Archeology Information for Kids
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Start with a group of kids that range in ages from elementary to junior high.
Add adult supervisors, toss in generous helpings of cool activities planned and
directed by a Youth Coordinator and you have the makings of great week of
archeological experiences at a Texas Archeological Society Field School.
For those of you who were wondering if a TAS Field School was a
good place to bring kids. YOU BET IT IS!
During the 2003 Field School at Presidio San Sabá in Menard the youth group
directed by Mr. Neal Stilley involved lots of fun and learning.
- Learned how to lay out excavation units, and dig with trowels
- Throwing darts with atlatls
- Learned how to keep record level information and collect
artifacts
- Learned how Indians started fires with friction and cooked
using boiling stones
- Saw how Spanish colonial soldiers lived and worked
- Throwing rabbit sticks
- Learned about different types of Spanish Colonial artifacts
- Visited Fort McKavett ab 1870s Texas Fort
- Learned about tree ring dating
- Heard Native American stories and legends
- Visited the mission San Sabá site
One of the highlights of this year's field school was the youth group play on
Thursday night. Traditionally the youth sing the song Titanic. As an
addition to the evening program the kids reenacted the history of the Presidio
San Sabá for the adults, with a complete cast of characters—Spanish soldiers and
priests, Lipan Apaches and Comanches, and even the intrepid Field School
Archeologists Grant Hall and Tamra Walter.
In addition to the organized activities, there is plenty of time
for the youth to play and swim in the nearby "swimming hole". Many kids
develop friendships they renew every year as an extended family. The TAS
Field School is truly a family affair.
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