By CATHERINE ELLERTON
Moapa Valley Progress
Representatives from ten different parks and educational institutions came to the Lost City Museum to participate in the annual International Archaeology Day which was held on Saturday, Oct. 19. Each was there to share the mysteries of the past found in the rocks and soils around the world.
Archaeology Day is an international celebration started by the Archaeological Institute of America in the mid-1990s and is celebrated all over the world.
Kari Goold, a student at UNLV was found at a mini-dig site set up at the museum. She enthusiastically explained how her class had gone to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to observe the abnormal formations there which might seem as simple as a pile of rocks on top of each other. They were taught how to properly excavate an archaeological site which was explained at the mini-dig site at the museum.
A PHD student from the UNLV, Danni Romero, explained how several sites including Elk Ridge in southwestern. New Mexico were being rescued from erosion and from looters. She had several pottery items and stone tools that had been rescued.
From the Las Vegas Natural History Museum, Paleontologist Lauren Parry eagerly shared her enthusiasm of learning a new ‘language’ and the detective work it takes to discover 5 million-year-old mammal bones. She explained the difference between a paleontologist (one who studies ancient life) and an archeologist (one who studies human life and activity).
I wandered from the Nevada Site Stewardship Program’s booth on Basket Making to the Desert Research Institute exhibit on the use of drones in mapping terrain next to an archaeological area to find erosion problems. It was explained that the digital preservation method was able to record pigment that could not be seen with the naked eye but showed up in the drone pictures. They emphasized that the drone to them was not a toy but a tool.
Tom Lucas was demonstrating the Geophysical Survey being done at the Spring Preserves. He stated that if one just started digging, there was the possibility of damaging important items. Using the best tool for the environment you are in – like the electrical probe – and then mapping out the information found created the least damage to an area.
This was an entertaining and educational day at the Lost City Museum organized by museum curator Virginia Lucas. The museum’s next events will be Native American Day on November 16 from 10 to 4 and the Holiday Open House on December 7th from 11 to 2.
