Project Archaeology
Facilitator Workshop
Project Archaeology held its first facilitator training workshop in the Smithsonian’s Department of Anthropology on February 8 and 9, 2008. Co-sponsored by the Department of Anthropology and the Kentucky Archaeological Survey, the workshop was attended by twenty individuals representing several institutions including the Maryland Historical Trust, Montgomery College of Maryland, Maryland National Capitol Park and Planning Department, D.C. Public Schools, Versar, Inc., Kansas State University, and the Smithsonian Institution. National Project Archaeology director Jeanne Moe and archaeologist Gwynn Henderson from the Kentucky Archaeological Survey conducted the two-day training. Maureen Malloy, coordinator for Project Archaeology in the Chesapeake region, organized the workshop.
Teacher Workshop
In June 2007 Project Archaeology and the Department of Anthropology sponsored a two-day teacher workshop on African American archaeology geared to upper elementary teachers with ethnically diverse classrooms.
Seventeen upper elementary teachers with multi-ethnic classrooms attended the workshop, which focused on an excavated slave quarters at Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest. Over the two days, the teachers practiced the basics of scientific inquiry and then assumed roles as archaeologists using geography, history (including oral history), and archaeology in their investigation of the slave cabin. They analyzed artifacts and historic structures incorporating information on soil chemistry, spatial reasoning, ethnobotany, and zoology. They also explored the ethics of conducting scientific research on past cultures and peoples and participated in role playing. The subject of enslaved people prompted lively discussions as several teachers shared stories of their family’s personal histories. Instructors were Jeanne Moe, director of Project Archaeology at Montana State University in Bozeman, and Maureen Malloy, program coordinator for this regional office. Guest speaker Kirsti Uulina of Calvert County Department of Planning and Zoning, gave a presentation on “African American Archaeology in the Chesapeake Region.”
For more information on Project Archaeology programs, contact Maureen Malloy at malloym@si.edu or call (202) 633-1917.
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