Touch the Past: Archaeology of the Upper Mississippi River Valley

FAIN: ES-50135-06

University of Wisconsin, La Crosse (La Crosse, WI 54601-3742)
Constance M. Arzigian (Project Director: March 2006 to September 2008)

A three-week summer institute for twenty-five K-12 teachers on the prehistory of the Upper Mississippi River Valley from 10,000 B.C.E. through early contact with European explorers.

The proposed Institute will provide 25 K-12 teachers with three weeks of intense, guided study of the process of archaeology and the major cultures of the Upper Mississippi River Valley, including how these societies adapted and evolved over the past 12,000 years. The archaeological record they left behind tells a fascinating story and also provides a laboratory within which to examine how we have come to know what we do about the past, and how archaeologists move from artifacts to insights into how people lived, adapted to their surroundings, and changed through time. The nature of the archaeological record, including both strengths and limitations, will be explored through exposure to actual archaeological excavations and laboratory work, and discussion of how information can be inferred from cultural remains. Through authentic research experiences and inquiry-based projects, teachers will learn to make relevant connections between archaeological content and their teaching.