-mile radius of my home, and if I had been born 10 years later (and had good vocational guidance), I may have had the opportunity to work on one of the sites as part of an undergraduate or graduate program.

In my current volunteer experience I have done many things, the most important to me being work with the exhibits.  I have been doing data-entry of all the text in the core displays of the museum. The original intent of this effort was that by converting this information into digital form it would enable it to be accessible to those with vision impairment (as a social service worker, this was one population with which I became concerned).  To supplement the text, I would enter a description of the accompanying display.  I started this project nearly two years ago and I am still at it.

There are two major secondary benefits to this project.  This information documents the exhibits which will be helpful for future work with exhibits and public programs.  Also, my having to read (and re-read) every single word of each display has familiarized me with the exhibit to such an extent that I am comfortable in providing an introduction to the museum for the visitors.

Today three of us are working and it is a busy day in the summer. In my three hours here today, I am needed at the front desk, to greet visitors and help customers in the gift shop. I provide an orientation to the exhibits to 24 adults and 11 children, some coming individually and others in small groups. Some of these visitors came from Ohio, Virginia, Indiana, North Carolina,  Arkansas and Louisiana. In addition, 25 people came as part of a cub scout troop for an educational program and activities conducted by Andrea, the educator on staff.  After Andrea took the cub scouts and their adult leaders outside to do a demonstration, and then to try their hand in atlatl-throwing, the museum became quiet. I would have liked to have gone out to watch them — 8-12 year old competitive boys, doing something outside their normal activities. I enjoy watching young people learn about the Indians and archaeology, but a large group is difficult to manage — thank goodness for Andrea.

I would advise anyone who has an interest in archaeology to volunteer at a place like this.  The staff is appreciative of the help and shows it by word and deed. They include me in many of their activities and conferences, so that I get hands-on experiences and hear presentations from experts in various fields of studies.   Having the opportunity to go through the exhibits on a weekly basis provides me with vastly more knowledge of the subject matter than anyone can hope to acquire in just occassional visits to the museum.

 

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A Busy Day for an Archaeology Educator

By on July 8, 2012 in Community Archaeology, Day of Archaeology, DayOfArch2012, Education, Museum Archaeology

My name is Andrea Keller, and I am an archaeologist working as “cultural program coordinator” in museum education at the Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex in West Virginia, USA.

When I was a kid, our family had a subscription to National Geographic. Every month, this magazine brought stories of fabulous people and places from faraway into our home. I decided early on that I wanted to be a jungle explorer. However, an article about Queen Nefertiti of Ancient Egypt gave my youthful interests a whole new direction.

It turns out you don’t necessarily have to travel to remote places to learn about ancient cultures and how they lived their lives. While I have had the good fortune to have worked in Switzerland, Arizona, Illinois, and several other states in eastern and midwestern USA, I am now at home in West Virginia and discovering a rich archaeological heritage here. From early ice-age hunter-gatherers to hard-working industrial era folks, people have left their marks on the land and have left clues to their daily lives for us to ponder.

Our facility is open on weekends;  it is my turn to work on Sundays but I have Fridays off. Since the official Day of Archaeology is on Friday, June 29, I will describe an actual working day, that is, Thursday, June 28.

Working with the public, no two days are ever the same, and Thursday promises to be one of our busy days. We are expecting a group that consists of children and adult leaders from two local day care centers, who have reserved time for a guided tour of the museum and mound and one of our hands-on programs. Thursday evening we will also be hosting the June installment of our monthly lecture and film series. We usually feature speakers from other organizations, or films.  This evening, I will be presenting a slide show and leading a tour of our Interpretive Garden.

 

Thursday, June 28

Our work day starts at 9 am which is when the museum opens.  Some last minute preparations are to be made for the day care group.  They will arrive at 11 am to tour the mound and museum, eat a picnic lunch, and try out some replicas of prehistoric tools in our “Prehistoric Tools” program. I take out a trash can to the picnic area, and check the Activity Room where we will be experimenting with the replica tools. I set out corn for making corn meal on our grinding stones, and make sure the other tools are ready.

