The grounds of the Missouri National Guard training center near Algoa are littered with evidence of a native population called the Woodland People, who lived here more than 1,500 years ago.
"They pretty much were hunter/gatherers, not into the agricultural scene, processing animals, spear points, ceramics,” National Guard Archaeologist Regina Meyer said.
The iPad generation took a big step into the past when students from Jefferson City’s Thomas Jefferson middle school visited a dig site Tuesday morning to give their classroom work some practical application.
"She invited me last Spring to check out the site and gave me some tips on how to teach it more hands-on,” Teacher Suzanne Luther said.
The skill here is to recognize the difference between eco-facts and artifacts, that is, between fragments left by nature and those left by human beings.
Thomas Jefferson 7th Grader Andrew Warbritton said he found a lot of stuff lying on the ground and learned a lot about the Woodland people.
"They made a lot of pottery and arrowheads and things like that,” Warbritton said.
Meyer said the Missouri National Guard employs civilian archaeologists for site evaluation in any development of federal land or any use of federal money for such efforts.
For several months, her excavation team has been working an area where the Ike Skelton Training Center borders the Algoa Correctional Center. They will remain there until they can determine whether the site was a Woodland village, deserving of more extensive exploration.
In the process, they might inspire another generation of archaeologists.
"I'm not really an outdoor person, but I'd think this would be an interesting job,” Thomas Jefferson 7th Grader Haley Watson said. “You'd have something different to do every day.”
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