This week was an eventful one for sure. We had many activities, trips, and learning experiences that I found fascinating. We went to Athens to visit nearby field school excavations led by the University of Illinois and toured Georgia Archaeological Site Files (GASF) at the Laboratory of Archaeology at University of Georgia. We met with representatives from Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for a presentation on the natural landscape of Georgia and the variety of flora and fauna of Georgia.
For me, the field school visit was a highlight of the trip to Athens. I have yet to do a field school since I just started my degree in anthropology, so getting even a small glimpse of what I might expect from field school showed me what I can expect and even look forward to when I do eventually do a field school. We saw some of the shovel tests they had done which showed a post for a possible building and quite a few sherds and points. The site files visit was also illuminating. People often don’t think about where artifacts, maps, and other valuable information and resources pertaining to archaeology are stored and kept. To see the physical facility for the entirety of Georgia’s site files showed me how important it is for us to catalogue the artifacts we find and make sure that the files are well organized and the facilities are well maintained. The site files are an essential part of archaeology in Georgia because of its curation facilities. They also explained to us how they were adhering to NAGPRA and how they are hoping to expand their efforts and gain a closer connection with the tribes they work with. It was great to see the place that runs GHARGIS and holds all that data.
The presentation and visit from DNR was also a great learning experience. Our StoryMap is going to include a section on the landscape and history of Georgia. Getting a presentation from experts who are familiar with introducing this information to kids and those who do not know much about Georgia’s natural history and landscape helped me see how we can write and organize our StoryMap so it is digestible. We learned about some of the flora and fauna of Georgia and the ways that we can keep track of them. I also got to hold snakes. That was super fun for me.
Overall, this week I had a lot of experiences, all of which I enjoyed so much. To continue with the experiences, we will be going to Ocmulgee next week and we will visit Etowah the following week. We are past the halfway mark of this internship, and I already feel like I have gained more from this summer than I had originally anticipated. Thank you so much for reading and I’ll see you next week!