WY-4046
January 23-27; 30-February 3, 2012
Must commit to one full session; may participate in both
The BLM Buffalo Field Office has a backlog of curation work and needs your help! During the course of field projects over more than 30 years, BLM has collected numerous artifacts from public surfaces, all of which need to be curated. This PIT project will focus on the preparation of archaeological materials for transfer to the University of Wyoming Archaeological Repository (UWAR). In order to do this, we need three dedicated sleuths who are willing to read through field notes, attempt to find out where respective artifacts came from, and then clean and catalogue collected artifacts following UWAR standards. Volunteers will get to examine and handle a broad range of Wyoming's archaeological resources during the project: the collection includes artifacts such as Paleoindian projectile points, faunal materials, and a wide range of historic objects. This important work will not only get these artifacts properly prepared and shipped off to a terrific facility in a timely manner, it will ensure that the archaeological record of this area is preserved for the generations to come. We hope you'll join us January!
Number of openings: 3
Special skills: Previous experience with lithic material and tool identification, historic artifact identification, handling and identification of faunal material, photography, and/or archaeological survey and excavation experience helpful, but not required
Minimum age: 18 years old
Facilities: Buffalo is a full-service community with hotels/motels, restaurants, and a full range of other amenities. Information regarding lodging/camping and other community resources can be found by visiting http://www.buffalowyoming.org/; volunteers responsible for own lodging/personal camping equipment, food, water outside of work hours, and daily transportation.
Nearest towns: This office project will be located in Buffalo
Applications due: December 5, 2011
WY-4061
April 16-20, 2012
Must commit to minimum of one day
PIT volunteers and Forest staff have spent the last two seasons surveying and studying the historic Cherokee Trail. The 1850s emigrant trail passed through southern Wyoming, and was made famous by western writer Louis L'Amour. Thousands of emigrants blazed their way to California and Oregon as they crossed the Big Laramie and followed Boswell Creek. The years of constant use created deeply eroded swales in some places, only slight traces of evidence of use in others. However, there is a wealth of information about the people who used the Trail, stored in the artifacts and features they left behind.
The assemblage recovered during the last two "Finding the Cherokee Trail" projects now needs to be processed, studied, and prepared for storage, and we need your help! Volunteers and Forest staff will clean, identify, and catalogue the cultural assemblage, and ready it for long-term curation. This is a fantastic collection, and it will be a definite journey into the past as we study each artifact. We hope you'll join us this spring as we follow up on our study of the Cherokee Trail!
Number of openings: 6
Special skills: Previous historic artifact identification, laboratory, and/or curation experience helpful, but not required; volunteers who have any reference material that may help identify historic artifacts are encouraged to bring it with them to the project
Minimum age: 18 years old
Facilities: Laramie is a full-service community with hotels/motels, restaurants, RV parks, and a full range of other amenities; volunteers responsible for own lodging, food, water, and transportation
Nearest towns: Project will take place in Laramie
Applications due: February 20, 2012