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Dr. Tom Whyte, right, helps students Nick Bovino of Blowing Rock and Autumn Melby of Sanford cook meat typically eaten by North Carolina’s earliest inhabitants, while their classmates observe. Photo by Marie Freeman

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Students in an Experimental Archaeology class set up camp in rural Watauga County. Photo by Tom Whyte

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Dr. Tom Whyte talks with anthropology majors Amanda Neumeyer of Hendersonville and Emma Jones of Reidsville at the experiment site. Only 10 percent of archaeology is digging, he tells students – the rest is making meaning of what is found. Photo by Marie Freeman

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Students Martha Fisher of East Bend and Autumn Melby of Sanford map debris left behind as part of their class experiment. Photo by Marie Freeman

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Scavengers, as evidenced in this case by Whyte’s own dogs, can disrupt evidence people leave behind. That’s why archeological research sometimes contains misleading assumptions made by scientists. Photo by Marie Freeman

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A fox appears at the campsite in this night-time photo taken by Dr. Tom Whyte’s motion-sensing camera. Photo courtesy of Tom Whyte

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Careful note-taking is an important aspect of archaeology, students learn. Photo by Marie Freeman

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Lane Ledford, a senior from Morganton, learns how to make a flint tool from his professor, Dr. Tom Whyte. “A flake one-inch long can skin an entire deer,” Whyte told him. Photo by Marie Freeman

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Students shelled nuts and acorns on campus, another staple of the area’s early inhabitants, and then brought them in bags to distribute as waste at their experiment site. Photo by Marie Freeman

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Students scattered the bones left over from their “meals.” Strings help mark off a grid pattern of the placement so students could document it for archeological records. Photo by Marie Freeman

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Campsites of early humans typically included a toss zone of waste, as evidenced here with scattered animal bones and a pile of the unused portions of nuts and acorns. Photo by Tom Whyte

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Students learn to cook crayfish, part of the diet consumed by the earliest inhabitants of North Carolina, as part of their course titled Experimental Archaeology. Photo by Tom Whyte

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This photo from a motion-sensing camera shows vultures picking through debris just a few days after the students abandoned camp. Photo courtesy of Tom Whyte

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Luke James, a senior from Southport, uses a small shard of flint to pry meat from the bones of a cooked chicken, as University Photographer Marie Freeman captures the moment. Photo by Tom Whyte

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In the tradition of earlier inhabitants, students opened their campsite with a ritualistic placing of seven kernels of corn and seven beans into the fire, seven being a spiritually significant number. Photo by Tom Whyte

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Senior Martha Fisher of East Bend takes a try at striking flint to make a tool. Photo by Tom Whyte

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Photos from Experimental Archaeology course taught by Dr. Tom Whyte

Posted Nov. 18, 2016 at 1:44 p.m.

Senior anthropology majors at Appalachian State University created a hunter-gatherer campsite and abandoned it a few days later. Then, they documented what happened to the food waste they left behind. The goal: Learn what variables can disturb an archeological site – such as scavengers and weather – and become better scientists by learning not to make assumptions.

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Experimental Archaeology class teaches how not to make assumptions in science
Experimental Archaeology class teaches how not to make assumptions in science
Nov. 21, 2016

Archaeology students sharpen critical thinking skills with an experiment based on the scientific hazards of making assumptions.

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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 locations. 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 6,800 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 a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, affordable education for all. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.

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Appalachian Today is an online publication of Appalachian State University. This website consolidates university news, feature stories, events, photo galleries, videos and podcasts.

If you cannot find what you're looking for here, please refer to the following sources:

  • Podcasts may be found at Appalachian State University Podcasts
  • Stories and press releases published prior to Jan. 1, 2015 may be found in University Communications Records at the Special Collections Research Center.
  • A university-wide Google Calendar may be found at Events at Appalachian

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Archives

Appalachian Today is an online publication of Appalachian State University. This website consolidates university news, feature stories, events, photo galleries, videos and podcasts.

If you cannot find what you're looking for here, please refer to the following sources:

  • Podcasts may be found at Appalachian State University Podcasts
  • Stories and press releases published prior to Jan. 1, 2015 may be found in University Communications Records at the Special Collections Research Center.
  • A university-wide Google Calendar may be found at Events at Appalachian
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