It is a record-setting hot and dry June, so the next order of business is to water the Interpretive Garden.  I am hoping the garden will be looking O.K. for the program tonight.  The plants are getting stressed from the heat and lack of rain.  Our garden represents prehistoric Native American gardens in this region. It is partially based on archaeological information, and partially on historic accounts of Native American gardening techniques.  My favorite account is Buffalo Bird Woman’s Garden, by a Hidatsa woman who lived in North Dakota.  It is incredibly detailed, with precise instructions on how to plan, plant, and harvest a garden.  You can find her account on-line – it’s worth a look if you have an interest in Native American gardening.

Watering the Interpretive Garden at Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex

 

At 10:30 am I am inside.  There is a little time to polish my slide show for the evening and start my write-up for the Day of Archaeology.  I get three sentences written for the latter, and my group is here. Time to hit ”save” and get the show on the road.

 

The Day Care Group

The group today is a day-care group consisting of children ages 2 – 13 years, a range of abilities that can be a challenge for a museum educator.   The Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex consists of several parts: the Grave Creek Mound and surrounding grounds which include the Interpretive Garden, the Delf Norona Museum (Delf Norona was a local historian and one of the founders of the West Virginia Archaeological Society), and the Research Facility.  The group will tour these areas with me.

There is a majority of very young children in this group, so we skip the introductory slide show, and head out to the mound.  There are over 50 stone steps to climb to get to the top, and the adults and older kids help the smaller ones along. It’s quite a climb for those little legs!  At the top, we catch our breath.  Climbing to the top of the mound is exhausting even without carrying a load of dirt, as the people who built the mound did around 250-150 BC.  We look for familiar sights such as the Ohio River, Central Elementary School, and the old West Virginia Penitentiary, and wave at the adults with the kids in the strollers who are waiting below.  We look around, and consider how much effort it must have taken to build the mound.  Someone calculated that it took around 3 million loads of dirt, carried by hand. No bulldozers, wheelbarrows, or steel shovels!  Two main tombs were discovered in the mound during excavations back in 1838 – the whole monumental effort of building the Mound was done for three people.  What made these people, and this location worthy of such an investment in time and effort?

 

Day Care Group at the Top of Grave Creek Mound

 

The Day Care Group at the Interpretive Garden

 

We head back down the mound, tie a loose shoe lace, and stop to take a look at the Interpretive Garden.

Next it’s lunch time for the kids, and me, too.

Time to check my e-mail, while I’m in the office.

After lunch, we take a peek into the research lab viewing widow. We see a display of  drilled shells, a piece of elk antler, and chipped stones that were once part of hoes – perhaps similar to tools used to build the mound.  In the back of the room, we see the curators at work and wave at them.  They smile and wave back.  Heather takes our picture – you can see it on her Day of Archaeology post.  On the way out, we pass the Marble King exhibit, which is on loan from the West Virginia State Museum.  We run marbles through the exhibit’s marble machine – fun for kids of all ages!

We continue our tour.  There are models of prehistoric homes, and a hunting scene.  One of the highlights is a model that shows the Grave Creek Mound being built.  Tiny model people are hard at work digging up soil and carrying it to the mound. There is a burial ceremony in progress on top of the mound, and daily tasks such as cooking and scraping a hide can be found by an observant eye.

We enter the Activity Room, where we will do the “Prehistoric Tools” program.  I have set up three stations with replica tools.  There are sandstone abraders that are used to sharpen bone awls, grinding stones for making corn meal, and pump drills for making holes in pieces of wood.  The pump drills are a challenge for smaller hands, but with help from the adults and older kids, everyone gets the hang of it. The kids’ eyes light up when that pump drill is finally spinning and making a hole!  The goal is to drill a hole in a flat wooden shape to make a pendant.  Strings and colorful plastic beads are available for completing a stylish necklace.  I help one small girl tie her necklace and get a great big hug in return.  All to soon it is time for the group to say good bye. A chorus of “thank you” rings out and they are heading out the door.

