Archeology Workshop

Every summer I have to attend a workshop to satisfy requirements and to maintain my GT certification. I only have two years left and have already admitted to myself that I am burned out as far as dealing with parents and administration. Between the two, the joy has been pretty much sucked out of my professional life. The kids are the only aspect that keep me going.

On to the topic: I went to this workshop yesterday put on by LCRA (Lower Colorado River Authority). I learned that there is a site right under my nose I didn't know about. There are around 300 sites in Burnet County alone, which is where this took place.

The day started out with a 45 minute presentation by a retired archeology professor from North Carolina. I was somewhat surprised that I really enjoyed listening to this guy. He basically talked about the purpose and meaning of archeology, and then addressed how archeology is a rather subjective science. For example, the prevailing theory was that man (gender, in this case) was responsible for the advancement of technology and civilization in general. With the the beginning of the women's movement, more archeologists were women, and thus, more emphasis was put in the women's role. Then you have the post-modern philosophy which believes there is no past, there is only now. I couldn't quite get a grip on that one, but I did leave with the understanding that archeology is not an exact science and that to get a clearer picture, it's necessary to look at research from many different perspectives. And even then, you can't be sure.

We visited a couple of past digs, which were rather plain, and I wouldn't have recognized them without them being explained. By the way, we're talking Central Texas Native Americans and their ancestors here. I now know that an artifact is something you can pick up, such as a spearpoint, and an event is more complex, such as a fire pit, which gave evidence of human activity and was harder or impossible to move.

We came back to the main building and used"dig tables" to plot locations, distinguish between artifacts and events, and generally simulate what happens at an actual dig.

The most fun was being able to actually use an atlatl, which some of you will know is a spear throwing device used to enhance the velocity and effectiveness of a spear. This was a blast, and I must add, a challenge. Those guys must have had some skills! We were aiming at a huge wall of hay bails. In three attempts I hit the target, killed a rock, and shot a tree. To imagine these were used to kill wooly mammoths is hard to do. Then we threw rabbit sticks, which are closely related to the boomerang. In two throws, two stationary wooden rabbits watched the stick sail several feet above their heads. Women of the tribe used these successfully on live, moving rabbits. These people were hunter/gatherers, so their every moment seemed to be devoted to securing food. I would have been eating a lot of acorns.

The last part of the day was a let-down, as it was all sit-and-listen. But all in all, it was fun and a different way to spend a day.