Digging into past helps plan future
By MIKE CORN
SCOTT STATE PARK -- They came from California and West Virginia, from Salina and Lindsborg, as well as Colby. They ranged in age from 7 to 84.
All for a 16-day stint earlier this month at walking around in weeds through rugged terrain, augering holes 10 meters apart and screening the soil removed from each hole.
But rather than deal with sweltering heat and an onslaught of insects, participants were treated to unusually cool temperatures.
What they did see, however, were fawns, tucked safely away for the day by mothers, and stone chips and other artifacts used hundreds of years ago by American Indians crossing through Kansas.
Artifacts discovered by the roving bands of volunteers taking part in the 35th annual Kansas Archeology Training Program Field School at Scott State Park were marked with orange flags.
There were so many it looked as if Hansel and Gretel had been armed with utility flags rather than bread crumbs.
That's why Virginia Wulfkuhle, public archeologist for the State Historical Society, last week called the school a success.
This year's archeology school was a repeat of the first such school, which also took place on the grounds at Scott State Park.
This time around, however, the school came back to survey the site where the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks wants to locate cabins, fast growing in terms of popularity.
"They're very much aware that valley is such an archeological resource," Wulfkuhle said of KDWP.
That's why the 131 participants did much more than simply survey the cabin site during the course of the 16 days the outdoor classroom was going on.
"This was, we're hoping, we're giving them a little bit of a head start on their planning," Wulfkuhle said of surveying the entire state park area, covering slightly more than 1,000 acres. "It worked out well for them and for us."
She said it was important to survey the whole site, rather than make quick runs out from Topeka whenever something new is planned.
Despite the heat one day, Jim Haas and Mike Wallen were teamed up together to screen the soil samples that were being cored in 10-meter increments.
Haas, hailing from Sacramento, has roots in Kansas, as he attended high school in Atchison and still has family there.
"This is my first year," he said.
Wallen, Lindsborg, is a veteran.
"Probably 15 to 16 years," he said. "It's a lot of fun."
"Even though it's a lot like yard work but more interesting," Haas said.
As they chatted, Haas announced finding a core piece of rock, from which arrowheads were flaked off.
"Everyplace you see a flag, that's where they found something man-made," Wallen explained.
That could include bone fragments, stone flakes or pottery.
"It's a wonderful place," he said of Scott State Park. "For us, its absolutely as good as it gets because of the camping."
Tents and campers were scattered throughout the park.
As the group of people worked, Nancy Arendt, an officer of the Kansas Anthropological Association, constantly was being asked questions.
"We're the pool of volunteers they work with," she said of the Kansas State Historical Society.
Arendt, Colby, is an archeologist in her spare time.
"I'm a nurse in a doctor's office," she said of her daily routine. "This is my part-time."
The Scott dig is her seventh, having taken part in digs at Cottonwood Ranch near Studley, Kanorado and Nicodemus -- to name a few.
Arendt said the KAA was working to establish the historic significance of the sites.
"The state is looking at this site to put cabins on," she said. "So what we're trying to do is establish whether the area should be used for cabins."
Arendt said the school gets people from throughout the nation -- and farther.
"I got an inquiry from Serbia," she said.
But it's not just about the two-week school conducted each summer.
"We really like to hear from people in the area that has been collected," Arendt said. "It's important to know who was here, why they were here and what was here.
"Those arrowheads in the bottom of the dresser drawer don't mean anything if no one knows about them."