Corn Grinding

Pump Drill

 

 

 

 

 

 

Awl Sharpening

Time to finish getting ready for the evening.

Before heading upstairs, I check on the condition of the ladies’ rest room – looks OK.  John, our maintenance supervisor, has taken care of the trash from the picnic, which is very much appreciated!  I make more copies of our lecture/film series calendar so there are plenty available tonight.

On the way to my office, I check on the museum’s Discovery Table, where small groups of visitors can make a craft to take home without having to sign up ahead of time. A family is making jewelry using beads made by rolling pieces of copper foil, our craft of the season.  I replenish the supply of copper blanks for making the beads.

Family at Discovery Table

Showing off Copper Bead Jewelry

 

At 5:00 pm I go home for dinner, a shower, and a change of clothes.

Evening Program

I return at 6:30 pm. Time to start up the audio-visual equipment, and unlock the museum doors. It’s still oppressively hot outside, so we start with the slide show.  The subject is our Interpretive Garden, which we will tour later.  I take the opportunity to thank the many individuals who have helped with the garden: the horticulture students from our local John Marshall High School who prepared the garden back in April as well as volunteers and visitors who helped plant the garden in May.  We go outside, and walk around the garden discussing the plants.

We had an early spring warming, and the larger plants grew from dropped seeds as “volunteers”. The smaller plants were planted May 20th, some even later when the first seeds did not grow. The corn is planted in small hills according to the traditional methods of some Native American gardeners. Beans will be planted when the corn is a little taller, and the weather becomes a little more hospitable to tender young seedlings.  The garden also contains pumpkins, squash and gourds, sunflowers, and goosefoot, also known as Chenopodium, lamb’s quarters, or spinach weed.  The people who built Grave Creek Mound probably were familiar with sunflowers, gourds, squash, and Chenopodium.  Corn and beans probably did not become used widely in our region until later, but their importance on later sites justifies including them in our garden.  It must have been an interesting time as people became more settled, and learned to grow a larger variety of plants.

Examining Goosefoot Plant in Interpretive Garden

The garden looks exhausted in the summer sun.  Legend has it that corn, beans and squash are three sisters that live together in the garden. Tonight, sister squash’s leaves are drooping, and sister corn is curling up her long, pointed leaves.  Sister bean is still very young, and will need water very soon to survive. One of the men in the group volunteers to help water the garden.  His help will be greatly appreciated.

We walk back to the museum in the last of the long summer evening light.  Time to lock up and head home.

 Thank you for sharing the “Day of Archaeology” with me.  If you should find yourself in our “neck of the woods”, please stop by and visit the Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex.

You can learn more about the Complex and West Virginia Archaeology  by visiting the website of the West Virginia Division of Culture and History at www.wvculture.org.  You can also read posts by my colleagues here at Grave Creek and some of our wonderful, couldn’t-do-it-without-them volunteers and interns right here on the Day of Archaeology web site.

 

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Some of the small seeds in this assemblage include grape and blueberry.

In Search of Corn

By on July 7, 2012 in DayOfArch2012, Environmental Archaeology, Museum Archaeology, Prehistory

My name is Dr. Elizabeth Moore and I am the Curator of Archaeology at the Virginia Museum of Natural History. Virginia has been seeing some unseasonably high temperatures so fieldwork is not a viable option these days for many of my volunteers. The 2012 Day of Archaeology saw a high of 104 degrees F. It’s a good day to be in the lab.

Partially complete Native American vessel that contained mixed botanicals.

Today I am examining an assemblage that recently came into the museum from an interesting site in southwest Virginia. The site had a very light scatter of recent materials on the surface and a single buried Native American ceramic vessel. Carbon residue dates the vessel to ca. A.D.1,200. Inside the vessel was an assortment of botanical materials including wild bean, wild grape, wild blueberry, and corn. Corn in Virginia first dates to ca. A.D.1,100 so the corn in this vessel is fairly early for this part of the world. I have been sorting through the bagged flotation samples to see if there is enough corn to get a direct date using AMS on the corn itself. So far the only fragments I have seen are very small but there are still a couple of bags to go so maybe we’ll get lucky.

