Applications for Archaeology Summer Institute in Wisconsin Due March 1

Exploring the Past: Archaeology in the Upper Mississippi River Valley
July 9-27, 2012
La Crosse, WI

Walking beside thousand-year-old burial mounds, flaking raw stone into tools, learning how potsherds tell us about human behavior, and understanding how humans adapt to complex, ever-changing environments, ­our 2012 NEH Summer Institute features all this and more.

The Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse will offer a three-week NEH Summer Institute on July 9-27, 2012.  This dynamic learning experience for K-12 teachers will explore how Native Americans and Euro-Americans have adapted to the Upper Mississippi River Valley over the past 13,500 years, and how archaeology leads to an understanding of how human cultures change and adapt through time.

The Institute will feature a one-day excavation experience, field trips to archaeological sites, hands-on laboratory and workshop activities, demonstrations, and classroom activities. Individual projects will help participants tailor the content to their own teaching areas. NEH Summer Scholars receive a $2,700 stipend to help offset their expenses.

Application and other information on the Institute will be available online at http://www.uwlax.edu/mvac/neh.htm.  The deadline for applications is March 1, 2012.

Applications for Archaeology Summer Institute in Colorado Due March 1

Bridging Cultures: Diversity and Unity in the Pueblo World
Professional development for K-12 educators and graduate students
June 24–July 14, 2012
Cortez, CO

Join us at the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center in southwestern Colorado for an extraordinary professional-development opportunity for educators. The program is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) which provides stipends to cover all expenses. The faculty will include educators, archaeologists, and American Indian scholars.  For more information visit NEHsummer2012, e-mail us at NEHsummer2012@crowcanyon.org, or call 970.564.4346.  Application deadline is March 1, 2012 (postmark). Prospective applicants can access more information and the online Participant Application Cover Sheet on the NEH Web site.

Registration Open for Girls Discover….Archaeology! at COSI April 9

“We have to give students the opportunity to engage in authentic, real-world learning experiences…The student has to see the connections between her various classes…and the world beyond the school walls.”
Lance Rougeux, quoted in “Engaging Girls in STEM,” by Bridget McCrea, THE Journal.

On Saturday, April 9, middle-school girls will have the opportunity to do just that at COSI. COSI’s Girls Discover…Archaeology! is a day-long STEM career exploration program that’s just for girls in grades 6-8. Girls will meet professional and student archaeologists, explore careers in archaeology, and have a great time learning and meeting new friends. Scholarships are available, too. Learn more at http://www.cosi.org/educators/mentoring/girlsdiscover/

Public Comment on Designating Ohio Earthworks as UNESCO World Heritage Sites Open Until January 12

(From Marti Chaatsmith at the Newark Earthworks Center)

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

The process to recognize Ohio’s monumental, indigenous, and ancient earthwork sites has entered a new phase toward UNESCO World Heritage designation, and we need your help.

A federal government “Comment Period” was announced in the Federal Register [below], and is open until January 12, 2011, during which we can all help influence which sites from the Department of Interior’s current “US Tentative List” are advanced.(1)   Four of the Ohio earthworks complexes are on this list:  Serpent Mound, the Newark Earthworks, Fort Ancient, and the earthworks at Hopewell Culture National Historical Park in Chillicothe (including Mound City).  Some descriptive information about these sites, in terms of the UNESCO criteria, is attached below for your reference,(2) or you can find more information and pictures in the detailed itineraries at:   www.ancientohiotrail.org or in the various entries at:   www.ohiohistorycentral.org.

The simplest way to comment is to send an e-mail to Jonathan Putnam in the Office of International Affairs (National Park Service, 1201 Eye Street NW (0050), Washington, DC 20005, tel . 202-354-1908):  jonathan_putnam@nps.gov

Also please copy me at the Newark Earthworks Center: chaatsmith.1@osu.edu or chaatsmith@yahoo.com, and if you can, also our Ohio congressional delegation.   Background resources including congressional (paper mail) contact information is available at:  www.ohiohistory.org/worldheritage.

