Category Archives: Education

Education, News & Outreach

TARL Flintknapping Workshop

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This Saturday, TARL held another free, hands-on workshop for experimental archeologists and those interested in learning more about prehistoric lithic technologies. Our flintknapping workshop was led by expert knappers Chris Ringstaff of TxDOT and Dr. Robert Lassen of Texas State University. A dozen or so workshop participants, ranging from undergrads and first-timers to seasoned knappers and professionals, showed up to try their hand at flintknapping.

The instructors covered a variety of knapping techniques including hard- and soft-hammer percussion, pressure flaking, and indirect percussion. They brought several hundred pounds of our local Edwards chert and other raw materials for participants to use. Everyone had a fun day and gained some new insights into prehistoric stone tool production, lithic analysis, and subsistence techniques.

Thank you to our incredible instructors for putting so much time and effort into making this a great workshop!

If you have suggestions for future workshops that would benefit you as a student or archeological professional, please let us know! We want to continue providing useful and fun opportunities to the community.

Education, News & Outreach

Upcoming Events for Spring 2017

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TARL is looking for student researchers and volunteers for two upcoming events this spring semester. Want to present your independent research or share your love of archeology with others? Here’s your chance!

UT Research Week 2017
April 19-21

UT Research Week is a chance for undergraduates to present their research and find new research opportunities. This year, TARL will be hosting a table at the Longhorn Research Bazaar (April 19) for students who want to present research. We’ll also be passing out information about volunteer and internship opportunities at TARL during this event. If we have a lot of students with research they want to share, we may organize a symposium as well!

If you’re interested in presenting research or helping disseminate information at this event, please get in touch with us today!

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Explore UT 2017
March 4

Explore UT is an annual event designed to give young students a taste of university life. TARL joins in the fun every year with several tables full of hands-on archeological activities. This year we’ll be doing rock art, beaded bracelets, and more. We need volunteers to help! Students and adults are welcome; no experience needed.

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To volunteer for one of these activities, please email us at FriendsofTARL@utexas.edu, or leave a comment below.

We hope to see you there!

Education, News & Outreach

Year-end Membership Discounts! Join the Friends of TARL Today!

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Preserve Texas’ archeological legacy with your year-end giving.

The Friends of TARL helps create public outreach and educational opportunities.
The Friends of TARL helps create public outreach and educational opportunities.

The Friends of TARL is a membership organization that supports the work of the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory. In this time of funding cuts for research and education, your support can help TARL preserve archeological collections, provide educational opportunities for students, protect endangered archeological sites, and build public awareness and engagement in archeology.
If you haven’t joined the Friends of TARL yet, now is a great time!

From now through December 31, we’re offering 10% off all Friends of TARL memberships.

Member benefits include our quarterly newsletter, discounts on TARL merchandise, scholarship eligibility (for students), and invitations to TARL events. Membership costs are tax-deductible. All funds from Friends of TARL memberships will be used directly for scholarship and public outreach costs–not for salaries or overhead.

Regular Membership: $50 (NOW $45)

Retiree Membership: $30 (NOW $27)

Student Membership: $20 (NOW $18)
(Currently enrolled undergraduate or grad students only, please)

Click here to join the Friends of TARL. 

Important: Choose “Texas Archeological Research Laboratory (TARL)” under “Sub Department” to ensure that your donation goes to TARL.

Learn more about the Friends of TARL.

Education, News & Outreach

Announcing the Texas Archeology Month Fair!

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TARL is excited to announce that in partnership with the Texas Historical Commission, we’ll be hosting a public Archeology Fair to celebrate this year’s Texas Archeology Month! This exciting event will take place on Saturday, October 22, 2016 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. here at the J.J. Pickle Research Campus. Our Fair will feature hands-on activities for kids and adults, demonstrations from experimental archaeologists, and displays that highlight Texas’ rich archeological history.

Fair Details:
Date: October 22, 2016
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Cost: FREE!

The Texas Archeology Month Fair will be held at the main soccer field on the Pickle Research Campus.
See the map below for location & parking details.

The Pickle Research Campus is located in north Austin near the Domain shopping center, just west of MoPac at the corner of Burnet Road and Braker Lane.
The Pickle Research Campus is located in north Austin near the Domain shopping center, just west of MoPac at the corner of Burnet Road and Braker Lane.

 

Planned booths and activities for the fair include:

  • Mock excavation units
  • Flintknapping (making stone tools)
  • Atlatl throwing
  • Osteology & mock burials
  • Native plants
  • Rock art
  • Fire drilling
  • Ancient foodways
  • Artifact identification
  • Exhibits on various archaeological sites in Texas
  • And much more!

We need volunteers to help this day go smoothly! To volunteer as either an activity leader, table presenter, or general volunteer, please email lauren.bussiere@utexas.edu.

 

Thank you to our event partners:

 

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Llano Uplift Archaeological Society

 

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TARL staff and our community of professional archaeologists love teaching the public about archeology. We are all excited for this fun event!

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Education, TARL Staff

Archaeological Methods Workshop – Osteology

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This week, TARL held the first workshop in a series about archaeological methods! We worked together with the UT Anthropology Department to further TARL’s educational goals and provide a collaborative space to enhance UT graduate students’ field skills. TARL Head of Collections Marybeth Tomka, and TARL staff Stacy Drake and Debora Trein led a 2 hour seminar on principles of osteology in archaeology, which included an in-depth discussion of topics such as NAGPRA legislation, cultural sensitivity awareness, and the duties of archaeologists to the state, the public, and stakeholder communities in private and academic settings. Best practices in excavation, analysis, and curation of human remains was also a topic of great discussion, as most workshop participants have had experience with human remains in archaeological contexts from all over the country and the world.

After the essentials of bone and teeth analysis were discussed, workshop participants were given the opportunity to hone their analytic skills by examining a number of specimens under TARL’s curation. The study of ancient human remains is an extraordinarily informative field, giving archaeologists a window into a person’s life. Human remains provide information that may include a person’s age, lifestyle, diet, place of dwelling, occupation, among and other highly significant knowledge about ancient lifeways. Importantly, human remains can also be employed to study entire populations over time. Human remains can provide archaeologists information about long-term trends such as the impact of the introduction of agriculture on a population’s health and nutrition, for instance.

This was the first of many workshops, which will hopefully be just as informative! Stay tuned for next week’s workshop on survey.