Flotation samples

Some of the flotation samples I am searching for corn remains.

 

Some of the small seeds in this assemblage include grape and blueberry.

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A Day at Abbot House Heritage Centre

By on July 6, 2012 in Community Archaeology, DayOfArch2012, Museum Archaeology

Hi, I‘m Gillian Ramsay a human osteoarcheology graduate volunteering at Abbot House with the collections and education programmes. We are currently in the process of planning an exhibition for the late autumn/early winter which will celebrate 20 years since the first excavations were carried out at Abbot House. In 1992 a series of excavations were conducted by Fife Council before the building was renovated and transformed into Abbot House Heritage Centre. The excavation found evidence of occupation on the site stretching back to the 12th century, including workshops, stables and a late medieval graveyard. At the beginning of 2013 a new excavation conducted by Fife Council will start on an area of land right beside Abbot House. The excavation will prepare for the construction of a new Dunfermline Museum. The aim of our exhibition is to show the public what was found during previous digs, and to excite them about archaeology in general and about discoveries that might be made during the new excavation.

The Archaeology Exhibition is all part of our new renovation and rejuvenation scheme for Abbot House. We are trying to encourage local people to visit the house more often with a series of family events, night- and day-time lectures, and rotating exhibitions. In intention is that by 2014 the house will have been completely renovated, bringing the exhibits and facilities right up to date, with more hands-on interactive exhibits and engaging displays aimed at all ages.

The exhibition will display a number of the artefacts found at the sight within the context of what they can tell us about life in medieval and early modern Dunfermline. The majority of the artefacts will be loaned from Fife Council, although the displays will also include finds from Abbot House’s own collection. Abbot House has a small collection in storage on the property. The artefacts had been placed in boxes in the attic and forgotten about for 20 years so in preparation for the exhibition we brought them out of the attic, washed, catalogued, bagged and tagged the finds, and placed them in more suitable boxes.

As part of the exhibition we are considering having a stratigraphy display depicting the levels of activity at the site, with objects from the excavation placed within their respective horizons. So on the Day of Archaeology we began by going through the collection housed at Abbot House looking for artefacts for each layer.

Abbot House also runs a successful schools programme called Step into Medieval Dunfermline, which includes a mock excavation where kids can dig for finds and record them. On Wednesday a visiting school group managed to find all the objects in record time— so we thought it might be best to bury a few more artefacts! In the afternoon we selected a few more child-friendly and durable artefacts from the collection to bury in the dig pits.

 

For more information on Abbot House, the archaeology exhibition this autumn, our schools programme, or any of our other events, Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter (@abbothouse), log onto our website, or give us a ring at 01383 733 266. Abbot House is a registered charity (SC018318), and is actively seeking support and sponsorship through our Friends scheme; for more information please ring the House.

 

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OUTREACH – Arqueología, Museos y Educación / Archaeology, Museums & Education

By on July 6, 2012 in DayOfArch2012, Education, Museum Archaeology

This was posted in Spanish and English (English is not my first language: I apologize for any mistakes)

Scroll down to read ENGLISH VERSION

VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL

Trabajo en el Museo Etnográfico “Juan B. Ambrosetti”. Es un museo universitario (depende de la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de la Universidad de Buenos Aires) que cumple funciones de investigación, difusión y educación, enfocado en antropología y arqueología. Nuestras exhibiciones hablan sobre temáticas vinculadas a los pueblos originarios del actual territorio argentino y de otras partes del mundo.

Soy educadora y guía en el Programa de Público General del Área de Extensión Educativa del Museo. Allí, me encargo de dar visitas guiadas en español e inglés, organizar eventos y actividades culturales y ayudar en el armado de la gráfica para difundir las actividades, entre otras tareas.

 

¿Qué es lo que hice este viernes, en mi Día de Arqueología? Mucho, aunque no siempre relacionado con la disciplina: fue un día de gestión, diseño y difusión y mucho trabajo en equipo: pensando en niños, redes sociales y medios de comunicación.

