CFI Educational Programs
CFI
Program
One-Day Field Experience in Archaeology |
Program Length |
1 full school day (normally 8:30-2:15) |
Program Location |
remote field location |
Program Format |
supervised field and labwork |
Grade Level |
grades 6-12 |
Maximum Audience |
1 class (up to 25 including teacher) |
Prerequisite |
Introduction to Northwest Georgia Archaeology |
This hands-on field and lab program provides
students
with the opportunity to experience real archaeological fieldwork
on a site currently being investigated by the Coosawattee Foundation,
followed by an opportunity to wash and examine the day's finds.
Bus or other transportation should be arranged by the school,
and classes should plan to meet CFI archaeologists at the field
location by 9:00 a.m., where students will be given an overview
of archaeological field techniques and etiquette, and will then
be supervised in actual excavation and screening of soil for
artifacts. Around 12:00, students will eat lunch alongside
the Coosawattee River, followed by additional fieldwork and
a laboratory session in which they will wash the artifacts found
that day, and learn about basic artifact sorting and analysis.
Classes will be finished for return to school by 2:15.
During this field and lab program, students will learn, practice,
and observeskills such as...
- ...using flat shovels and trowels carefully
to excavate testpits in controlled layers.
- ...sifting excavated soil through 1/4-inch
hardware cloth screens to recover artifacts such as pottery,
flint flakes and tools, bone fragments, etc.
- ...bagging and labeling artifacts from each
layer in each testpit.
- ...observing and recording soil color and
texture changes in the floors and walls (profiles) of testpits.
- ...washing and drying artifacts recovered
in each bag.
- ...examining pottery and stone artifacts for
characteristics used in sorting them into specific categories
and time periods.
SPECIAL NOTE: All students will need to have their
parents sign individual release agreements prior to their arrival
on the site. Students should come prepared for dirt and mud,
sun and rain, and insects. Old clothes, hats, sunscreen, bug
repellent, and liquids such as water, Gatorade, Powerade, etc.
are strongly recommended, and each student should bring a lunch.
Since all field and labwork is part of ongoing archaeological
research being conducted by the Coosawattee Foundation on privately-owned
land, all artifacts found will remain in the possession of CFI,
Inc. for future analysis and study. Each artifact is important
and irreplaceable, since it represents one small piece of a
much bigger puzzle.
To schedule any CFI program, or to find out more information,
please call the Foundation office at (404) 285-2001, or send
an email to [email protected].
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