Introducing Investigating Medicine Rocks In this curriculum, students will study an archaeological site at Medicine Rocks State Park referred to as “Locality E”, studied by archaeologists in 2010 One of the many beautiful formations at Medicine Rocks State Park. (Photo courtesy of Montana State Parks) This post is about our new Project Archaeology: Investigating Rock Art regional curriculum: Investigating Medicine Rocks. Today let's  learn a few things about this area and those who passed through or lived there. One of the many beautiful formations at Medicine Rocks State Park. Medicine ..read more

Introducing Investigating Rock Art Archaeologists study the human past, which often includes items like glass, beads, projectile points, animal bones, and tools that humans have left behind. We often forget to consider the more symbolic remains of the past – art. Like modern art, the art of the past comes in many mediums. One of the most recognizable is rock art. There are two types of rock art: pictographs and petroglyphs. Pictographs are designs painted on the rock surface and petroglyphs are designs chiseled or chipped into the rock surface. People have been painting and carving rocks for ..read more

Introducing Investigating a Wintu Roundhouse This curriculum incorporates authentic archaeological and historical research to teach students about the use and importance of the Wintu Roundhouse in the past and present lives of Wintu people. We have a new curriculum to announce: Investigating a Wintu Roundhouse! DISCOVER Students will have the opportunity to analyze real data from this archaeological site in California. Using a four part model, students will go through the geography of California to understand how landscape impact shelters. They will gain historical context to better understa ..read more

Meet Ted Dawson – Investigating a Wintu Roundhouse A Descendent Community Member who guides students through Investigating the Wintu Roundhouse He is a Nor Rel Muk Wintu Indian from northern California Mr. Ted Dawson, a Descendent Community Member. The Nor Rel Muk Wintu people are from the West Mountains. They are mountain people from the West side of the Sacramento River. Traditionally, they did not cross the River. Mr. Dawson is an ethnobotanist, herbalist, and educator. He teaches about the relationships between people and plants. Mr. Dawson has had a lot of education in order to teach abo ..read more

Thinking about Today – Investigating A Wintu Roundhouse Adapted from Nichole Tramel's text in Investigating a Wintu Roundhouse, September 2020 One of the most critical parts of a Project Archaeology curriculum is having students connect what they’ve learned to modern-day times and issues. With Investigating a Wintu Roundhouse, there is no exception. Students learn about roundhouses and Wintu architecture as well as the importance of the roundhouse to the Wintu people. Roundhouses were important in the past and they are still important and used for ceremonies today.  All roundhouses were ..read more

#essentialarchaeology By Rebecca Simon, Colorado Assistant State Archaeologist. March 2021 Is Archaeology Essential? In 2013, I was an education intern for History Colorado. Little did I know that 5.5 years later I would be the Assistant State Archaeologist starting on the 142nd anniversary of Colorado becoming a state, August 1, 2018 (History Colorado Center; Denver, CO) (Photo credit: Becca Simon) When asked to reflect on my career, I decided to read the cover letter I wrote to get my current job as Colorado’s Assistant State Archaeologist. Going back to that cover letter, I am actually a l ..read more

Challenges, Strategies, and Solutions for Archaeology and Heritage Outreach Today: A Forum Summary By A. Gwynn Henderson, Education Director at the Kentucky Archaeological Survey at Western Kentucky University From April 2021 Months ago, Project Archaeology’s Public Education Coordinator Kate Hodge asked me to prepare a blog post for the Modern Issues in Archaeology series. At the time, I wasn’t sure what I would write about, but I was confident I could come up with something.  Closer to the due date, I started musing on my blog’s focus. Kate had already covered many important issues: M ..read more

Want to Get a Jump on the Common Core? Project Archaeology Is the Answer By Jeanne M. Moe, BLM Project Archaeology Lead, March 15, 2014 Archaeology is Interdisciplinary Archaeology.  The word alone is fascinating and immediately brings images of far-off lands, fabulous artifacts, and ancient lifeways to our minds.  Fascinating, but you must be an archaeologist to study the ways of the ancients, right?  Wrong.    Archaeology is a perfect addition to upper elementary classrooms and provides a ready-made vehicle to implement the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS). B ..read more

The Tragedy and Triumph of America's First Born By Dr. Shane Doyle Ancient Graves in Alaska Tell the Story of Twin Brothers Dr. Shane Doyle has served as a researcher for the Centre for Geogenetics and adjunct instructor at Montana State University-Bozeman.  Doyle helped lead the  the reburial of the Anzick Clovis Boy on June 28, 2014. According to reports from the National Science Foundation, the recent archaeological discovery of the graves of two infants in Alaska has prompted researchers to conclude that this could lead to a new understanding of ancient people’s perception of de ..read more

Investigating the Clovis Child Burial By Courtney Agenten Investigating the First Peoples, The Clovis Child Burial 1 file(s) 6.64 MB Download There is a lot we can learn from the past and the people who first lived here. A profound story. A story of family. Archaeological discoveries have a way of igniting our curiosity and connecting us to our own humanity.   The discovery of an 18 - 24 month old boy buried by his family thousands of years ago provides a connection, a human connection to the past.  For contemporary Native American peoples this boy is a direct ancest ..read more