 

Lo más rápido del día:

¿Alguna vez vieron en televisión esos concursos en que los participantes deben gastar una cierta cantidad de dinero en un corto tiempo? La buena noticia es que nosotros sabemos qué debemos comprar y averiguamos de forma anticipada los mejores precios: pero una vez que tenemos el dinero, ¡hay que correr!

¿La misión? Comprar todos los materiales necesarios para Vacaciones de Invierno 2012 (actividades especiales dirigidas a niños de 5 a 12 años en su receso escolar invernal, del 14 al 29 de julio): desde lápices de colores hasta maquillaje artístico y un maniquí.

 

Mi gran dolor de cabeza:

Terminar de diseñar los volantes y el póster para difundir las Vacaciones de Invierno 2012: soy (casi) arqueóloga: no soy diseñadora ni artista gráfica. Lograr que nuestra difusión se vea atractiva, llamativa y que, a la vez, contenga toda la información que queremos brindar, puede ser motivo de frustraciones… y de grandes satisfacciones cuando todo sale bien.

Vacaciones de Invierno 2012 en el Museo (flyer)

 

Lo que llevó más tiempo:

Subir una videocomunicación acerca de nuestro trabajo como educadores, para participar de un congreso virtual de museos y educación en España. Lo que pensamos sería fácil se complicó: por muchos problemas de conectividad, subir un video de 10 minutos me llevó ¡más de 20 horas!

Lo más esperado:

Armar la página de Facebook del Museo, para compartir y difundir nuestras actividades. ¡Algo que venimos planificando desde hace mucho, mucho tiempo!

El museo Etnográfico está en Facebook (poster)

 

La sorpresa:

Me tocó recibir a un periodista y su equipo de filmación (de un canal privado de televisión por cable) que quería conocer y difundir al Museo entre su audiencia. Los acompañé por tres de las exhibiciones, hablando de nuestra historia, los objetos, las investigaciones y las visitas guiadas que realizamos: un recorrido de 40 minutos que tienen que reducir a sólo 8 minutos: ¿la magia de la televisión?

Y como la vida no termina en el Museo…

Cuando llegué a casa, me puse a trabajar en más diseño gráfico. Esta vez en un banner para el proyecto de investigación arqueológica en el que estoy participando: “Estudio de los procesos sociales prehispánicos en la quebrada de La Cueva (extremo septentrional de la Quebrada de Humahuaca)”, dirigido por la Dra. Ramundo.

¿Qué me quedó pendiente?

Sentarme a estudiar para una visita guiada dirigida a estudiantes de arqueología e historia que vendrán al Museola semana que viene. La visita y sus contenidos los conozco bien, pero trato de actualizarme y mantenerme al día con las últimas investigaciones relacionadas.

SEGUIR ESCRIBIENDO MI TESIS (en mayúsculas por el tono de pánico).

Serán mis tareas de fin de semana…

 

Ya inventarán un día de 30 horas.

 

ENGLISH VERSION

I’m an educator and a guide at the “Juan B. Ambrosetti” Ethnographic Museum. It’s a university museum (we belong to the School of Humanities of the Universidad de Buenos Aires) focused on Indigenous Peoples of what we currently know as Argentina, and other parts of the world. The museum has three aims: research, outreach and education.
What did I do this Friday, in my Day of Archaeology? A lot, although not always related to archaeology.

You can listen to the English translation of my post:

Part 1Day of Archaeology 2012 – part1

Part 2Day of Archaeology 2012 – part2

Part 3Day of Archaeology 2012 – part3

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Leicestershire’s 2 Month Old Archaeology Officer

By on July 5, 2012 in Community Archaeology, DayOfArch2012, Iron Age, Museum Archaeology, Roman

It’s two months since I started as Archaeology Officer for Leicestershire County Council and I’m finally starting to find my feet.  It’s the job I’ve always dreamed of and I feel very lucky to be doing something I love but have to admit to feeling overwhelmed with how much I have to learn!

