Can You Dig It

The Family Adventure Travel Directory interviewed Stephanie Sarandon, an articulate and enthusiastic sixteen year old high school junior. Stephanie took a one week trip to northern Arizona, with fellow students from around the country, to participate in an archeological dig. It was an extraordinary adventure and we would like to thank her for sharing her experience with us. FATD: How did you find out about this research expedition?

SS: My chemistry teacher made me aware at the beginning of the school year. She was very excited about the various research expeditions and she got me interested in it. She recommends two students from my school each year. I was chosen.

FATD: How did you decide which expedition to go on?

SS: There was a list of many types of expeditions-biology, genetics, anthropology, archaeology, and linguistics. Then we were asked to rate, on a scale of 1 to 5, what we were most interested in.

FATD: What were you most interested in?

SS: I rated archaeology the highest and it was the expedition I was assigned.

FATD: What was the age group of those on your expedition?

SS: The ages were 16-18-all junior and seniors in High School.

FATD: How much did the expedition cost?

SS: The total cost, including the round trip flight to northern Arizona, was covered by a grant.

FATD: Where did you stay?

SS: We stayed in dorms that Native American students occupied during the school year.

FATD: What was the layout of the site you were assigned?

SS: It was in the middle of the desert, which was all part of Homol'ovi National Park. There were four pueblos that were numbered and named in the order that they were excavated. There was Homol'ovi 1,2,3, and 4. We worked at number 4 because the other three had been excavated. It was so interesting because the archeologists only have to excavate 5% to fully understand how people lived and the chronology of the pueblo.

FATD: What experts were on the site?

SS: There were two archeologists that had their doctorates in archeology and worked at the University of Arizona. There were also graduate students that were in charge of each section of the dig. Oh, there was also a cook and everyone had to work KP!

FATD: Where, in the park, was the dig located?

SS: It was near the Hopi mesas in northern Arizona, near Flagstaff.

FATD: How many were on the dig?

SS: There were ten high school students, twenty graduate students from the University, and ten staff members from the organization that sponsored the trip.

FATD: Tell me about a typical day.

SS: We would wake up at 5:30 A.M. and get to the dig by 6:30 A.M. We would bring our lunch in coolers and work all day at the site until 3:00 P.M. We would go to the same area of the site each day and sift through the dirt and make discoveries and bag them-labeling the bag with the exact location and depth where found. At 3:00 P.M. we would return to the dorm and have free time until dinner. After dinner each night there would be talks and demonstrations on topics related to the dig, such as, rituals, clothing and religion.

FATD: Who supervised you at the site?

SS: Every graduate student had their own area of the pueblo that they were working and that is the person that you would stay with the whole time you were there. The area that I was working showed that the roof had been burned and there were a lot of animal skeletons -they thought that it might have been a ceremonial room. It was very cool!

FATD: How do they keep track of everything that goes on at the site?

SS: Well, every bucket of dirt that is taken from the site is carefully sifted for any artifacts. There is a map of the whole site and every section is numbered. Every section of dirt is given a number and every artifact that is found is put in a bag and marked with the number where it was found. On some days you can dig down 2 inches and find so much stuff-on other days you can dig down 4 feet and find nothing! One of the rooms I was working in was called the trash room because the people that lived there used it for garbage, like broken pottery, so it was full of interesting things. It was great when I found an arrowhead-everyone with me got so excited!

FATD: Who was able to date what you found?

SS: The bags were sent to the University of Arizona and they were analyzed there. Much of the stuff was dated in the late 1200's and early 1300's.

FATD: Did you go to the other pueblo sites?

SS: There were four pueblos and we were working on the last one to be excavated-- number 4. It was so great because we got to go to the three that were finished and just look around. When they are finished with a pueblo it just looks like a big mound of dirt because they cover it all back up when they're done. They are ready to fall apart. They either have to fill it in to stabilize it or they have to get the money from the state to actually go back in and restore it.

FATD: Were there any surprises…anything you didn't expect?

SS: I didn't think it would be so easy to find stuff. It was so cool-you'd just look all over the ground and there were pieces of pottery. Also, stuff you wouldn't think was an artifact, was. The experts can tell the way certain stones fit together to form a certain shape, what they were used for. You really have to pay attention to what you're looking at.

FATD: What were the greatest things you found?

SS: In one of the rooms I was working in we found two pots that were only in a couple of pieces, about four feet down. They were huge! Everybody was thrilled!

FATD: Who would you recommend this trip to?

SS: I wouldn't recommend this trip to people who don't care about what happened in the past or to people who don't like working outside, all day. The days can be long, but when you find stuff it makes it all worthwhile!

FATD: Stephanie, is there any thing else you would like to share about this extraordinary trip?

SS: I had a really good time and learned a lot about the Hopi people. One day we took a trip to the Hopi village where the Hopi's currently live and it was very similar to how they lived so many years ago. It was awesome! I loved the whole experience!