October is Texas Archaeology Month and the El Paso Museum of Archaeology will let young archaeologists explore this field with hands on activities at the Downtown Art and Farmer’s Market.
The El Paso Museum of Archaeology is partnering with the Downtown Farmer’s Market on Saturday, October 3, and Saturday, October 17, 2015, to bring educational activities to market visitors. These programs have been made possible through a generous grant from the Council of Texas Archaeologists.
October 3: Stratigraphy Jars. This activity will introduce young participants in methods of relative dating, as well as teach them about the various archaeological period classifications. Participants will be given a small jar and lid and challenged to learn as much as they can about each time period. Participants will then fill their small jar with colorful sand that has been dyed to correspond with a particular time period and type of artifact. Upon completion of this activity, the participants will be able to keep their jar, not only as a way to remember their lesson, but to remind them of the archaeological presence in El Paso.
October 17: Table-Top Excavation. The Table-Top Excavations activity will allow participants to “excavate” pieces of faux artifacts, identify its matching parts, and glue them together. Upon finding the matching pieces, participants will then glue them together and keep the completed pot as a souvenir.
Every Saturday: Visitors to the El Paso Museum of Archaeology can enhance their experience with free public tours. Knowledgeable docents will lead any interested visitors on a 45-minute guided tour. The museum is located at 4301 Transmountain Road in Northeast El Paso.
Texas Archaeology Month is an annual celebration of the rich Archaeological history of Texas. Organizations across the state will devote special programs and activities to promote to education and exposure of Texas archaeology.
Author: City of El Paso
