Roadshow collects information for research
The USU Museum of Anthropology held its first Artifacts Roadshow Saturday hoping to collect valuable information about local archeology.
Bonnie Pitblado, professor of anthropology, said the department had two goals in creating the roadshow. The first goal was to continue their Saturday community outreach program and the second was to expand research of the earliest humans. She said the earliest humans came from the northern Utah region during the Paleoindian Era, 8,000 to 12,000 years ago.
“What we really, really, really want is for people to bring in stuff that’s old and tell us where they found it,” Pitblado said.
Pitblado said this information is important so researchers can explore these artifact-rich areas and expand their understanding of the Paleoindian Era. She said ranchers and farmers will sometimes find artifacts while working in their fields and the roadshow will give researchers an opportunity to find out about these areas.
Spearheads are the most common artifacts found from the Paleoindian Era, Pitblado said, though finding one is very rare.
“I’ve found like one in my whole life,” Pitblado said.
The Utah Museum of Natural History did something similar to USU’s roadshow, Pitblado said, and USU also modeled their event like the Antiques Roadshow. She said she hoped at least 60 people would attend the event and she hoped the university will turn the roadshow into an annual event.
“We all have our favorite trash, and my favorite trash is 10,000 years old,” Pitblado said.
Ashley Smith, senior in anthropology, said 211 people ended up attending the roadshow. The event was held in the Museum of Anthropology in the Old Main building. Professors from the anthropology department each had a table set up and invited guests to sit and talk with them about their collections. Chris Morgan, professor of anthropolgy, said he volunteered to analyze artifacts at the roadshow Saturday.
“It’s a lot of fun, it’s very informal,” he said. “We get a lot of face time with the people.”
Dennis and Kris Morgan drove to Logan from Ogden in order to participate Saturday. The two brought their collection of about 40 arrowheads and other artifacts, Dennis said, and they found most of these arrowheads while searching for rocks like opals and sapphires. Kris said they learned the dates and stone types of the arrowheads they found in northern Utah and Nevada.
“The ones we like weren’t necessarily the exciting ones (to the professors),” Kris said.
The professors took notes and pictures of particular artifacts of interest for further research.
The event also included activities for the kids. They wore plastic safari hats and made Egyptian cartouche, Native American cordage and doodled on coloring pages.
“The things we did were educational, but also parents could talk to professors without worrying about their kids,” said Allyson Martin, freshman in anthropology who worked at the activities tables.
Pitblado said she thinks guests will start small, bringing in only small parts of their collections, until they learn they can trust the professors with their artifacts.
“People around here have amazing collections,” she said. “We see this as a beginning, a way to plant the seed.”
For more information about research or to learn more about personal collections contact Pitblado at 797-1496.
–rac.ch@aggiemail.usu.edu