Old Independence Regional Museum offers free school tours for Archaeology week March 13-19
Can you “Dig It?”
Museum Offers Free School Tours during Archeology Week
Old Independence Regional Museum offers free school tours for Archaeology week March 13-19 –
Old Independence Regional Museum is proud to be the recipient of the Bill Jordan Education Grant. Included in the grant are admission for 1200 school tour students and a $50 stipend for each class’ bus driver during Archaeology Week, March 13-19. School tours must take place between Tuesday March 15th and Friday March 18th to qualify for free admission. “We are excited to have the opportunity to provide free tours to our regional schools. The Archeology Week programs offer a hands-on supplement for classes that have studied or will study Native American culture and Arkansas History,” said museum Humanities Educator, Amelia Bowman. “Archeology is essential in understanding past cultures and this is a great way for students to gain experience.”
During Archeology Week, school tour students will learn basic techniques for archeological excavations by using proper digging techniques to find, screen, analyze, and record artifact data found in a stratified “pit”. They will also learn the differences between public archeology and private collecting and how archaeologists know where to dig. Students will view images of cave painting from our region and be encouraged to come up with an interpretation of the symbols (to date the meaning of these particular paintings are not known). They will then be have to opportunity to make their own “cave” painting using know Native American symbols.
While touring the Shawnee room, students will be shown multiple archeological artifacts and given the opportunity to say how they think artifacts may have been used. Artifacts presented include a discoidal, ax head, grinding stone, and various sized points. Students will also be able to examine the clay pots on display at the museum to see how clay pots varied. They will then be able to make their clay pot, while learning where clay comes from, the different uses it had for Native Americans, how tribes in different regions decorated their clayware, and what archaeologist can learn from pots.
To register for a tour, please contact the museum at 870-793-2121.
This humanities program is made possible by local support from Independence County and the City of Batesville, as well as by Challenge Grant Endowment funding from the National Endowment of the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Old Independence serves a 12-county area: Baxter, Cleburne, Fulton, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Marion, Poinsett, Sharp, Stone, White, and Woodruff. Parts of these present-day counties comprised the original Independence County in 1820s Arkansas territory.
The museum is open Tuesday-Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Admission is $3.00 for adults, $2.00 for seniors and $1.00 for children. The museum is located at 380 South 9th street, between Boswell and Vine Streets in Batesville. During your visit, stop by our gift shop. We stock many items from local artists, authors, and crafters, as well as historical toys and games.
Contact: Amelia Bowman, 870-793-2121
