By Mike Donahue
Moapa Valley Progress
Fifteen budding archeologists learned the basic techniques used in archeological digs around the world while participating last Saturday in a mock excavation at the Lost City Museum.
Dena Sedar, Lost City Museum curator and archeologist, said the four-hour class was designed to briefly teach people how to excavate an historic site. It was conducted in connection with Archeology Awareness Month. Other activities this month include a flint knapping demonstration and a lecture on Fremont ceramics.
The 15 attendees at the excavation class were able to learn the basics of excavating including delineating sites, starting points, mapping points and collecting artifacts. Tools used included a metric tape measure, trowel and line level.
“The tools and techniques they learned today are the same tools and techniques used on digs everywhere in the world,” Sedar said.
Sedar set up two, two-square-meter dig sites at the back of the museum on Moapa Valley Boulevard south of Overton and then sectioned each site into four dig areas or units. Teams of students were responsible for carefully mapping their units and then uncovering “artifacts” that had been buried in each one.
Sedar was assisted in the “dig” by Cara Connolly, who recently earned a master’s degree in anthropology from UNLV, and Lindsey Daub, a UNLV anthropology graduate student.
In addition to the hands on training, students also participated in lab sessions that covered stone tool measuring and ceramics.
“Archeology is much more than just excavation,” Sedar explained. “It’s also about laboratory analysis as well. Our ultimate goal is to make people aware of the archeological opportunities in Nevada.”
“I think this (class) has been a wonderful opportunity for people interested in archeology,” said Katheryne Olson, Lost City Museum director. “I am really glad to see so much excitement about it.”
Although the class was originally limited to 12 people, “the phone just kept ringing so we upped it to 16,” Sedar said.
Most students were from the Moapa Valley and Mesquite areas, but one family drove all the way from Grace, ID, to participate.
More classes are planned for the fall, which may include a Native American Day and another “Dig Day” for kids or adults, Olson said
Later Saturday afternoon, Chris Watkins, a PhD candidate at Arizona State University who specializes in Fremont culture ceramics, gave a slide presentation to 22 Lost City Museum visitors.
He explained that in ceramics, Fremont refers to a particular time, place and style of manufacture.
“The traditional ‘hotbed’ of Fremont culture is really the transition area between the Great Basin and the Colorado Plateau,” he said.
Much of the area Watkins describes abuts Nevada along its eastern border with Utah.
“A lot of people in this area (Moapa Valley) don’t know that much about the Fremont people,” Sedar said. “Inviting Chris to speak and give a presentation is a way for people here to expand their knowledge about the entire area and those people who lived and thrived here.”
