"One of our goals in archaeology is not to dig sites," said Ann-Eliza Lewis, curator for the MA Historical Commission, at a fascinating program where Metrowest librarians learned about opportunities to participate in Archaeology Month, an annual October celebration.
Bringing along goodies such a CD of teacher resources, posters, recommended reading lists, and our very own copies of the book Highway to the Past: The Archaeology of Boston's Big Dig (note; if your public library did not receive a copy to add to the collection, contact Ann-Eliza at Ann-Eliza.Lewis AT state.ma.us, Ann-Eliza proved to be a wealth of enthusiasm and information.
The program began with a little background information about the MA Historical Commission. Renovating libraries are probably the most familiar with this state agency that reviews over 8,000 projects a year. They are the people who advise about historical colors or how to make your new library fit into the rest of the town's historical district. Until last year, they had a reimbursement program for small-scale restoration projects that many libraries benefitted from. Archaeology month is another project of the MA Historical Commission. It began in 1992 as a weeklong event, and 2005 marks the second year of a month-long celebration.
Eliza presented a slide show of popular events, such as flint napping, the Fish Weir on Boston Common, A project where student volunteers mapped a cemetary in Canton, an Antiques Roadshow style artifacts night, atl-atl throwing competitions, library displays and traveling exhibits, lectures and storytelling, and a host of arts and crafts programs with historical archaeological ties ranging from beaded bags to jewelry making, from plate painting to clay pendants. The 2005 Calendar of Events, which will be posted soon at http://www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc/mhcarch/archidx.htm is a wonderful resource of contacts and ideas.
Partnership opportunities abound with area museums and local archaeology organizations such as the Massachusetts Archaeological Society. Public education is a heavily emphasized in the professional code of ethics, so any archaeologist that you invite to do a program at your library would be hard-pressed to say no. Ann-Eliza considered the towns each of the participants was from, and gave each one a contact name for someone local who might be willing to do a program.
An added bonus was her concise explanation of the difference between archaeology and anthropology. She noted key print resources from the field for libraries, including:
Adults:
Braun, Linda K. and David Braun. The First Peoples of the Northeast. (North Country Books, 1994)
Ceram, C.W. Gods Graves and Scholars: The Story of Archaeology, 2nd ed. (Vintage, 1986)
Deetz, James. In Small Things Forgotten: An Archaeology of Early American Life. (Anchor, 1996)
Fagan, Brian M. Eyewitness to Discovery: First Person Accounts of more than Fifty of the World's Greatest Archaeological Discoveries. (Oxford Univ. Press, 1996)
Feder, Kenneth L. Frauds, Myths and Mysteries. Science and Psuedoscience in Archaeology, 4th ed. (McGraw Hill, 2001)
Macintosh, Jane. The Practical Archaeologist: How We Know What We Know About the Past. (Facts on File, 1999)
Schnapp, Alain. Discovery of the Past. (Abrams, 1997)
Williams, Stephen. Fantastic Archaeology: The Wild Side of North American Prehistory. (University of PA, 1991)
Especially for Children:
Cork, Barbara & Struan Reid. Usborne Young Scientist: Archaeology (E.D.C., 1985)
Samford, Patricia and David L. Ribblett. Archaeology for Young Explorers: Uncovering History at Colonial Williamsburg. (Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1995)
Avi-Yonah, Michael. Dig This! How Archaeologists Uncover Our Past. (Runestone, 1993)
Magazines:
American Archaeology published by The Archaeological Conservancy
Archaelogy published by the Archaeological Institute of America
Dig published by Cobblestone, for kids
Metrowest libraries are encouraged to print out a poster from the Historical Commission's website at http://www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc/ and create a book display for the month of October. For copies of the booklist handed out at the program, please contact Beth Gallaway.
Handouts:
Evaluation for Celebrate Archaelogy Month (please complete an evaluation if you access any of the materials on this page)