I was previously working exclusively with the a collection of Late Iron Age and Roman material known as the Hallaton Treasure and was based at Harborough Museum in the beautiful town of Market Harborough, Leicestershire.  This was an amazing job promoting and interpreting a mysterious collection of objects including over 5000 Iron Age and Roman coins and a Roman cavalry helmet.  However, as it was an externally funded project I knew it wouldn’t last forever and so when the opportunity came up to apply for a new post, I jumped at it.

I am now responsible for the county’s archaeology collections, so although I still get to play with the Treasure, there is a huge amount of material I need to get to know a whole lot better which is fun and daunting at the same time.  My role also includes community archaeology - promoting best practice, providing support and linking community groups with the collections which we hold.  Thankfully my previous role brought me into contact with many of these wonderful local groups and so there are many friendly faces who have been helping me out during these first two months.  I am also lucky to be working with our Finds Liaison Officer, Wendy Scott, who has been helping me settle into my new job.

Today I’ve been doing run of the mill stuff: checking emails, liaising with archaeological contractors, preparing for a launch event for the Leicestershire and Rutland Festival of Archaeology (the biggest regional contribution to the Council for British Archaeology’s nationwide event thanks to a fantastic network of heritage groups and enthusiastic indivuduals), working on press releases, trying to make time to do a bit of sorting in the store.

A small area of the archaeology section of our museum store.

Something cropped up which I haven’t dealt with before and sent me into a temporary panic.  An archaeological contractor (we are a repository for archaeological archives created as a result of the planning process) had found a human cremation and needed to know some details for the exhumation notice – what would happen to the remains after they had been studied.  The result was that we would make a decision on the merits of retaining the remains in our collection after the whole site had been studied and we could assess their importance.  The ethics of the treatment of human remains from archaeological excavations is an interesting area and one which I need to learn more about, fast!

My day also included a very geeky conservation with two colleagues regarding how to allocate accession numbers to the Hallaton Roman helmet which is actually at least four helmets from one deposit.  Many parts are still in the British Museum’s Department of Conservation and Scientific Research as they have been analysing and conserving the parts for us.  A very boring conversation but important nonetheless.

My day ended with lugging a huge display case into my car, ready for a display at Burrough Hill Iron Age hillfort on Sunday.  This is a University of Leicester dig at the highest point in Leicestershire, an amazing spot.  I’m providing a display of material we hold in our collection from digs dating back to the 1960s and 1970s, including a massive Iron Age storage jar.  Nice to be able to take it back to where it came from for the day!

Iron Age storage jar found at Burrough Hill hillfort from Leicestershire County Council’s archaeology collection.

 

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No Shovel at All – A Day in Pictures

By on July 5, 2012 in Archaeological Prospection, Education, Expeditions, Museum Archaeology, Prehistory

Today many people know that archaeologist around the world usually don’t work in pits with a shovel in their hand every day. What many people yet don’t know is that there are days in the professional life of an archaeologist in which he holds not even a single find in his hands and in which he doesn’t think of finds and reconstructing past lifeways at all.

I’ve graduated from the Johannes Gutenberg-University in Mainz with a degree in Prehistory. Currently I’m working at the MONREPOS Archaeological Research Center and Museum for Human Behavioral Evolution. This amazing institute is the place where I spent my Day of Archaeology 2012 without a shovel or even a single find.

In the morning I administrated MONREPOS’ social networking accounts (twitter, facebook, Google+) and informed myself about new posts of people the institute follows. I also tweeted about our own activities, organizing several excavations for the summer.

 

One of these field projects is the Lower Danube Survey for Paleolithic Sites. Together with collaborating institutes we will be conducting excavations at a newly discovered Lower Paleolithic site in Romania called Dealul Guran. As we are still looking for participants to join this year’s campaign I designed an information flyer and aupdated the project’s website.

 

Since I will be working in the field myself I had to book a flight from Frankfurt to Bucharest and back.

Just like in other professions, archaeologists have their spleens too. This time my fellow graduate students and I agreed in the need of buying special trowels for the above mentioned fieldwork in Romania. So we gathered around a computer and purchased some equipment that deemed us to be indispensable for a successful summer.

