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53 °F 5 Day Forecast Monday, October 20, 2003 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | eSouthernOregon | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend October 5, 2003 Brandon Weber, 10, of Shady Cove (on the right) wears a wig while holding up a fake human skull with a wig during the Can You Dig It? hands-on archaeology event for kids at the Jacksonville Museum of Southern Oregon History. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Digging past civilizations Kids enjoy approach to learning about archaeology and history By BUFFY POLLOCK for the Mail Tribune Human-like bones were dug up, forensic skills used to recreate facial features on skulls and broken pottery pieced together to learn about past civilizations. It all happened Saturday on the grounds of the Southern Oregon Historical Society. Though it wasn’t the scene of a crime or the site of an archaeological dig, the kids participating felt like they were experiencing the real deal. Sue Mazzini, Shady Cove resident and mother of two, made the drive Saturday with a total of four very excited little history buffs. Mazzini said she had planned to attend the event, called "Can You Dig It?," for more than a month because her two sons, 10-year-old Joe and 7-year-old Silas, were into everything it involved — history, digging and artifacts. Advertisement "We came because he (Silas) is really into archaeology. Both my kids are really into history and fascinated with bones and things like that, but Silas wants to be an archaeologist," said Mazzini. "He’s been looking forward to this. "I told him a month ago if he got 100 percent on a spelling test I’d bring him. He did it but I would have brought him anyway." His favorite part? "Digging the bones up out of the dirt," Silas said, bearing dirty fingernails and a wide smile. In addition to learning about forensics by adding clay, wigs and other elements to plastic skulls, visitors Saturday created rock carvings (petroglyphs) using a nail and flat stone and investigated displays of artifacts to learn about past civilizations. At a future-oriented display, kids helped decide what kids in the future would wonder, years from now, about a typical bedroom of today. Visitors also were invited to add an item, such as a photo, brief note or other keepsake, to a time capsule to be sealed until Saturday’s visitors were all grown up. At the pottery table, 7-year-old Adam Lohman of Jacksonville concentrated on piecing together a broken brown pot. The rock carving he tried his hand at earlier, he decided, was much easier. "So far I liked the rock carving. This is pretty tough," Adam said with a serious and focused look on his face. June Lotz of Talent watched as her two boys, 2-year-old Aric and 6-year-old Andrew, added wigs to clay-covered skulls. Ashland science teacher Nicholaj Imhof explained how archaeologists and police use forensics to determine what someone looked like and how tall they were. Lotz said the event was more hands-on than she expected. "This was really great. Andrew enjoyed the arrowhead making and my little guy liked playing in the dirt," said Lotz. "The whole thing really just kept their attention, which is hard to do with children." Jayme Neil, the education programs associate who created much of Saturday’s curriculum, said the historical society has been working to reformat some of its children’s programming to be more kid-friendly. "Today has way surpassed what I expected it to," she said. "I’m really pleased with how things turned out. The kids have been so excited about everything. Instead of having things to look at this gave them a chance to get to get up close and touch and dig and experience things for themselves." Buffy Pollock is a free-lance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! ADVERTISERS SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times