Crow Canyon and Montezuma-Cortez high school are teaming up to promote archaeology research and careers.
Last week, the Cortez research facility assisted students in Shelly Curtis’ geometry class on how to reconstruct prehistoric pots from a single sherd.
Extrapolating what a pot looked like by measuring the dimensions of one fragment was an interesting problem Curtis felt was worth exploring.
“Given this area’s world-famous ruins, it has local relevance,” she said. “And it was an opportunity to answer the age-old question ‘when will I ever use this?’ by applying mathematics to the real world.”
Crow Canyon educator Paul Ermigiotti and lab tech Michael Lorusso discussed the field of archaeology. They helped to create mock up pots then shattered them into pieces that were distributed to each student.
Only sherds with a portion of the rim will work for the experiment. The artifact’s chord, perpendicular bisector, and diameter are figured out. Then the arc of the sherd is measured against a dimensional-scale sheet to determine the original pot’s diameter, depth and size.
“We use this technique every day in the lab,” Lorusso said. “It shows if it came from a ceremonial piece, a storage vessel, or a more domestic feasting bowl. We have computers that do a lot of the modeling work, but knowing the basic calculations gives you a better understanding.”
The technique also applies to determining Kiva size when there is only a portion left standing.
“Math is a field related to archaeology. Laying out grid systems helps us pinpoint what the bigger picture is and figure out how people lived in the past,” explained Ermigiotti.
Students seem to appreciate the hands-on experiment.
“I learned archaeology is not all digging in the dirt. It was a pretty hard calculation, but it was fun,” said senior Shane Moreno.
Added sophomore Noah Porter, “It’s a more interesting problem to apply math to real life. Archaeology is taking a small sliver of something, and bringing back an entire world from the past.”
MCHS is connecting more to the region’s flagship profession by offering an archaeology curriculum beginning Fall 2015 at the new high school. A previous program was cancelled due to budget cuts.
Social studies teacher Ray Harriman, who worked 20 years as a archaeologist, will be teaching the class. The course will focus on archaeology, anthropology, and the Southwest.
“We’re excited about it, and trying to get the word out,” Harriman said. “Cortez is the heartland of archaeological sciences so it’s a good move. The field’s really expanded in the last decade, with a lot of opportunities for careers that use science, math, history, anthropology. It’s all right here.”
There are a lot of professionals to partner with too, including Crow Canyon, Mesa Verde National Park, the Anasazi Heritage Center, and the BLM.
Especially interesting is an Ancestral Puebloan ruin discovered on the new high school campus. Eventually, school officials envision an outdoor archaeology lab at the buried site. Any excavation would be done using proper protocols and be sensitive to Native American cultures.
“A long-term goal is to utilize the site as a permanent lab to get the kids outside and do project-based research with the help of professionals,” Harriman said. “Wouldn’t it be great to one day showcase a ruin at our high-school campus?”
jmimiaga@cortezjournal.com