 

Being a post-graduate I frequently think about a topic to focus on next. On the Day of Archaeology I therefore met with one of my supervisors in our institute’s lounge to chat about possible projects.

Last but not least, let me clarify my point: I do dig pits at times.


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On the Polychromy of Ancient Palmyra and on Nomads and Networks in Ancient Kazakhstan in Washington DC

By on July 3, 2012 in Conservation, Day of Archaeology, DayOfArch2012, Museum Archaeology

Many greetings from the Smithsonian!

With Syria and its UNESCO world heritage sites in the news these weeks, it is time to look at one of those sites described as one of the surviving wonders of antiquity: Palmyra. Also, we are in the preparation of an exciting exhibition with a wide array of objects from yet another fascinating part of the world, ancient Kazakhstan, that will open soon to the Sackler Gallery here in the Smithsonian in Washington, DC.

We are  in the first week of July 2012. First thing Monday morning, was catching up on the latest news from Kazakhstan for our upcoming exhibition highlight Nomads and Networks: The Ancient Art and Culture of Kazakhstan. One of our colleagues, Claudia Chang, in Kazakhstan had reported earlier this week on this blog and we will continue to run a parallel blog on our exhibition and ancient Kazakhstan on our website starting soon before the exhibition opening in August here in Washington, DC.

Also this Monday, before a meeting with our colleagues from the embassy of Kazakhstan, I presented some current research on pigments and paints on ancient near eastern stone monuments to a wider public in the Smithsonian Institution’s Smithsonian Congress of Scholars Research Tent on the Mall. Despite some heat waves, a good number of visitors came to some twenty presentations from units in the institution, and asked also many questions about the role of pigments on stone monuments in the Ancient Near East. By studying materials that still contain much of the pigments, we can learn more about the aesthetics of the ancient world. Palmyra, “the Place of Palms” as it was known to the Romans, in modern Syria, flourished as a colourful caravan oasis on the trade route linking the Mediterranean with West and Central Asia. Most of the monuments visible on the site today date from the first three centuries CE, including the large colonnade streets and the extensive cemeteries around the city.

In 1908, while on a trip to Aleppo, the rich Detroit business-men Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), see himself above, acquired a lime stone relief from the site from the dealer Joseph Marcopoli (F1908.236). Originally, reliefs like this one would have marked the tombs of wealthy Palmyrene citizens, either in tower-tombs or complex hypogea below ground. According to an Aramaic inscription, it is the portrait of Haliphat, daughter of Oglata, son of Harimai. This stele is dated 543 of the Seleucid era, which corresponds to the year 231 in the Christian calendar. The stone relief is one of many from Palmyra still preserving traces of the original polychromy. Some of these can be even seen with the naked eye, like the jewellery on the left hand or in details of her necklace.

Microscope images would make painted details much more visible and a red colorant on the statue has recently been identified by scientific analysis. Qualitative elemental analysis of a small sample taken shows the presence of Al, Si, Ca and Fe with a strong presence of iron.

The Freer|Sackler – Smithsonian’s Museums of Asian Art also houses also a collection of archival materials related to the modern exploration of Palmyra, among them a plan of the ruins, donated by Ernst Herzfeld (1879-1948). The plan was made shortly before Freer acquired the stone relief from Palmyra, with the ancient cemeteries indicated around the citywall, together with a series of glass negatives related to an expedition to Palmyra, carried out by Herzfeld’s colleague Moritz Sobernheim (1872-1933) in 1899. Sobernheim had photographed and made squeezes of some of the inscriptions, which later became part of Herzfeld’s collection and are available for research, documenting the very early stages of archaeological fieldwork in the ancient Near East.

 

 

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A Day in the Life of a Historic Site/Museum/Research Facility Manager in West Virginia

By on July 2, 2012 in Day of Archaeology, DayOfArch2012, Education, Museum Archaeology

My name is David Rotenizer and I am the site manager of the Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex (GCMAC) in Moundsville, West Virginia. I have held the position for one month shy of three years.  Archaeology has been an important part of my life since 1978, though mostly in the field.  My current position is particularly important to me because it helps with what I feel to be one of the field’s most important functions – to share the fruits of archaeology with the public.  Before proceeding with my day in the life perspective, I need to present a little background on where I work.

