NPS Archeology Program > Archeology This Month

Celebrate Great Outdoors Month!

Traveling the great outdoors this summer? Here are some great archeological places to visit.

Canada has a host of world heritage sites where archeology has revealed information about the past. The Great Lakes region is home to the earliest known metalworking sites in North America, and Maine's museums and parks host archeological sites and collections documenting over 12,000 years of history—and that's just the beginning! More >>

Celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month!

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Join archeologists and explore the history of Asian Americans’ cultural heritage, from stone fish traps at Kaloko Fishpond, to California's Chinatowns, or even a community garden in a World War II internment camp. More >>

It's time to get out and enjoy your National Parks!

National Park Week is April 18-29 and Junior Ranger Day is April 26.

Want to gain a new perspective on our nation's history? Explore the many exhibits and programs about archeology, a field that offers many things for you to see, do, and visit. Join those who already find archeology interesting and useful. More >>

Celebrate New Archeological National Historic Landmarks

Three new National Historic Landmarks – Miami Circle, New Philadelphia, and Ludlow Tent Colony – were recently designated. The NPS National Historic Landmark (NHL) program recognizes places throughout the United States for their exceptional value or quality in telling the story of America. Sites designated as NHLs are automatically listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Archeological NHLs are designated for providing significant new knowledge about the past or the potential to provide information. Oftentimes this information cannot be known any other way except through archeology, as the three new NHLs attest. More >>

Celebrate African American History Month

This year's celebration of African American History Month comes on the heels of a milestone in African American history, the rise to the presidency of Barack Obama. As the eyes of the world turned to President Obama's inauguration on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, the record crowds on the National Mall evoked such historical moments as the Million Man March, Dr. King's speech to the March on Washington, and Marian Anderson's groundbreaking performance at the Lincoln Memorial. More >>

Celebrate Benjamin Franklin’s Birthday

Happy Birthday, Benjamin Franklin! Franklin would have turned 303 years old on January 17, 2009. What was everyday life like in his Philadelphia household at Franklin Court, now part of Independence National Historical Park? Would archeology show his love of beer, experiments with electricity, pithy sense of humor, and keen intellect?

Franklin Court was the site of a mansion built under Franklin’s direction between 1763-65. Archeology found evidence of his tinkering proclivities, such as contrivances to carry away steam and smoke from the kitchen, ducts and dampers to heat the house, and a refrigerating pit to keep foodstuffs cool. Artifacts attest to household activities and preferences. Franklin lived at the house in 1775-1776, a key period in the development of America as a nation independent from Great Britain. He also lived at Franklin Court from 1785 until his death in 1790. More >>

November is National American Indian Heritage Month (2008)

November is National American Indian Heritage Month. Look to archeology in the National Parks to trace the history and heritage of American Indians from ancient to modern times. Here are a few ideas to get started.

Over 10,000 years ago, America's earliest immigrants crossed the Bering Land Bridge. Evidence remains of these earliest Americans' eating and hunting in artifacts such as wooden bowls, projectile points, and cutting implements. Check out the park's online collections by doing a word search for "archeology" to see for yourself evidence of their everyday lives. Learn more about the earliest Americans through an online exhibit, a theme study, and publications. More >>

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month

Hispanic Heritage Month celebrates the rich cultural heritage of peoples of Spanish, Hispanic, and Latino origin. Archeological sites reveal many different aspects of Hispanic heritage, from early exploration and commerce on the high seas to the building of mission churches and much more.

Celebrate Archeology

The National Park Service celebrates its birthday on August 25, which is Founders Day. Where would national parks be without archeology?

Well, for one thing, visitors wouldn't learn the full story of Jamestown Island, where we just celebrated the 400-year anniversary of the first permanent English settlement in America. Nor would we be able to visit the accurate reconstruction of Fort Vancouver, center of the fur trade and the colonization of the northwestern United States. More >>

Visit Archeology

Going on vacation this summer? Throw a hat, a trowel, and some elbow grease into your suitcase, and you will be ready for any archeological adventure that comes your way!

If you're visiting the midwest, take a gander at Ohio Archeology, a travel guide to the ancient mounds, canals, and other historic sites that are the state's archeological heritage. More >>

May is Preservation Month

Spring is a good time to think about new discoveries! Many states celebrate archeology during the months of April and May. Go to the Society for American Archaeology's state archaeology month page to find out when your state celebrates archeological discovery.

May is also Preservation Month, when we pay special attention to our historic heritage and the places that represent it. More >>

April: Archeology and Our Environment

April is full of good reasons to turn our attention to the great outdoors.

Celebrate National Park Week by visiting a national park. Earth Day is April 22! Some States have declared April as Archaeology month. Go to the Society for American Archaeology's state archaeology month page to find out when your state celebrates archeological discovery. More >>

March is Women’s History Month

Women’s history? Isn’t that about the suffrage movement and the struggle for Women’s Rights? Seneca Falls? Elizabeth Cady Stanton? Sojourner Truth?

Of course, and that’s exciting and inspiring history, but there’s a lot more to women’s history, too, and some of it is waiting underground. More >>

Celebrate African American History Month

African American history is American history, from the earliest colonial settlement at Jamestown to the American Revolution to the struggle for Civil Rights. Archeology helps to reveal this history and celebrate African American achievements.

Long before the Civil War ended legal slavery, African Americans carved out places on the landscape, creating a legacy for all of us today. More >>

Celebrate World Heritage Archeology

What do Cahokia Mound State Historic Site in Illinois, Chaco Culture in New Mexico, and Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado have in common? Here’s a hint: they share this distinction with the Greek Acropolis, the Italian site of Pompeii, and the Mexican city of Teotihuacan. These places have each been recognized as World Heritage Sites that commemorate our ancient cultural heritage. A few rare places are of such outstanding universal value that they are important to the whole world. World Heritage recognizes and celebrates our common humanity: our common struggles, ambitions, achievements. More >>

December: North American Archeoastronomy

Wonder at the immense and unfathomable universe connects people in every time and every place to each other. We share a wonder at the movement of the sun and moon and invent ways to track them, making calendars so that we might plant and harvest and carry out ceremonies at opportune times. We see shapes in the stars, creating stories about the beings we find there.

Ancient astronomers throughout the world found ways to track celestial movements and to predict the year's important events, including winter solstice which (in the northern hemisphere) is the first day of winter and the shortest day of the year. More >>

November is National American Indian Heritage Month (2007)

For hundreds of generations American Indians have called this land home. In some places, the achievements of ancient cultures are visible on the landscape in surviving architecture of stone, adobe, or earth. More often, the remains of materials are underground and out of sight. In either case, the methods and techniques of archeology are used to illuminate the past and help us better understand it. More >>

October is Archeology Month

Over 15 states celebrate archeology during the month of October. Why? For the sheer fun of it! Go to the Society for American Archaeology's state archaeology resource page to find out when your state celebrates archeological discovery. More >>