Kentucky Archaeology

Sorry we've been MIA, but we've been out in the field the last couple weeks!

Did you know archaeologists will survey land hit by natural disasters to assess the damage to archaeological sites? That's what we are doing in London, KY currently! Check out the cool photo of the bent and torn tree damaged from the 2025 Somerset-London tornado!

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YOU'RE INVITED!!!

Please join us and the Kentucky Museum in celebrating the birthday of Kentucky, as well as America's 250th anniversary. There will be children's activities, living history demonstrations, performances, and so much more!

You can join KAS at our cordage making activity, and our special guided tour of the First Farmer exhibit.

Hope to see you there!

another round of "what's that artifact?"

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Archaeological excavation isn’t always digging large units or deep trenches. A majority of the time, we dig shovel test probes (STPs), a less invasive excavation method that is one of the crucial ways to identify where archaeological sites are — or aren’t — located.

Follow along this series as we define the most common archaeology words!

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Quiz Time!!! When did precontact Kentuckians begin domesticating native Kentucky plants?

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Last Wednesday, KAS hosted an archaeology activity for elementary school fieldtrips to the Judge Joseph Holt House in Breckenridge County. Students learned about what archaeology is, what archaeologists do, and what artifacts tell us about the past. Then, they got to help sift dirt from two new units to look for artifacts and figure out what they were.

Along with the archaeology activity, students also got a tour of the house and a lesson from historical reenactors about Judge Holt’s connection to Abraham Lincoln.

To learn more about the Judge Joseph Holt House, visit their website at josephholthome.com.

New edition of "What's that Artifact?"
But this time with a special fossil segment!!

UK Geological Survey: https://www.uky.edu/KGS/fossils/fossil-month-Stigmaria.php

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It’s Fieldwork Friday! KAS crew members finished up some fieldwork for the forest service two weeks ago. Here are some photos of their most scenic views, from the creek in the valley all the way to the ridgetop!

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Acknowledging the true history of Thanksgiving and the Native People who were on this land before Europeans doesn't have to be hard! Include these Native recipes on your Thanksgiving table as a way to consciously rethink the false narrative.

(If you make them, please share pictures!)

As Thanksgiving Day approaches, we encourage everyone to acknowledge the holiday’s true history.

The myth of Thanksgiving erases the complexity of the Wampanoag and their political relations with the Pilgrims, perpetuating ideas of a peaceful, bloodless origin myth for America.

See the end of the posted photos for ways to actively acknowledge Native History!