Project Dig

Project Dig is an educational program in which groups consisting of up to 30 middle school students have the opportunity to create hypothetical cultures/civilizations, design and construct artifacts for their cultures, and then, use archeological principles to excavate, restore, analyze and reconstruct another group’s artifacts and culture.

Project Dig is based on “DIG: A Simulation of the Archeological Reconstruction of a Vanished Civilization,” a curriculum unit published by Interact and available through Social Studies School Service. The program gives students an opportunity to experience a very hands-on introduction to archeology and cultural studies and complements key components of the state frameworks for middle school Social Studies.

The way it works:

  • Two groups of students from different schools spend about four months working on Project Dig both inside and outside of the classroom.
     
  • Inside the classroom, students work to create their own culture and its artifacts. These artifacts are then brought to the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute, broken into pieces, and buried to simulate an authentic archeological dig.
     
  • Outside the classroom, each school group participates in a “dig day” and a “presentation day” at the Rockefeller Institute.
     
  • On a “dig day,” a group of students from one school works exclusively with Dr. Skip Stewart-Abernathy to unearth the other school’s artifacts. The school groups then return to the classroom to reconstruct and analyze the other group’s culture based on the objects they excavated.
     
  • On the “presentation day,” both schools come together at the Rockefeller Institute for a Research Symposium. During this formal academic gathering, students present their findings and conclusions to their peers and the Arkansas Archeological Society/Winthrop Rockefeller Institute staff. Finally, they have the opportunity to explain their cultures to each other.

Project Dig is a joint program of the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute and the Arkansas Archeological Survey station based at the Rockefeller Institute. It was started in 2008 as a pilot project with two schools participating. For more information, please contact Dr. Skip Stewart-Abernathy at (501) 727-6250 or by e-mail.

News Releases:

Project Dig 2008
Perryville Elementary and East End Elementary (Bigelow)

Project Dig 2009
Pine Forest Elementary (Maumelle) and Wooster Elementary (Greenbrier)