News

Archaeology Lab at Historic Deerfield Open to Public

Students in the Archaeological Field School LabHave you ever wondered what archaeology is really like? From July 24 through August 9, Thursday-Saturday, 9:30-12:00 and 1:00-3:30, the general public is invited to visit UMass Amherst archaeologists and 2008 Archaeological Field School students as they research and identify artifacts at their lab in the Moors House at Historic Deerfield. The lab is a great place for adults and children to learn about archaeology in general and see actual artifacts that students are finding throughout the Field School. 

In addition, a hands-on archaeology lab, Dig Deerfield!, will take place on August 2 and again on August 9, from 1–3:30 p.m., also at the Moors House. In these sessions, participants will learn about Native lifeways in the Connecticut River Valley. They'll do a “shoe box dig,” plus make and decorate a clay pinch pot or toy marble to take home.

The 2008 UMass Amherst Archaeological Field School is focused on an archaeological site in the Deerfield area to learn more about pre- and post-Contact Native American lifeways and history. As part of an on-going community-based archaeology project, the Field School is welcoming the public to its laboratory in Historic Deerfield to learn more about the full scope of archaeology from researching Euro-American colonization and New England Native history to archaeological survey techniques, excavation methods, laboratory methods, artifact analysis, archaeological interpretation, site protection and community-based archaeology.

Those who visit will meet archaeologists and students who are actively engaged in artifact analysis and the curation of artifacts and ecofacts found by students participating in the 2008 UMass Amherst Field School in Deerfield.

For more information, please visit the Field School’s  website. For directions, click here.

July 23, 2008