ELLERBE — The Rankin Museum of American Heritage is featuring N.C. Digs, a traveling exhibit program, until mid-April for children of all ages to explore their archaeological interests.
N.C. Digs feautures five types of archaeological sites in North Carolina — Native American, battlefield, plantation, trash pit and industrial — along with a tool and technique important to excavating or analyzing each. And in addition to the six panels, a seventh panel titled, “Reading the Clues” allows participants to delve further into learning about archaeologists’ tricks of the trade, according to the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources website.
Emilie Cobb, director at the Rankin Museum of American Heritage, said this was their first time having the traveling exhibit and would be excited to try some of the activities again in the future.
“This exhibit is more related to the museum,” said Cobb. “And this exhibit is perfect because it was made for me to talk about.” (Cobb recently returned from a trip to Peru, where she was out in the field with other archeaologists.)
The museum will offer free activities throughout the month to go with the N.C. Digs traveling exhibit. Earlier this month, they had a Chocolate Chip Cookie Excavation in which kids had the chance to excavate chocolate chip cookies and learn about the importance of documentation during a dig. And on Thursday, kids had the chance to identify pottery shards and learn how they were decorated.
“This is what you’d do in the field,” said Cobb, as she pieced together her broken mug. “You’d find the pieces and put it all together. You’d also look at the context of where you found it and look over your photos and notes — tons and tons of photos.”
On March 28, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., kids will have the chance to identify projectile points and hold real artifacts. During the activity, they will be talking about how projectile points can help archaeologists date a site and Native American sites in North Carolina.
And on April 4, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., kids will “Be an Archaeologist” and excavate, document and develop theories on what they found. Weather permitting, the event will be outside.
