Classroom Outreach "What is an Archaeologist?"

What is an Archaeologist? This presentation helps people of all ages understand what archaeologists do, including how they interpret discoveries to learn about the homes of people, their food, clothing, fun, games, and ceremonial life.

Old Pueblo Archaeology Center's OPENOUT (Old Pueblo Education Neighborhood Outreach) program offers 45 to 60 minute presentations by a professional archaeologist. The "What is an Archaeologist" presentation is designed to give children an idea of what archaeologists do, how they do it, and how they learn about people through their work. This outreach presentation includes examples of the tools archaeologists work with, real artifacts, artifact replicas, and games to help the kids experience how archaeologists interpret the past. The hands-on materials and fun lesson plans in our "OPEN-OUT" programs bring archaeology and the past alive for your students.

PRESENTATION OUTLINE

I. What is an Archaeology?
  A. Studying the human past
II. Who are Archaeologist?
  A. Scientists
    1. Studying people and their lives
    2. Making results of work available to others
  B. Do archaeologists keep the artifacts they find?
  C. Is everyone that digs an archaeologist?
  D. What types of artifacts do archaeologists study?
    1. Bones
    2. Pottery
    3. Chipped Stone
    4. Ground Stone
    5. Shell
III. Observation & Inference Game
  A. Scenario for game - If you were an archaeologist living 800 years from now,
      looking at this room could you tell...
    1. If there were children in this room?
        How do you know?
    2. If there were adults in this room?
        How do you know?
    3. How many children were in this room?
        How do you know?
    4. What the room was used for?
        How do you know?
  B. Discussion on observation and inference
IV. In the field
  A. Show photos/drawings of historic artifacts
    1. What kind of room did these artifacts come from?
    2. Did you encounter any problems?
    3. How could we have avoided these problems?
  B. If this room were buried under dirt, what would you do?
    1. What types of tools would you need?
    2. What would you use the tools for?
    3. Would you record information about your excavation? What would you record?
  C. Why should you leave the artifacts in an archaeological site alone?
V. Motel of the Mysteries Skit
  A. Was the archaeologist interpreting the artifacts correctly? Why or why not?
  B. Do you think an archaeologist's culture has any influence on how he or
      she might interpret an artifact? Why or why not?

To register, call Old Pueblo's office at (520) 798-1201.