The Ohio UNESCO Committee (on which I serve) is hopeful that the earthworks will be selected to go forward, so we are now actively preparing nomination materials for the complete draft deadline on July 15, 2011. We hope that you will participate in this nomination by contributing written materials, images, video, etc., over the next few months. If we’re successful, this timeline would result in inscription by UNESCO during 2013.  This would be a major achievement for Ohio.

Your email letter (again, due January 12) might incorporate the following points listed below.  There is an example letter at the end of this email that you can use as a basic outline and personalize it to articulate your particular and specific perspective:

1. Urge the Department of Interior to nominate these Ohio earthwork sites to UNESCO at the next opportunity, by virtue of their clear manifestations of “outstanding universal value” as significant, unique, and meaningful cultural and landscape architectural monuments, and works of “human creative genius”.
2. Emphasize that these Ohio sites are the pre-eminent examples of major earthwork types (effigy, hilltop enclosure, and geometric enclosure), and are worthy of World Heritage status, and that monumental earthworks are a building type currently under-represented on the UNESCO list.
3. Identify yourself with your qualifications and affiliations.
4. (Optional) If you feel, as I do, that the earthworks would be a stronger case if they were combined into a single nomination before going forward to UNESCO in Paris (instead of remaining two separate nominations as they now stand on the “US Tentative List”: one for Serpent Mound, another for the Hopewell sites), you might also mention this.

World Heritage status will help to ensure the preservation of these sites for future generations, and will benefit Ohio and the US via the increased appreciation and tourism that will result from this recognition.  This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to list these Ohio sites alongside other cultural resources of outstanding universal value, including Stonehenge, the Pyramids of Giza, and the Cahokia Mounds.

Please also pass this message along via any related list-serves or organizations, and to any other friends or colleagues who you think might be helpful.

Once again briefly, the Summary Version:

1. Send your e-mail Jonathan Putnam before January 12
2. Send a cc to: Marti Chaatsmith at the Newark Earthworks Center.
3. Forward this message to others.
4. Send copies to our senators and to your congressman (if you live in Ohio).

Thanks for your help with this important effort.  If you have any questions please let me know.  Thank you!

—–

(1)  The Federal Register notice is available at:  http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-31316.pdf.

(2)  The following Ohio earthworks are included in the nomination(s):

• The earthworks at Newark Ohio (built by the Ohio Hopewell Culture between ca. 100 BC and AD 300) include the 1200-foot-diameter Great Circle with its steep inner ditch and monumental framed gateway, plus the Octagon Earthworks – a perfect circle and adjoining octagon over a half-mile across – whose perfectly formed, eye-level embankments align with all eight of the key rise- and set-points of the moon during its 18.6-year cycle, within a smaller margin of error than that at Stonehenge.
• The Hopewell-era hilltop enclosure of Fort Ancient is the largest and best-preserved structure of its kind in the world.  Three miles of sinuous earthen embankments include 67 stone-lined gateways, and are accompanied by a continuous necklace of clay-lined ponds.  Pairs of mounds create three distinctive monumental gateways; four other stone-covered mounds form a perfect square aligned to solar and lunar events.
• The geometric enclosures at Hopewell Culture National Historical Park near Chillicothe Ohio (Mound City, Hopewell, Seip, Hopeton, and High Bank) are the most spectacular concentration of such sites, and illustrate subtle spatial variations of the arrangement of mounds and enclosing squares and circles.  They’ve also yielded dazzling artifacts – among the most outstanding art objects produced in pre-Columbian North America – made with raw materials (such as mica and obsidian) brought to Ohio from far away, and indicating that these sites were important ceremonial centers in communication with much of the continent.
• Serpent Mound (probably built about 800 years after the Hopewell-era sites) is the largest documented surviving example of an ancient effigy mound in the world.  While part of the tradition of effigy building among some American Indian cultures in what is now the eastern United States, this site is the greatest masterpiece of that tradition both here and elsewhere in the world.  The sinuous, artistically-striking monumental sculpture is more than 1,200 feet long.  Its scale and elegance are without peer.  It embodies fundamental spiritual and cosmological principles that still resonate with many today, including astronomical alignments that mark the seasons.

