Program
OverviewLiving Archaeology Weekend (LAW) is a free, annual, two-day public outreach event held in the Daniel Boone National Forest at the Gladie Historic Site in the Red River Gorge of eastern Kentucky. One of few public archaeology education programs of its magnitude in Kentucky, LAW offers school children and the general public a variety of educational activities in American Indian lifeways, archaeological interpretation, and site preservation. The program is delivered along the picturesque banks of Gladie Creek. This nationally recognized program was honored in 2007 with the USFS Southern Region Forest Service Interpreter and Conservation Educator of the Year Award for Program Coordinator Johnny Faulkner’s contributions. In 2008 the program was nominated for a public education award from the Society for American Archaeology.
Program History
LAW began in 1989 as a cooperative undertaking of the U.S. Forest Service, the Red River Historical Society, and the Kentucky Heritage Council. Held in a Gorge rockshelter for the first six years, the program served 200-325 participants and was delivered by 5-11 presenters who demonstrated primitive technologies and gave slide presentations about diverse archaeology topics. The event was funded by the U.S. Forest Service and the Kentucky Heritage Council with an annual budget between $4,000 and $6,000.
Since 1995 the venue for LAW has been the Gladie Historic Site. With substantial increases in funding ($6,000-$25,000) from the U.S. Forest Service and several granting agencies, the event serves 2000-3000 participants annually, a ten-fold increase over previous years, with educational programs delivered by 15-18 demonstrators. Budgetary expenditures peaked with the construction of houses and other village architecture using authentic materials and building methods. Continuation of LAW was threatened in 2006 due to the loss of direct federal funding. The current partnership among the US Forest Service, Kentucky Archaeological Survey, and Kentucky Organization of Professional Archaeologists developed to save this important event. The Living Archaeology Weekend Steering Committee is composed of representatives from these three organizations.
Program Activities
The LAW venue is arranged as a series of educational stations marked by tents, reconstructed houses, or lean-tos. Topic-specific content and activities, which vary somewhat from year to year, are presented at each station. A standard component of the program is the native foodways station, where attendees learn about wild and domesticated food sources, cultivation and harvesting strategies, and open-fire, hot rock, and earth oven cooking. Participants delight in sampling fresh roasted turkey and squash, smoked fish, and corn cakes. Nearby, botanists demonstrate medicinal plant use and traditional native curing practices.
Native technology stations are perennial
favorites among the
participants at LAW. The demonstrators include professional
archaeologists, American Indian craftspeople, and nationally renowned
primitive technology experts. The flintknappers always attract large
crowds, as they discuss raw material acquisition and processing and
demonstrate various chipped-stone tool manufacturing techniques.
Various hunting technologies – including bow and arrow, atlatl and
spear, and blow guns – are explained and demonstrated. Participants
have opportunities to make their own blow gun darts, shoot a bow, and
hurl a spear at a three-dimensional deer model. Other stations include
pottery making, hide tanning, cattail mat weaving, willow and river
cane basket weaving, porcupine quillwork, ground-stone tool
manufacture, fire building, and pump drilling. Hands-on opportunities
are offered whenever possible. Although in 2007 demonstrators for the
first time were permitted to sell hand-crafted and replicated items,
and occasionally attendees bring artifacts for identification, there is
a strict prohibition against buying-selling-trading authentic
artifacts. Another important set of educational stations relate to native beliefs, entertainment and recreation, and artistic expression. The prehistoric rock art presentation focuses on types, motifs, interpretations, and preservation. Children use crayons and large rolls of paper to create their own art panels, while others are invited to interpret the designs. American Indian storytellers in native regalia relate stories about how ‘Possum got his tail and how Grandmother Spider brought fire. Native flute players, drum groups, and singers provide moving renditions of songs in native languages and English. In past years, participants were invited to join demonstrators in playing the stick ball game.
For school children, teachers are responsible for pre-event activities to provide preparation for the field trip. In 2008, with the support of a Southeast Archaeological Conference Public Outreach Grant and other sponsors, the LAW Steering Committee developed a resource packet for teachers to aid in student preparation, including materials tied closely to state curriculum requirements. In addition, general archaeology and American Indian lesson plans, printed literature, videos, and other materials are available from the Kentucky Archaeological Survey. In 2007 the KAS implemented an on-site “information scavenger hunt” activity for school groups. The LAW Steering Committee will develop more educational materials in future years.
Audience
Living Archaeology Weekend targets two audiences, school children and the general public. The program on Friday is reserved for local elementary school children, whose visits are pre-scheduled for staggered two-hour time blocks. Though most of the children attend public schools, some parochial and home schools are represented. Recently the total number of students in attendance per year ranged from 800 to 1400, plus an additional 100 teachers, aides, and chaperones. While students from the Lexington area regularly attend the event, the service area is predominantly counties in the immediate vicinity of the Gorge, including Bath, Breathitt, Estill, Menifee, Magoffin, Powell, Rowan, and Wolfe.
LAW represents
one of the few opportunities for educational field trips in the local
community. We hope this “outdoor classroom” experience fosters in these
children a sense of pride for their local cultural and natural
environment and for their heritage. After all, the Gorge is an
archaeological district listed on the National Register of Historic
Places. In the recent past, both fourth and fifth graders comprised the
target audience; the content of LAW requires academic skills and
capacities expected of older elementary school children, and the
program content dovetails nicely with Kentucky Education Reform Act
(KERA) state curriculum core content. Fourth-grade teachers are
required to address Kentucky history in the fall term, and fifth-grade
teachers must cover world or U.S. history. In order to control the
number of visitors, in 2007 and 2008 only fifth
graders were invited to attend the event in association the Native
American Studies curriculum unit covered in the fall term. The Saturday program at LAW is open to the general public. The long history of the event, coupled with the incredible popularity of the Red River Gorge, ensure bumper crops of general public participants every year, ranging from 1000 to 1500 general public visitors annually. From toddlers to grandparents, people of all ages are attracted to the event. Many visitors are from Kentucky and surrounding states, though states across the country often are represented. Some visitors are destination tourists who come to the Gorge specifically for this event. Others are incidental or opportunistic visitors who were in the vicinity for another primary purpose (e.g., camping, hiking, climbing, fishing) but choose to attend the event while visiting the Gorge.
List and Description of Demonstrators
for 2008 Event (pdf format, 340 KB)
web page last updated 6 January 2009
web page last updated 6 January 2009