What the earth reveals about human history

Posted Oct. 6, 2009 at 12:05 p.m.

Carefully digging, scraping and sifting. It's how archeologists seek clues into human history. Students at Appalachian State University learn these skills—and find cool artifacts—in a field archeology course each summer.

In an Ashe County cow pasture this past summer, students led by Dr. Tom Whyte examined the earth for traces left behind by early Native Americans. "Not much is known about this area," Whyte said of the New River valley. "We need to know what people were doing here and when."

The students found arrow points, scraping tools and bits of pottery. They also found burned rocks from ancient fireplaces.

What the earth reveals about human history

Carefully digging, scraping and sifting. It's how archeologists seek clues into human history. Students at Appalachian State University learn these skills—and find cool artifacts—in a field archeology course each summer.

Transcript

Tootsie Jablonski: This is archeological field school. Pretty much, we're just learning how to do archeology. It's a first-time experience for most of us. I love it. It's so much fun. It's everything that I had expected when I picked this major. You get to dig in the dirt all day. You get to go home feeling like you've done something.

Jeffrey Jones: We found a couple of points, a couple of scrapers, and a good amount of pottery. It's not a very significant site, but we're learning how to dig arbitrary levels and how to do test bits and, as Dr. Whyte says, "it's not what you find, it's what you find out."

Dr. Tom Whyte: This is a second terrace—an old flood plain overlooking the headwaters of the South Fork of the New River where it conflows with Dutch Creek in Ashe County. Not much is known about this area. We need to know what people were doing here in the past and when, what people's lives were like throughout pre-history in this area. This is a perfect setting for teaching—for teaching my students how to observe soil changes, to recover artifacts, to think about the human past, to sculpt the earth, to map and measure and use the tools of archeology. We're finding mostly prehistoric artifacts—artifacts that were left by native Americans before the whites came to the mountains here and we're finding artifacts from different time periods. We have found things that we think might be 12,000 years old, which would put the site into the late ice age.

TJ: This is a Morrow Mountain point. Once they made a stone tool, they would frequently re-sharpen it so they wouldn't have to find new lithic materials. Something that could have started out inches bigger would have constantly been chipped away and chipped away. It's made out of local quartz and would be about 7,500 years old. It was the most exciting thing of my life at that point. I ran over to Dr. Whyte and I washed it off. He told me what it was and I put on my Facebook status that I had found something cool. In class we study all of the different types of points and the different lithic materials used, but when you actually come out here and take it out of the ground and look at it... it makes everything more real and it makes it a lot easier to remember. We really do have one of the best Anthropology departments, period. We have some amazing professors that have really changed Southeastern archeology. To get to be with them, in their classes, to learn from them—it's a really great experience.

JJ: It's been really great working with Dr. Whyte. He's very knowledgeable. He's enthusiastic, helpful and friendly.

TJ: It's exciting to think that maybe one day I'll have a specialty and be able to do something like he's doing. What job could be better than getting to play in the dirt all day. Right?

On site, Whyte estimated some of the materials to be as much as 12,000 years old, others about 7,500. Most date back to between 1,000 and 3,000 years ago. This fall, the students are examining the artifacts in Whyte's archeological laboratory methods class in the Department of Anthropology to pinpoint their ages more exactly.

For senior Tootsie Jablonski, the fieldwork made her anthropology major "come alive."

"In class we study all the points and materials used, but when you actually come out here and take it out of the ground and look at it, it makes everything a lot more real and easier to remember," she said.

View larger image — Dr. Tom Whyte teaches the students how to use a transit to record elevations.

Who was here before us?

Whyte reminds his students that "it's not what you find; it's what you find out." That attitude guides his research interests in Southern Appalachian prehistory. Recently, his work has focused on how climate change through time has affected human settlement in the uplands.

"At altitudes above 2,500 feet, very subtle changes in average annual temperatures and rainfall had a measurable impact on human life and on when people could survive in the mountains and during what seasons," Whyte explained.

Based on the evidence he's seen so far, Whyte believes humans did not keep permanent villages in the mountains until after about 900 A.D. when a short-lived warming trend occurred across much of the world. Those permanent villages disappeared after 1300 A.D., he said, which coincided with what's known as the Little Ice Age. "That might have compromised their crop harvests and their lives to the extent they could not sustain permanent villages in the higher elevations. We do find evidence of humans after 1300 A.D. but not villages. It seems to be seasonal migrations to the mountains," Whyte said.

Hands in the dirt

Like many Appalachian faculty members, Whyte encourages undergraduate students to assist him with his research. They gain a taste of what's expected of professional researchers, connect classroom experience with real-world opportunities and get to present papers at conferences.

Much of the fun, though, comes in mastering fieldwork: how to observe soil changes, recover artifacts, map and measure the earth, and use the tools of archeology.

"What I really like about archeology is the physical aspect, actually getting out and digging stuff up," said senior Jeffrey Johnson. "I've also always been a history buff, so archeology is finding out history for myself."

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About the Department of Anthropology

The Department of Anthropology offers a comparative and holistic approach to the study of the human experience. The anthropological perspective provides a broad understanding of the origins as well as the meaning of physical and cultural diversity in the world — past, present and future. Learn more at https://anthro.appstate.edu.

About the College of Arts and Sciences

The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) at Appalachian State University is home to 17 academic departments, two centers and one residential college. These units span the humanities and the social, mathematical and natural sciences. CAS aims to develop a distinctive identity built upon our university's strengths, traditions and unique location. The college’s values lie not only in service to the university and local community, but through inspiring, training, educating and sustaining the development of its students as global citizens. More than 6,400 student majors are enrolled in the college. As the college is also largely responsible for implementing App State’s general education curriculum, it is heavily involved in the education of all students at the university, including those pursuing majors in other colleges. Learn more at https://cas.appstate.edu.

About Appalachian State University

As the premier public undergraduate institution in the Southeast, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives as global citizens who understand and engage their responsibilities in creating a sustainable future for all. The Appalachian Experience promotes a spirit of inclusion that brings people together in inspiring ways to acquire and create knowledge, to grow holistically, to act with passion and determination, and to embrace diversity and difference. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Appalachian is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System. Appalachian enrolls nearly 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors.