RSU Anthropology to be Highlighted During Oklahoma Archaeology Month

Man down in hole and diggin in dirt.Rogers State University’s contributions to the field of anthropology will be highlighted during the month of October, which has been designated as Oklahoma Archaeology Month.

Dr. Brian Andrews will be hosting a pair of workshops on RSU’s Claremore campus on Friday, October 10 from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. The workshops are free and open to the public.

Andrews is an Assistant Professor in RSU’s Department of Psychology, Sociology, and Criminal Justice. He is an anthropological archaeologist interested in prehistoric hunter-gatherer adaptation.

Several men preparing to dig in ground.He has conducted research throughout the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains, examining questions of mobility, settlement, technology, spatial patterning, and social organization.

One workshop will allow those interested to observe and participate in flint knapping (making stone tools). The other will give a demonstration of archaeology field methods. Andrews will have a mapping station set up and give a demonstration of how to excavate and map artifacts.

Andrews’ archaeology laboratory in Preparatory Hall will also be open for tours that evening. He is in the middle of an analysis project in the lab from a current archaeological excavation in northeastern Oklahoma.

Andrews has been overseeing the excavation of the Goodson Shelter archaeological site near Chelsea for the last two years. The site is one of only a few Clovis rock shelters in North America and has artifacts that could date back more than 10,000 years. Andrews is being assisted by several RSU students who are gaining valuable hands-on experience.

The excavation was filmed earlier this year by a crew from PBS for part of a five-hour documentary on excavations throughout the world. The Goodson Shelter is the only site in North America that was filmed by PBS for this documentary.

For more information, contact Andrews at [email protected] or 918-343-7684.