Day 1

Sorry for the delay with the Parents Blog but we finally got it up and running. I will be reporting out to you some of the highlights of the camp from the Professors, residence staff, counselors and myself.

Day 1, July 14th, 2008

Excavation Class, Chief Krumrine:

Well, we actually had our first excavation day, with the simulated dig.
It seemed to go well (although the counselors may not necessarily agree
since it was a little chaotic, esp at first). As I told the students,
the actual site is much nicer- we'll have shade, a lovely environment
(as opposed to dumpsters) and really nice soil for digging. We'll also
have MUCH smaller groups which will make it easier for everyone
involved, including plenty of equipment.


I thought that most of the students were excited about digging and
finding things. Some students weren't that interested, but that's pretty
typical with this age group What I wanted them to gain from their
experience today was to get a feel for how to excavate and screen for
artifacts and why those methods are important (incl. respecting walls,
not pulling artifacts out of walls or floors, digging across as they're
digging down, screening for small artifacts that would be missed with
troweling, recognizing artifacts). Since we were working in
unprovenienced backdirt piles, we didn't keep records and keep track of
depth, etc. We kept track of groups on the artifact bags so that if we
have a rain day the students can wash their own artifacts- that's always
fun to see everything cleaned up!

Chemical Archaeology Class, Chief Helms:

Lab today basically introduced the kids to lab safety and lab technique.
They seemed really interested and worked extremely carefully, followed
instructions, were respectful to Chief Helms and the other technicians,
and completed all assigned tasks. It was really a pleasure working with
each group today. :)

Residence Life, Chief Norman:

Our camp is going well. The first day was a bit crazy, we had classes
until 8:45pm and then when the kids went back to the dorm they had a
fire drill at 9:45pm. Hopefully today will be less academically
concentrated and they will have more social fun time. Tonight a Native
American Story Teller is talking to the kids and they will get hints on
how to tell their own interesting stories. The dining hall experience
has been great, the students are eating to their fullest!

That's about all for now.