These Ancient Ohio monuments are the largest earthworks in the world that are not fortifications or defensive structures.  Together these earthwork sites present the pre-eminent examples of ancient earthwork building in its three major forms:  hilltop enclosures, geometric enclosures, and effigies.  They represent the climax of the Woodland Period cultures of North America.  Their extraordinary size, beauty, and precision make them outstanding examples of architectural form, landscape design, and human creative genius, worthy of inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Sample Letter:

(Date)

Mr. Jonathan Putnam
Office of International Affairs
National Park Service
1201 Eye Street NW (0050)
Washington, DC 20005

Phone: 202-354-1809
Fax: 202-371-1446
Email:  jonathan_putnam@nps.gov

Dear Mr. Putnam:

The process of having significant Ohio earthworks inscribed on the World Heritage List has reached another important milestone.  The U.S. Department of the Interior announced in the Federal Register on December 14, 2010 that it is considering whether to forward any nominations for properties on the U.S. Tentative List to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre.  I recommend that the Ohio earthwork nominations be forwarded for consideration in 2013 by the World Heritage Committee.

The U.S. Tentative List transmitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre on January 24, 2008 includes several Ohio properties that qualify for World Heritage status and which should be nominated by the United States to the World Heritage List. The list includes Serpent Mound as well as nine Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks including Fort Ancient, Mound City Group, Seip Earthworks, Hopeton Earthworks, Hopewell Mound Group, High Bank Works and the Newark Earthworks (Octagon Earthworks, Great Circle Earthworks, and Wright Earthworks).

The Ohio Historical Society and their partners are preparing the necessary documentation for nomination of these Ohio earthwork sites and will be ready to submit substantially complete drafts by the next deadline, July 15, 2011.

These sites should be nominated at this time for the following reasons:

• These Ohio sites are the pre-eminent examples of earthworks and are worthy of World Heritage status.
• Serpent Mound is an artistically striking monumental sculpture. Its scale and elegance are without peer.  It incorporates solstice and equinox alignments that evidence a sophisticated knowledge of astronomy.  It is the foremost expression of effigy mound building in North America and perhaps the world.
• The Hopewell ceremonial sites bear exceptional testimony to the sophisticated Hopewell culture that occupied the tributary valleys of tributaries of the Ohio River between 200 BCE and 500 CE.
• These extraordinarily large and precisely geometric earthworks are outstanding examples of an architectural form and landscape design that represents the climax of the Woodland Period cultures (1-1000 CE) in North America.
• The form, positioning, and alignments of all of these Ohio earthworks represent unique integration of the cosmological beliefs and knowledge, monumental sculpture, and landscape design of these ancient Ohio peoples.
• World Heritage status will help to ensure preservation of these sites for future generations.
• Ohio and the nation will benefit from the increased tourism which will result from this recognition

For these reasons I recommend that you nominate these properties to the World Heritage List to be considered by the World Heritage Committee in 2013.

Sincerely,

Marti

Marti Chaatsmith, Program Coordinator
Newark Earthworks Center
Ohio State University at Newark
1179 University Drive
Newark, OH  43055
chaatsmith.1@osu.edu
office:  740.364.9575
Fax:     740.366.6692
cell:  614-563-9375

Teacher Summer Institute “Bridging Cultures: Diversity and Unity in the Pueblo World” July 17-August 6

Bridging Cultures is an immersive experience located in the heart of the Pueblo world; this deeply contextualized study allows us to closely examine essential concepts related to cultural diversity and unity. Authentic research experiences will shed light on ways that anthropologists reconstruct Pueblo history and conceptualize the boundaries of cultural identity. The contributions of Pueblo scholars, and visits to ancient and modern Pueblo communities, provide a window into how Pueblo culture formed, how it has endured, and how it is expressed in diverse communities today. This institute showcases an important example of how locally situated differences can be maintained and simultaneously assimilated into a larger cultural whole.

