2025 National Historic Preservation Advocacy Week

NCSHPO

The National Conference of
State Historic Preservation Officers

Montana Historical Society’s Archaeology Day

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Doug Ward

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1 minute

Since the early 1990s, the Montana SHPO of the Montana Historical Society has been involved in organizing public events to bring attention and greater appreciation to the role of archaeology in understanding and preserving the past. One of these events has traditionally been live prehistoric technology demonstrations outdoors on the front lawn of the Montana Historical Society in the shadow of the State Capitol. These activities include flintknapping, stone-boiling, hide tanning, tipi making, fire-starting, and the always popular: atlatl throwing. More recently, historic archaeology has been added to the mix to give further temporal context.

Originally planned in conjunction with Montana Archaeology Week (later Montana Archaeology Month) in the spring, the Montana Historical Society’s Archaeology Day now takes place in the fall and focuses on schools, grades 3-8. This year over 650 students from 8 schools and 28 classrooms participated in the event. The success of MHS Archaeology Day lies in coordinating the event with teachers and their curriculum schedule and in the young minds of Montana students!

To learn more, visit https://mhs.mt.gov/shpo.aspx

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