GCMAC is a seven acre archaeological park featuring the Grave Creek Mound.  We are a historic site operated by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History.  It is called a complex because we consist of three separate, but related components:  mound, museum, and research facility.  The Grave Creek Mound is one of the largest known conical earthen burial mounds associated with the Adena culture and has been dated to around 250 – 150 BCE.

Interpretive Garden at Base of Grave Creek Mound

The Delf Norona Museum is a modern 25,646 square foot facility that opened in 1978.  It features various exhibit galleries, a 136-seat auditorium, an activity room for educational programs, and a gift shop.  Outside on the grounds is one of our newest “exhibits” – an interpretive garden.

A gallery area within museum.

 

Diaorama witin gallery depicting Grave Creek Mound.

 

 

Detail of Timeline within Gallery.

 

View of the Grave Creek Mound from Museum.

 

View toward portion of gift shop.

In 2008, a new state-of-the-art wing opened which houses the West Virginia Archaeological Research and Collections Management Facility.  The 9,600 square foot addition serves as West Virginia’s first official repository for the state’s archaeological collections.

Observation Window looking into Archaeological Lab.

 

Portion of one of 51 shelving units at facility – each about 8m (26 ft)long.

 

Portion of the Research Library and Archives.

We are open seven days a week, but to the public for six.  We currently have a staff of five full time employees and are blessed to be supported by a small group of dedicated regular volunteers.

My day actually began the evening before when we hosted our monthly lecture and film series program.  June always features a presentation and tour of the interpretive garden.  A typical day usually starts out with ensuring the facility is ready to be visited by the public starting at 9 a.m.  You want to make sure the lights are on, doors unlocked, restrooms are acceptable, trash emptied and if need be the glass doors and display cases cleaned and to check floors that may need to be swept or vacuumed.  The cash register in the gift shop is made ready and items stocked if needed.  Due to our limited staff everyone must wear different hats to keep the facility operational. We all help each other.

Throughout the day, I spend a lot of time on the computer checking and responding to e-mails, and on phone calls.  During the day I also check with the different staff members to keep abreast of what they are working on and to provide whatever support they might need.  Today I spent time working on submitted bids for annual maintenance of the mound and preparing supply orders, and reviewing gift shop inventory, to be ready when the new fiscal year starts on 1 July.  I was in communication with the Native American Studies Program at West Virginia University which will be bringing a class of volunteers to assist us in the lab in a few weeks – lots of last minute details to finalize.   A team from state technology services was here to help with the installation of a server to back up the records and files of the research facility.  I was in contact with the agency’s State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) education and planning coordinator to discuss ideas for West Virginia Archaeology Month held in October.  In August the street in front of the facility will be closed for several days due to a Veteran’s Wall project and I needed to respond to a request that had come in for use of our property to host a first-aid tent.

During the day I helped to greet visitors who arrive, and provide a brief orientation for them.  It is always interesting to meet folks and learn where they are from – amazingly from all over the U.S. and lately Canada and Germany.  It is equally interesting to listen to their questions and their experiences and perceptions of archaeology. Time was spent running the cash register in the gift shop.  Archaeological publications and gemstones/minerals are our best sellers. When I restocked the brochure rack I noticed we were almost out of our Cahokia Mounds brochure and called there to order more.  I had to make a daily run to the post office to deliver and pick up our mail as well as make trip to the bank to deposit funds from gift shop sales and fee-based educational programs. I walked the property to ensure everything was in good order.  The men’s public restroom had to be briefly closed while I gave it a special cleaning.  An artifact was brought to my attention for interpretation.

At the end of the day I close out the cash register and prepare a daily revenue report and then we go through the process of closing and securing the facility.  Like all of the positions here, no two days are the same.  It is always a matter of multi-tasking and dealing with the issues at hand.  All the same, we are part of the global archaeological community doing our part to interpret, preserve, and protect the past for present and future generations.

 

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