During week one of the institute, we will focus on core subject matter and introduce the faculty members who guide our study. We will explain and clarify the required readings and assignments, and provide an orientation to the resources available at Crow Canyon. Throughout this week, we will work on developing basic knowledge through experiences with artifact assemblages, visits to key archaeological sites including Mesa Verde National Park, and participation in Crow Canyon’s current research project that is examining the origins of Pueblo culture.

In week two of the institute, we will move beyond the immediate area around Mesa Verde and examine the tremendous growth and change that occurred during the Pueblo II time period—focusing particularly on the interactions with people from the large settlements in and around Chaco Canyon. Along with archaeologists who are specialists from each of these regions and Pueblo scholars, we will visit sites within Chaco Canyon, as well as sites further north that reflect Chacoan characteristics. Some of the sites we will visit in week two are among the largest and most elaborate constructed by ancient Pueblo people, and they all contain the remains of buildings that today are referred to as great houses. Visiting these great-house sites provides the setting whereby we can explore the cultural diversity that comprised the ancient Pueblo world and examine how Pueblo culture was shaped by interaction among diverse groups, including those far to the south in Central America.

Week three of the institute focuses on migration and the connections between the Pueblo past and present. Institute faculty will guide the examination of these topics using evidence from multiple sources; we will rely particularly on the expertise of the Pueblo scholars who will be our hosts as we visit their home villages of Santa Clara and Cochiti. They will also be our guides as we visit some ancient villages in the region that are part of their cultural/historical legacy. In order to have easy access to these locations, we will spend two nights in northern New Mexico.

We will be selecting 25 teachers of grades K-12 from throughout the United States. They will be chosen for the breadth of their interests, experiences, and skills. The group will represent a wide range of ethnic, racial, geographic, and gender diversity. Each NEH Summer Scholar will receive a $2,700 stipend to cover the cost of travel and living expenses for the institute. We will also offer the option of earning graduate credit for an additional fee.

Further description of the program can be found in the institute’s Dear Colleague letter. For more information about this program, please e-mail us at NEHsummer2011@crowcanyon.org. Application deadline is March 1, 2011.

Winter Solstice Science in Ohio

Looking for science with a local connection? Look no further than Ohio’s ancient earthworks and the upcoming Winter Solstice:

• “It’s That Most Wonderful Time of the Year” from Ohio Archaeology Blog
• “Lighting the Serpent: Celebrate the Winter Solstice at Serpent Mound” from Ohio Historical Society
• “Archaeoastronomy Sites” from Lafayette Science Museum
• “Ohio earthen embankments show evidence of sophisticated ancient culture” from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Teacher Summer Institute “Exploring the Past: Archaeology in the Upper Mississippi River Valley” July 11-29

Walking beside thousand-year-old burial mounds, flaking raw stone into tools, learning how potsherds tell us about human behavior, and understanding how humans adapt to complex, ever-changing environments—our 2011 NEH Summer Institute features all this and more.

The Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse will offer a three-week NEH Summer Institute on July 11–29, 2011. This dynamic learning experience for K-12 teachers will explore how Native Americans and Euro-Americans have adapted to the Upper Mississippi River Valley over the past 13,500 years, and how archaeology leads to an understanding of how human cultures change and adapt through time.

The Institute will feature a one-day excavation experience, field trips to archaeological sites, hands-on laboratory and workshop activities, demonstrations, and classroom activities. Individual projects will help participants tailor the content to their own teaching areas. Participants receive a $2,700 stipend to help offset their expenses.

Application and other information on the Institute is available online at http://www.uwlax.edu/mvac/neh.htm. The deadline for applications is March 1, 2011.

Summer Solstice Science in Ohio

With the summer solstice only a few days away (Monday, June 21 at 7:28am), here are some ways to mark the event in Ohio:

• Summer Solstice Sunrise at Fort Ancient (Sunday, June 20, 5:30am-7:30am): “Celebrate the longest day of summer at Fort Ancient with programs for morning birds! At dawn, view the archaeoastronomical alignment of the earthworks with the sunrise and learn its importance to the Fort Ancient and Hopewell cultures.”
• The head of Serpent Mound is aligned to the summer solstice sunset.

