University of West Florida’s Anthropology Department Presents the Science of Archaeology
December 11, 2012

Michelle and Sean setting up our non-excavated unit.

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The University of West Florida (UWF) Anthropology Department and student members of the Graduate Anthropology Association (GAA) celebrated National Archaeology Day by introducing students, faculty, and staff of the UWF campus to archaeology. As part of the fair, the groups diagramed a test pit. To emphasize the role of science in archaeology, there was a station highlighting the use of GPR in the field. Information tables about archaeology, as well as a display case filled with artifacts commonly found in Northeast Florida and a Munsell soil color book, were available to the public. Additionally, experimental archaeology was incorporated into the day of science. Visitors were encouraged to participate in a hands-on flint knapping activity. Furthermore, the GAA emphasized archaeology as a scientific discipline. Although many people recognize how archaeological excavation, analysis, and interpretation incorporate scientific methodologies, this fair aimed to show how archaeology is scientific in other ways.