UT’s McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture will host “Can You Dig It?” on Sunday, October 16, from 1:30 to 5 p.m. at the museum.
The event is free and open to the public and will feature activities that explore archaeology and fossils. It is being held in celebration of International Archaeology Day and National Fossil Day and hosted in partnership with the local chapter of the Archaeological Institute of America.
UT’s archaeologists, paleontologists, and geologists, along with their graduate students, will host displays about their projects. They will be available to talk with visitors about their work and offer hands-on activities demonstrating their research. Visitors can also bring artifacts, rocks, and fossils for experts to identify.
The event will have a number of activities for children, including make-and-take Roman-style shield decorating, creating Egyptian collars, identifying plant remains in sandboxes, matching animal bones, and other crafts related to historical archaeology.
International Archaeology Day is supported by the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA). The organization sponsors local activities about archaeological projects around the world. National Fossil Day was founded by the US National Park Service to encourage interest in the field of paleontology and the study of fossils.
“Can you Dig it?” is also made possible through the contributions of UT’s School of Architecture, the Archaeological Research Laboratory, and the Departments of Anthropology, Classics, History, Religious Studies, and Earth and Planetary Sciences.
The museum is located at 1327 Circle Park Drive. The museum is open Monday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. Parking passes are not needed on the weekends.
For more information about the McClung Museum and its collections and exhibits, visit the museum website.
For more information about the East Tennessee AIA Society, visit the society’s website.
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CONTACTS:
Leslie Chang Jantz (865-974-2144, lcjantz@utk.edu)
Debbie Woodiel (865-974-2144, woodield@utk.edu)