Hovey Lake Public Archaeology for Indiana Archaeology Month 2004-2006
The Exhibit:
For the last three years, C.A.P.I. members Alicia Ebbitt and Dru McGill have helped Cheryl Munson (Indiana University) with Indiana Archaeology Month activities at the Caborn-Welborn site of Hovey Lake. For more information about Cheryl’s great public archaeology research, visit her Website. Every year, Cheryl and her assistants erect an exhibit about Hovey Lake archaeology. One component of the exhibit changes each year, highlighting a theme in archaeology related to Caborn-Welborn life. In previous years, this part of the exhibit has focussed on ceramic production, trade, paleo-indians, warfare and farming. Last year, Alicia and Dru designed an educational exhibit titled “A Thousand Years of Farming: Stone Tools to Tractors,” which was displayed at the Hovey Lake Fish and Wildlife Center. This exhibit presented detailed information about ancient and modern farming in the area of south-western Indiana. The Caborn-Welborn people maintained agricultural crops and utilized local wild resources. Still today, people in the Hovey Lake region (Posey County, Indiana) take advantage of both agricultural and wild products. In viewing the 2005 exhibit, the public made connections between the past and the present and learned about the importance of context, scientific analysis, and imagination. The exhibit was interactive as well as entertaining. Viewers were asked to identify charred seed remains using a magnifying glass. Visitors took home recipes derived from Native American groups including plants that were farmed by Hovey Lake villagers. Here are some snapshots of last year's exhibit.
This year, we moved the exhibit into the Alexandrian Public Library in downtown Mount Vernon, Indiana. In this location, the exhibit will be seen by many more individuals--in fact it is already receiving plenty of compliments! This year's special theme is ceramics. Visitors to the library will not only learn about archaeology done in the Posey County area, but will also learn about how archaeologists study ceramics and what types of ceramics existed in the past. Donations by Charles R. Lacer, Jr. and the Glenn Black Laboratory of Archaeology made this exhibit possible. Thanks!
Archaeology Open House:
In addition to presenting information about Hovey Lake villagers in the temporary exhibit, Cheryl Munson, with the help of her assistants, opens up the site to visitors from around the county at the Archaeology Open House Weekend. Last year, C.A.P.I. members Alicia Ebbitt, Dru McGill, and Eric Stockdell helped Cheryl with the Open House weekend by creating archaeology-themed activities. These three C.A.P.I. members participated along-side visitors in activities like shelling corn with a deer mandible, grinding corn with a mano and metate, and breaking ground with a stone axe, constructed from local Indiana chert. These activities were paired with informative displays and “hands-on” artifact interaction with the help of students and professors from the University of Southern Indiana and the University of Evansville.
This year, we will not be having an open house due to lack of funds. Instead, we are planning exciting activities both in New Harmony and in Mount Vernon for September 23rd and 24th. For more information, visit Cheryl's website.