Colorado Project Archaeology: First Year
The Institute for Heritage Education has completed the first year of a three-year cooperative agreement with the Colorado Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The overall goal of the project is to expand the geographic and educational reach of Project Archaeology (PA) in the state; the year one project was to organize and manage a four-day PA professional development institute for educators in Grand Junction.
In late June, thirteen educators from Colorado and neighboring states, gathered for the institute, which was held at Grand Junction’s Museums of the West. One teacher came all the way from Iowa to attend the event! Master Project Archaeology Teachers Sam Kirkley and Rachel Smith showed participants how to implement three Project Archaeology curricula (Investigating Shelter, Investigating a Basin House, and Investigating Rock Art) in their classrooms. Descendant community members Aldean and Wanda Ketchum, from the White Mountain Ute and Navajo (Diné) tribes respectively, showed teachers the connections between the archaeological record and the contemporary lives of Indigenous peoples. A field trip led by BLM archaeologist Natasha Krasnow to two local archaeological sites illustrated the range of shelter types in the area from pre-contact rock shelters to historic cabins and demonstrated how to conduct field learning with students.
The year one project included correlation of the Project Archaeology materials with the new Colorado Academic Standards from the Colorado Department of Education. The correlation will be widely available to Colorado teachers via the Project Archaeology website and other media and will help Colorado teachers implement the curricula in their classrooms and meet requirements in the process.
In addition to BLM’s significant funding for the institute, the event benefitted greatly from the contributions of the Museums of the West, which provided meeting space at very low cost, and Metcalf Archaeology/Factor Earth, the sponsor of food and drink for institute breaks.
In 2023, year two of the project, we will produce a rock art investigation to supplement Investigating Rock Art using a panel from the BLM Rocky Mountain District region. In 2024, year three, we will present two professional development workshops for educators to distribute the new investigation and the Investigating Rock Art curriculum.
We look forward to working with the Colorado BLM and Colorado educators to complete the work under the agreement and expand access to archaeology education throughout the state.
