It's Missouri Archaeology Month

Hi neighbors. I found out just today that September is Missouri Archaeology Month; funded by the Missouri Archaeological Society, the Missouri Association of Professional Archaeologists and the United States Department of Agriculture-Mark Twain National Forest.

The poster I saw listed several well known sites within the state where archaeologists have been busy digging up things.

Of course, these are public sites. The "good" sites are kept under tight security. As Native Americans learned years ago, you never know who might want to steal your arrow tips.

They listed several areas within Missouri to visit if you are interested in archeology or Native American culture.

Our own Osage Village State Historic Site (Web site: www.mostateparks.com/osagevillage.htm) was mentioned as well. Located in Vernon County it offers a walking trail that shows where the Osage Indians once lived.

In its hey-day it‚s estimated almost 3,000 people lived there in about 200 lodges.

Pottery, weapons and tools have been excavated from the site.

Other sites that refer to Native American tribes are the Towosahgy State Historic Site(Web site: www.mostateparks.com/ towosahgy.htm) and Van Meter State Park (Web site: www.mostateparks.com/vanmeter.htm) home of the "Oumessourit" or Missouri Indians from which the state and river were named.

Arrow Rock and Graham Cave are two other state parks (Web sites: www.mostateparks.com/arrow.htm and www.mostateparks.com/grahamcave.htm) that feature Native American culture.

If you have a hankering to know your ancestors prior to Native American culture, you can visit Washington State Park (Web site: www.mostateparks.com/washington.htm) known for a record in petroglyphs (rock carvings) and remains of a prehistoric people who were in the area around AD 1,000.

If you get tired of learning about early people you can "dig into" early animal history at Mastodon State Historic Site (Web site: www.mostateparks.com/mastodon.htm) and check out the bones of mastodons, in one of the largest Pleistocene ice age deposits in the country.

It was here, the poster says, that a Clovis spear point was found in 1979. Clovis points are believed to be as much as 14,000 years old.

The other site Wilson‚s Creek National Battlefield where 12,000 Confederates fought and won against 5,400 Union troops on August 10, 1861, was also mentioned. This site (www.nps.gov/wicr/) was the only one mostly reminiscent of how people died instead of how they lived.

I was at a "dig" near Stockton in Cedar County a few years ago where a Clovis point was discovered. The archeologists from a couple of universities were very excited and had invited the press for pictures. We were sworn to secrecy about where the dig was located though.

Although they were happy to have the newspapers, television and radio reporters there, I kind of wore out my welcome when I tripped and almost tipped over their table of hard won arrow and spear points. Oh well. They wouldn't have gone anywhere but back in the dirt where they had been for a few thousand years anyway. Still there was lots of screaming and scrambling going on.

We all are archeologists in our own way. Who has ever taken a walk with a preschooler without bringing home some pretty rock picked up along the way? What farmer hasn't turned the sod and kicked a few clods in the hope of uncovering an arrow tip? What mother hasn't emptied rocks, sticks and assorted wiggly wildlife from her child's pants pockets on laundry day? Not only does everyone deserve the title of archeologist, but I think digging in the dirt has been a popular past time for thousands of years.

What would an Osage child have found if he dug around the campfires of a village already hundreds of years old when he was left alone with a pointed stick? Probably some of the same things scientists are finding today.

The difference being he probably would have just carried it around all day like all kids do instead of labeling it like scientists all do.

With all the devotion to a culture's left-overs, I have always thought it would very logical to bury our political leaders in landfills.

Think about it! What would Tut be without all his also buried paraphernalia depicting his everyday life? Couldn't we do the archeologists of the future a favor by letting our leaders be buried surrounded by plastic bags filled with water bottles, potato chip bags, candy wrappers and fast food containers? Until the next time friends remember, September should be cooler weather than August and offer many pleasant days for some trips around Missouri to see the sights. Why not visit some of these archeology sites?