Explore UT 2015: A Success!

by TARL Staff

Thanks to the efforts of our very own Rosario Casarez, TARL’s involvement with UT’s educational ‘open house’ program was a great success this past Saturday!  Despite the rather chilly and overcast beginning to the day downtown on the main campus, the sun eventually put in an appearance and warmed us up as we manned our tables, answered questions, warded off loaded paintbrushes, made corn husk dolls and handed out information about archeology in Texas.  Arriving early, we put up our tables and mingled with the dedicated anthropology graduate students and then ferreted out the nearest Starbucks (1st floor of the SAC!) to properly fortify ourselves for the morning.

Jonathan Jarvis, our Associate Director, and Susan Dial, editor and project manager of Texas Beyond History, both presented talks in a classroom on the first floor of the CLA building.

As taken from the official Explore UT 2015 schedule: Archaeologist Jonathan Jarvis describes how archaeologists use historic maps and discusses the role of accurate mapping in archaeology today. See how using geospatial tools to locate man-made features below the earth’s surface can help future research.  

And Susan’s talk was a “Detectives into the Past” presentation with Dr. Dirt in which she focused on reconstructing the diet of ancient Texans based on the study of coprolites (preserved human fecal remains).

To get a sense of the kind of turn out that we were a part of at Explore UT please check out this brief video, provided courtesy of UT anthropology graduate student Luisa Aebersold (who also provided the featured image for this post!), on her Twitter feed:  https://twitter.com/luisaaebersold/media

First, there was ‘getting organized:’

ExploreUT2015_settingup_2
Brain and Jonathan considering the myriad options for banner directions (or they were pointing at me to do something and I conveniently didn’t hear).

 

Steven and Marybeth set up the artifact table.
Steven and Marybeth set up the artifact table, displaying the delight all archeologists exhibit when handling Texas material culture in combination with venti lattes.

 

Elizabeth and Jean setting up the materials they will need to create the very popular corn husk dolls.  Susan was attempting to hide in the background until her first presentation at 11am.
Elizabeth and Jean setting up the materials they will need to create the very popular corn husk doll-making activity. Susan was attempting to hide in the background until her first presentation at 11am.  Susan, when you want to hide from people, DON’T wear red!

 

Marybeth was practicing her 'artifact pop-quiz' skills on an unsuspecting Steven in preparation for the tons of children who were glad that there were actually objects they could touch and hold.
Marybeth was practicing her ‘artifact pop-quiz’ skills on an unsuspecting Steven in preparation for the tons of children who were glad that there were actually objects they could touch and hold.

 

Susan made sure that Texas Beyond History was properly represented at this year's Explore UT with lots of handouts and informational material.  Her bookmarks for TBH are always popular!
Susan made sure that Texas Beyond History was properly represented at this year’s Explore UT with lots of handouts and informational material. Her bookmarks for TBH are always popular!

 

...the good news is that we managed to NOT close-line anyone walking  by the TARL banner.
…the good news is that we managed to NOT close-line anyone walking by the TARL banner.

 

Ph.D. candidate Stacy Drake explaining what bones can tell scientists about the people from the past and how they lived.
Ph.D. candidate Stacy Drake explaining what bones can tell scientists about the people from the past and how they lived.  Image provided courtesy of UT anthropology graduate student Luisa Aebersold.

 

Kids had the opportunity to try their hand at grinding dried corn using a mano and metate...and realized  very quickly how much work went into preparing food before McDonald's arrived on the scene.
Kids had the opportunity to try their hand at grinding dried corn using a mano and metate…and realized very quickly how much work went into preparing food before McDonald’s arrived on the scene.  Image provided courtesy of UT anthropology graduate student Luisa Aebersold.

 

As always, Jean was extremely popular at her table where she showed children (and adults!) how to make corn husk dolls.
As always, Jean was extremely popular at her table where she showed children (and adults!) how to make corn husk dolls.  Image provided courtesy of UT anthropology graduate student Luisa Aebersold.

 

Ph.D. candidate Debora Trein working at the table where kids had the chance to write their name in Egyptian hieroglyphs.  We were fortunate to have the opportunity to work side-by-side with the graduate students who have been ensuring a anthropology presence at Explore UT for the last several years.
Ph.D. candidate Debora Trein working at the table where kids had the chance to write their name in Egyptian hieroglyphs. We were fortunate to have the opportunity to work side-by-side with the graduate students who have been ensuring an ‘anthropology presence’ at Explore UT for the last several years.  Image provided courtesy of UT anthropology graduate student Luisa Aebersold.

