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Archaeology camp brings youth back through time
Local summer camp has kids raving
By Sesame Campbell
Hudson-Catskill Newspapers
HUDSON — Grayson Schermerhorn did not know that he would be one of the few people on earth to ever see a real human skeleton, much less dig one up out of the ground. But as a fourth-year participant at the Archeology Summer Camp held at Columbia-Greene Community College, 12-year old Schermerhorn and his fellow participants said this year's skeletal find was the best yet.
“I am seriously thinking about becoming an archeologist,” Schermerhorn said. “Digging up a real live skeleton was cool. I liked finding things like the crystal spearhead and the obsidian lava rock. Doing this camp is so different than school and the way we learn is fun. We get to play games like Settlers. Those are really fun.”
When asked if he knew how old the skeleton was Schermerhorn's friend John MacCarthur, a 13-year old from Boston Corners, said that he believed the skeleton was from the 9th century A.D.
“The style of artifacts around it is from the 9th century and he was definitely Mayan,” MacCarthur said. “Different years have different styles and you can identify the age of the skeleton by objects around it.”
The boys described how they first discovered the skeleton, as they were digging on the south side of the campus at a dig set up by Camp Director Geoffrey “Big Dog” Purcell.
“We found the skull first and then the hip bone,” MacCarthur said. “It was obvious that the person had been killed in battle and we think he was later transported from the battlefield to this location for burial.”
The boys pointed to additional information they learned from examining the skeleton, including its sex, and hypothesized who the person might have been.
“If you measure his shoulders you can tell that he was definitely an adult male. His shoulders are wide and his pelvis is narrower than a woman. Do you see the obsidian ax in his chest? His ribs were all jumbled up so that indicates he had been transported,” MacCarthur said.
Schermerhorn added, “He was missing part of his hand bones and feet, so it's possible that while they were transporting his body, some of his bones fell out.”
Purcell told parents of the excited children that the skeleton was not originally from that area, but had been dug up at an archaeological site at a different location and used as part of the educational experience at this year's camp.
Julius Dupont, an 11-year old from Coxsackie-Athens Middle School said that this was the best dig ever. As a third-year participant at the camp, Dupont said that each year reinforces the experience and makes it more enjoyable.
“We found a lot of stuff this year and some really big stuff,” Dupont said. “You have more fun with the experience when you've done it a couple of times. I had so much fun this year and I want to do it again.”
Purcell, who goes by the name of “Big Dog” by his students, said that he loves what he does. “I couldn't do this if they didn't enjoy it,” Purcell said, adding that he sees how inspired young people get by “doing the dig.”
Born in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, Purcell is the son of diplomatic parents. “I saw the world as a child, quite literally,” he said.
Purcell recently returned from a trip to Greece. He travels six to seven times a year from Europe and North America to China, the Middle East, and India. “I know how lucky I am,” he said.
Having been in academia, business and government, Purcell found his calling to teach archaeology to young people as a way to exercise his passion in a “pure and fun way.”
The camp's premise is that learning something relevant, useful, and meaningful should be fun. Purcell brings activities to youngsters by digging in the dirt, sharing stories, playing games, solving puzzles and reveling in celebrations. “These kinds of activities are integrated by the underlying archaeology to produce a more-than-the-sum-of-its-parts,” Purcell said.
The digs are all created scenarios that involve young people with a hands-on experience of an “archeological site dig”. Students learn how to work along a grid, methodically removing artifacts that Purcell placed there and learning the context of those artifacts.
“This results in the discovery of artifacts in contexts which, when analyzed, give the elements of a story,” Purcell said. “The kids are encouraged to use thinking skills, inference, analogy, analysis, to connect these elements with what is already known to produce a new story. Original thinking is encouraged. The results of this story-building are incorporated into our end-of-week exhibit of finds.”
Included in the digs are stories which Purcell tells to students to enhance their learning experience. “The kids are told stories in the field,” he said. “Digging and 'figuring out' the artifacts and their context is highlighted in an exciting, theatrical way. The idea is to present the concepts embodied in the dig in a fresh way familiar to kids. The daily stories, told at the dig or afterward in the classroom with slides, have the effect of putting flesh on the bones of their experience, of making the static artifacts dynamic through speech.”
In addition, participants enact their understanding of the stories and the digs by solving puzzles that are relevant to the “figuring out process”. “The architecture, burial, offerings, and stray finds they dig up all yield elements of a story, which come alive when the puzzles are solved,” Purcell said. “Then the games are introduced, reinforcing the notions of agency, evidence, chronology, material and context. The games are wonderful, exciting, and contagious!”
On Friday, the week-long camp ended with a presentation of the “museum”, and a shared meal which included thematic-dishes made and presented by the parents of the participants. Adults were given an explanation of what their children learned, while the participants got to show off their new-found skills to their parents.
“This was so awesome,” said Shawn Benzeno, a Coxsackie resident. “The dig, the artifacts, dusting them off brought everything to life,” he said.
Benzeno's mother, nephew and sister came to see the museum show. “Shawn wants to be an archeologist,” she said. “He has done his whole room up in an Egyptian theme. This was so fun for him. He'll definitely try to come next year.”
