Lark Pinney
Managing Editor
On Saturday, Oct. 23, the College’s Archaeology Student Colloquium (ASC) hosted Archaeology Day, a celebration of a semi-return to normal and all things archaeology. Every October, the American Institute of Archaeology, which the College of Wooster is a part of, hosts International Archaeology Day, and this year was no different. The event was open to students, faculty, staff and families. In past years, this event has been open to the broader Wooster community, but due to low vaccination rates and high transmission rates of COVID-19 in the county, the event was limited to members of the College of Wooster. Visiting assistant professor of Archaeology and Anthropology Siavash Samei hopes that “in the future, we will have the right conditions to open Archaeology Day once again to the broader public.” Despite the smaller number of attendees, the day was still a bone-ified success.
There were a variety of activities and stations for attendees to engage with. Two of the most popular demonstrations were by Steve Kitchen—an archaeologist, flint-knapper and local celebrity who taught students how to use an antler to make sharp flakes out of volcanic glass and obsidian. Kitchen is a community member who has been coming to the College for years to give his demonstrations on flint-knapping and share his collection of arrowheads collected from around the Midwest. Anabelle Andersen ’22, co-president of the Archaeology Student Colloquium, shared that “in the pre-Covid era, Steve would also audit classes at the College!” This author is proud to report that she made an obsidian flake and Kitchen told her she did pretty well for a beginner. The other fan-favorite activity was the atlatl throwing. Atlatls are tools used by some Indigenous communities in North America to throw spears. Experts showed attendees how to properly use them and gave them the opportunity to throw one out onto the Scot Center Promenade. Even President Sarah Bolton got involved and tried her hand at atlatl throwing!
There were also less adventurous stations, including a table from the Summit County Historical Society. Representatives from the historical society displayed artifacts from their collection and gave out information about how interested students could volunteer and get involved. The archaeology lab also brought out their camel skeleton, while students in the major shared what they did this summer.
Organizers were very pleased with how it went. Andersen and ASC’s goals for the event were for students to be able to “see and handle objects from a variety of specializations so that they might learn what facet of archaeology they are most interested in.” The group also “wanted to make the displays legible for people who aren’t studying it! For this, we had the cool displays, and people could interact with anything they wanted and as much or as little as they wanted!” There was something for everyone: history, pottery, a sandbox and more. Overall, Andersen “wanted to celebrate archaeology in a way that was accessible for all and could be shared with all, regardless of prior knowledge or experience.”
Majors and non-majors alike were thrilled to be able to have an in-person event this year. Archaeology major Olivia Frison de Angelis ’23 shared that although “there was Archaeology Day online last year, so much of what makes Archaeology Day the wonderful interactive experience it is is the hands-on aspect. I’m really happy we were able to interact with people in-person this year so they could pick up artifacts and flint-knap their own tools and connect with the materials on a much more personal level.”
If students want to get involved in the department, the Archaeology Student Colloquium meets every other Tuesday at 11am in Kauke 039. The next general meeting is on Nov. 2, and the group is open to anyone who is interested.