 "Photo: Asher Swan")
SUU houses one of the few Utah federal repositories in which the community can explore archaeological collections and records from many southwestern excavations.
The collection features items from digs found mainly in southwestern Utah and the Arizona Strip.
The repository is free, open to the public and in room 101A of the Electronic Learning Center. SUU Archaeological Repository Director Barb Frank said she thinks it’s beneficial for people to see the artifacts from the ancient history of the southwest.
“I think it’s important for people to be educated about things left behind so that they’re not forgotten,” Frank said. “People need to understand why these collections are important.”
Frank said the repository offers a great educational experience and welcomes the opportunity to share information about the collection’s items.
Frank said it is a great opportunity for SUU to have the repository because there are less than 10 in the state. Utah has a rich archaeological heritage with many prehistoric sites nearby.
At Thursday’s Outdoor Education Lecture, “Connecting with the Past: Community Archeology in Kanab, Utah,” Frank talked not only about SUU’s repository, but also about the university’s field school.
The six-credit course, ANTH 4690 Archaeological Field Methods, introduces students to archaeological excavation, survey, and laboratory techniques through work at an actual archaeological site, according to the SUU Web site.
The course begins June 1 and runs through July 2; students will spent four weeks excavating a prehistoric Pueblo site in Kanab. Other activities students will participate in include hands-on training, field-trips and lectures on regional prehistory, history, geomorphology and ecology.
Frank and Assistant Professor of Anthropology Emily Dean are co-directors of the field school.
Students at the lecture series were shown how sites were excavated and structure types that were found in areas of Kanab.
At the lecture, Frank gave attendees an opportunity to touch artifacts, such as prehistoric tools, that have been found at the Kanab sites.
Frank explained how the artifacts were used by prehistoric peoples and how archaeologists determine how old artifacts are.
In addition to SUU’s federal repository and the field school, students interested in expanding their anthropological knowledge will have the opportunity to minor in anthropology when SUU brings back the minor this fall, Dean said.
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