Next week Purcell takes participants on a classical Greece dig at the Jonesville United Methodist Church in Clifton Park, followed by an Aztec dig at Tawasentha Park, in Guilderland. Vikings and the West African empires will be the themes for the two last digs in August. For more information, Purcell can be reached at (518) 428-4900, or by e-mail at geofpurcell@gmail.com.
“I am seriously thinking about becoming an archeologist,” Schermerhorn said. “Digging up a real live skeleton was cool. I liked finding things like the crystal spearhead and the obsidian lava rock. Doing this camp is so different than school and the way we learn is fun. We get to play games like Settlers. Those are really fun.”
When asked if he knew how old the skeleton was Schermerhorn's friend John MacCarthur, a 13-year old from Boston Corners, said that he believed the skeleton was from the 9th century A.D.
“The style of artifacts around it is from the 9th century and he was definitely Mayan,” MacCarthur said. “Different years have different styles and you can identify the age of the skeleton by objects around it.”
The boys described how they first discovered the skeleton, as they were digging on the south side of the campus at a dig set up by Camp Director Geoffrey “Big Dog” Purcell.
“We found the skull first and then the hip bone,” MacCarthur said. “It was obvious that the person had been killed in battle and we think he was later transported from the battlefield to this location for burial.”
The boys pointed to additional information they learned from examining the skeleton, including its sex, and hypothesized who the person might have been.
“If you measure his shoulders you can tell that he was definitely an adult male. His shoulders are wide and his pelvis is narrower than a woman. Do you see the obsidian ax in his chest? His ribs were all jumbled up so that indicates he had been transported,” MacCarthur said.
Schermerhorn added, “He was missing part of his hand bones and feet, so it's possible that while they were transporting his body, some of his bones fell out.”
Purcell told parents of the excited children that the skeleton was not originally from that area, but had been dug up at an archaeological site at a different location and used as part of the educational experience at this year's camp.
Julius Dupont, an 11-year old from Coxsackie-Athens Middle School said that this was the best dig ever. As a third-year participant at the camp, Dupont said that each year reinforces the experience and makes it more enjoyable.
“We found a lot of stuff this year and some really big stuff,” Dupont said. “You have more fun with the experience when you've done it a couple of times. I had so much fun this year and I want to do it again.”
Purcell, who goes by the name of “Big Dog” by his students, said that he loves what he does. “I couldn't do this if they didn't enjoy it,” Purcell said, adding that he sees how inspired young people get by “doing the dig.”
Born in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, Purcell is the son of diplomatic parents. “I saw the world as a child, quite literally,” he said.
Purcell recently returned from a trip to Greece. He travels six to seven times a year from Europe and North America to China, the Middle East, and India. “I know how lucky I am,” he said.
Having been in academia, business and government, Purcell found his calling to teach archaeology to young people as a way to exercise his passion in a “pure and fun way.”
The camp's premise is that learning something relevant, useful, and meaningful should be fun. Purcell brings activities to youngsters by digging in the dirt, sharing stories, playing games, solving puzzles and reveling in celebrations. “These kinds of activities are integrated by the underlying archaeology to produce a more-than-the-sum-of-its-parts,” Purcell said.
The digs are all created scenarios that involve young people with a hands-on experience of an “archeological site dig”. Students learn how to work along a grid, methodically removing artifacts that Purcell placed there and learning the context of those artifacts.
“This results in the discovery of artifacts in contexts which, when analyzed, give the elements of a story,” Purcell said. “The kids are encouraged to use thinking skills, inference, analogy, analysis, to connect these elements with what is already known to produce a new story. Original thinking is encouraged. The results of this story-building are incorporated into our end-of-week exhibit of finds.”
Included in the digs are stories which Purcell tells to students to enhance their learning experience. “The kids are told stories in the field,” he said. “Digging and 'figuring out' the artifacts and their context is highlighted in an exciting, theatrical way. The idea is to present the concepts embodied in the dig in a fresh way familiar to kids. The daily stories, told at the dig or afterward in the classroom with slides, have the effect of putting flesh on the bones of their experience, of making the static artifacts dynamic through speech.”
In addition, participants enact their understanding of the stories and the digs by solving puzzles that are relevant to the “figuring out process”. “The architecture, burial, offerings, and stray finds they dig up all yield elements of a story, which come alive when the puzzles are solved,” Purcell said. “Then the games are introduced, reinforcing the notions of agency, evidence, chronology, material and context. The games are wonderful, exciting, and contagious!”
On Friday, the week-long camp ended with a presentation of the “museum”, and a shared meal which included thematic-dishes made and presented by the parents of the participants. Adults were given an explanation of what their children learned, while the participants got to show off their new-found skills to their parents.
“This was so awesome,” said Shawn Benzeno, a Coxsackie resident. “The dig, the artifacts, dusting them off brought everything to life,” he said.
Benzeno's mother, nephew and sister came to see the museum show. “Shawn wants to be an archeologist,” she said. “He has done his whole room up in an Egyptian theme. This was so fun for him. He'll definitely try to come next year.”
Next week Purcell takes participants on a classical Greece dig at the Jonesville United Methodist Church in Clifton Park, followed by an Aztec dig at Tawasentha Park, in Guilderland. Vikings and the West African empires will be the themes for the two last digs in August. For more information, Purcell can be reached at (518) 428-4900, or by e-mail at geofpurcell@gmail.com.
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