 

This is a wonderful image of children trying their hand at mending pottery.  It was impressive to watch how focused some of the children would become trying to fit the sherds together to reconstruct parts of the vessels.
This is a wonderful image of children trying their hand at mending pottery. It was impressive to watch how focused some of the children would become trying to fit the sherds together to reconstruct parts of the vessels.  Image provided courtesy of UT anthropology graduate student Luisa Aebersold.

 

Rosario bravely manned the rock art painting table, ducking loaded paint brushes and trying to prevent all of the paint from turning into various shades of brown. Image provided courtesy of UT anthropology graduate student Luisa Aebersold.

 

Rosario had this to say about her very popular activity this year: “The rock art activity consisted of several images of Texas rock art printed on card stock that visitors could paint. The only colors I made available for painting were colors used by Native Americans. So the colors were red, black and as close to ochre as I could mix. They also used white… pigments were made from berries, roots, stones, etc. and I was asked throughout the day if I had made my own paint. I will say no berries were harmed for this activity, but there’s this wonderful stuff called tempera paint! The most popular image the children wanted to paint was the bird, I actually ran out of them. I don’t know what it is about this bird from 41RE14 in Real Co., but it is well liked.”

The image from the site that was so popular?

Bird

 

There was also a tremendous amount of excitement about TxDOT staff archeologist Chris Ringstaff being in attendance to demonstrate flint knapping for the people who attended.  Chris was wonderful at not only demonstrating the various techniques that would have been used by the prehistoric knappers who inhabited Texas, he did a great job of explaining why they did what they did: why they chose the stone they chose, used the tools they used and worked the various kinds of flakes in various ways.  His demonstration was well-attended and all of us took an opportunity to stop and watch this professional archeologist and researcher explain his craft.

 

Chris Ringstaff explaining the use of atlatls (spear throwers).
Chris Ringstaff explaining the use of atlatls (spear throwers).

 

Chris showing the shaft of a "dart" and why selection was so critical to the effectiveness of this tool.
Chris showing the shaft of a “dart” and why selection was so critical to the effectiveness of this tool.

 

Chris shows everyone what the raw materials used were, demonstrating with a  piece of chert.
Chris shows everyone what the raw materials used were, demonstrating with a piece of chert.

 

Chris displaying for attendees the different types of "billets" that would have been used for knapping (parts of the knapper's kit).  They include deer antler "billets" of various sizes for soft percussion and fist-sized "hammer stones" for hard percussion work.
Chris displaying for attendees the different types of “billets” that would have been used for knapping (parts of the knapper’s kit). They include deer antler “billets” of various sizes for soft percussion and fist-sized “hammer stones” for hard percussion work.

 

In this image Chris is preparing a platform for flake removal.
In this image Chris is preparing a platform for flake removal.

 

The same way the knapping would have been practiced by the early inhabitants of Texas, Chris gets to work without the modern comforts of chairs, tables and full gloves.
The same way the knapping would have been practiced by the early inhabitants of Texas, Chris gets to work without the modern comforts of chairs, tables and full gloves.

 

An example of the various kinds of projectile points that would have been made by the prehistoric inhabitants of Texas.  Chris was able to help people to see and learn for themselves the historic, cultural and scientific value of prehistoric material culture, why it was effective and how it evolved.
An example of the various kinds of projectile points that would have been made by the prehistoric inhabitants of Texas. Chris was able to help people to see and learn for themselves the historic, cultural and scientific value of prehistoric material culture, why it was effective and how it evolved.

 

This year’s Explore UT was an opportunity for those of us who work at TARL to make what we do accessible to the public, especially as pertains to using archeology to teach science and social studies to children.  Archeology offers tangible, understandable lessons about the evolution of man, his culture and his technology and TARL staff look forward to other opportunities to work with schools, educators and students to help them appreciate and utilize the wealth of material culture that, in many ways, originated in their own backyards.  Thank you to everyone who came out to contribute and who  participated in making this an opportunity for TARL to renew its ties to the anthropology department and main campus.  We look forward to many more years of educational contributions.

 

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