Newark Earthworks Day and Octagon Earthworks Open House October 17-18

The Newark Earthworks are the largest set of geometric earthworks in the world. Built two thousand years ago by ancestors of today’s Native Americans, these massive walls encode sophisticated knowledge of geometry and align with the movements of the moon. On the weekend of October 17-18, Newark Earthworks Center of The Ohio State University at Newark will provide two opportunities for the public to learn more about the Newark Earthworks.

1) Newark Earthworks Day (Saturday, October 17)

The John Gilbert Reese Center
The Ohio State University at Newark
Newark, Ohio 43055

• Guests are invited to register in the lobby starting at 8:30 A.M.
• The opening processional will begin in the brick circle outside the Warner Center and conclude in the Reese Center.
• The presentations listed below will be in the Alford Performing Arts Hall in the Reese Center.
• The art exhibit “Pilgrimage through the Centuries” will be in the LeFevre Art Gallery.
• An electronic exhibit on the “Ancient Ohio Trail” will be in Reese Room 149.
• Projects by elementary school children and other exhibits and vendors will be in the Reese Center Ballroom 125 A-G.
• Refreshments are available in the Reese Center Cafe.

Schedule of Events

9:00-9:30: Opening Processional featuring Walkers and elementary school students. Welcome

9:30-10:30: “Why Go There? Pilgrimage around the World and through the Centuries” Lindsay Jones, Professor of Comparative Studies, The Ohio State University

10:45-11:45: “Newark Earthworks as a Place of Pilgrimage” Bradley Lepper, Curator of Archaeology, Ohio Historical Society

12:00-1:00: LUNCH Free time to browse the Art Exhibit and other exhibits.

1:00-1:45: “Crossing to the Land of Spirit: Ohio Earthworks and the Path of Souls” William Romain, Research Associate, Newark Earthworks Center

1:50-2:50: “Reflections on the Walk with the Ancients” Vincent Stanzione, Independent Anthropologist, and Walkers

3:00-4:00: KEYNOTE SPEAKER: “Shawnee Removal from Ohio — and Return” Glenna Wallace, Chief of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma

4:00-4:30: Closing Ceremony

2) Octagon Earthworks Open House (Sunday, October 18)

“Each year there are only four days that the Octagon Earthworks are open to the general public.  This autumn,  one of those dates, October 18th, falls on the weekend of Newark Earthworks Day.  Come join us at the Octagon for tours, music, and leisurely walks around the site at 125 N. 33rd Street, Newark, OH.”

For more information about Newark Earthworks Day and the Octagon Earthworks Open House, see http://www.newark.osu.edu/earthworks/Pages/NED.aspx or email earthworks@osu.edu

October is Ohio Archaeology Month

Ohio Archaeology Month “promotes awareness of Ohio’s cultural heritage as revealed through nearly 200 years of archaeological research.” Events throughout the state highlight archaeological research and include tours of excavations, artifact identification days, archaeology presentations, historical re-enactments, exhibits, and more. The celebration kicks off with events in Tiffin showing archaeology in action and culminates on October 31 and November 1 with the Ohio Archaeological Council’s Fall Conference in Newark. Event locations around the state include

• Cleveland Museum of Natural History
• COSI (Columbus)
• Fort Recovery State Museum
• Gorge Metro Park Shelter (Cuyahoga Falls)
• Grammes-Brown House (Tiffin)
• Hopewell Culture National Historical Park (Chillicothe)
• Ohio Historical Center (Columbus)
• Reese Center at the Ohio State University (Newark)
• SunWatch Indian Village/Archaeological Park (Dayton)
• Wayne National Forest Supervisor’s Office/Athens Ranger Station (Nelsonville).

A complete schedule can be found at the Ohio Archaeological Council website at http://www.ohioarchaeology.org