Sunday was the Iron Hill Archaeology Festival, which was one of the many scheduled events of Delaware’s Archaeology Month. I was pleased to see so many people turn out, and was impressed with the planning and organization of the festival. Besides three excavation units that were opened for the public to participate in excavation, there were Revolutionary and Civil War historians and re-enactors, an amazing display of artifacts from the shipwreck from the Lewes laboratory, activities for children including clay pottery making and the ubiquitous festival activity of face-painting, a remarkable flint knapper demonstrating stone tool making, archery demonstrations, and an exhibit of native food preparation techniques, complete with samples of traditional foods to taste. It was nice to see so many colleagues and friends, and it is always a joy to explain archaeology to people who are genuinely interested and excited to learn about it.
I walked away with the idea that New Jersey should really take the Delaware Archaeology Festival as a model, and try to plan something similar in our state. (I think someone in the ASNJ initiated the idea of a New Jersey Archaeology Month some years back, but not much ever came of it.)
