Archaeology Culture Camp and Museum Family Day

NPS Photo / Kent Miller

In September of 2014 Denali National Park and Preserve, in cooperation with University of Alaska Museum of the North (UAMN), lead a five day Archaeology Culture Camp and Museum Family Day. The archaeology culture camp taught local students about the human history of Denali National Park and Preserve area through an archaeology excavation at the Nenana River Gorge Site. This site is located along the eastern edge of the Park and overlooks the Nenana River. During the camp the students, learned about archaeological ethics, excavated test units, and researched the artifacts that they uncovered. The Museum Family Day allowed the local communities in the Denali area to connect with park and UAMN museum research and collections by asking archaeology and ethnography curators and researcher’s questions, participating in hands-on activities, and exploring the collections of artifacts from the Dry Creek and Walker Road Sites located near Healy. The activities included a mock excavation, atl-atl throw, and flint knapping demonstration.