The ARF 2024 Field School was a six-week program that was incorporated in a way to teach young aspiring archaeologists the needed physical and ethereal tools of the trade needed when pursuing careers in archaeology. Tailored to aid students who were in some form of economic or financial need, this field school was unique in that students were given paid stipends upon completion. Given that most post education and careers require a field school, this allowed all students the opportunity to gain needed experiences and training within the field. This program taught the process of conducting archaeological fieldwork including aspects of historical research, pre-excavation equipment training, field-based data collection, artifact analysis, and above all public engagement by creating meaningful consultation with the local community to allow potential future collaborations and iterations of the project to exist. Students learned how to engage with issues of presentation and representation, and became familiar with the political and ethical challenges in archaeology, while learning about material culture and how to integrate historical and archaeological sources within their research. The program conducted fieldwork at Peralta Hacienda Historical Park, utilizing geospatial techniques, archival and historical analysis of documents and maps, and targeted low-impact archaeological excavations methods to examine the long-term history of Rancho San Antonio and the 20th century history of the Peralta Hacienda within it.
Air Date:
Wednesday, November 20th, 2024