Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Thursday, March 19, 2009

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Archaeologist Lori Stahlgren showed the kids how to use trowels to gently scrape layers of soil. "What we're looking for are artifacts -- things made and used by people," she said. "The deeper you go, the older it gets."

Kids who love to dig in the dirt are having a field day at Raven Run Nature Sanctuary.

Students from five Fayette County elementary schools are exploring an old homestead, where they are not only finding artifacts near the Prather House but also learning about how people interacted with the landscape during the past 12,000 years.

“We’ve learned there’s many treasures at the Prathers’ home, and we’re discovering stuff about them that nobody really knew about,” said fifth-grader Sydney Jones of Millcreek Elementary, who was at the site Tuesday.

Under the guidance of real-life archaeologists, Sydney and her classmates sifted through soil and picked out “treasures” like crusty nails and a pig’s rib. “We’ve found a lot of glass because that window is broken,” she said as her small group worked behind an outbuilding.

The Kentucky Archaeological Survey at the University of Kentucky is leading this program for kids. Raven Run naturalist Brian Perry helped develop it.

“We realized that the unique nature of this archeological excavation, combined with the safe access the sanctuary provides, would make a perfect educational opportunity,” Perry said. “This program will not only provide students with exposure to the incredible natural biodiversity of the Bluegrass, but also will give them an immersive experience of an actual archaeological investigation.”

Through the hands-on work, youngsters are learning why and how historical archaeologists study the past and recover artifacts. They’re also realizing the importance of preserving history and protecting dig sites.

The Millcreek kids used trowels and shovels to excavate a handful of one-meter-square plots and screened buckets of dark, rocky soil for artifacts – things made and used by people.

“We’re digging to find stuff from the past,” fifth-grader Caitlyn Cairel explained simply. “We’ll know how they lived off the land.”

The students also took an hour-long walking tour of the Prather property and the surrounding fields and forest. They examined vegetation patterns and heard how people – including Native Americans, European settlers and 18^th-century farmers – have altered the landscape. The trek ended at a small family cemetery behind the house.

Also participating in the Raven Run program during these last two weeks of March are groups from Cassidy, Harrison, Ashland and Breckinridge elementaries.

“It is going to be an experience they will remember the rest of their lives. Digging 200-year-old stuff up from a real dig pit is just an incredible thing for a kid to get to do,” said Lori Bowen, a science content specialist for Fayette County Public Schools.

Lexington-Fayette Urban County Councilman George Myers helped make Millcreek’s field trip possible by arranging for LexTran to provide free buses.

“Raven Run, UK, the city councilman, LexTran and FCPS have all worked hard to see to it that our fifth-grade students from Millcreek get to dig in the dirt in order to learn about Kentucky’s past in a unique and authentically scientific way,” Bowen said.

Did you know?

“Hidden Histories: Digging into the Past at Raven Run Nature Sanctuary” is a research and educational partnership between Raven Run and the Kentucky Archaeological Survey (jointly sponsored by the University of Kentucky’s Department of Anthropology and the Kentucky Heritage Council, the State Historic Preservation Office).

The partnership’s main focus is to provide an educational component to the archaeological excavations at the 200-year-old homestead known as the Prather House.

For more information, contact Raven Run naturalist Brian Perry at (859) 272-6105.