Shovel Bums Continue Stewardship
by John McHugh
Throughout August and September the Blessed Sacrament School “Shovel Bums” archaeology club has been committed to stewarding rock art at sites 42UT1455 and 42UT1454, near Utah Lake. During Thursday classroom lessons the 3rd through 8th grade students learn the rudiments and jargon of Southwestern Archaeology, especially its chronology, diagnostic artifacts, and associated prehistoric Native American rock art. On Fridays the Shovel Bums take to the field to apply what they have learned.
Thursdays’ club meeting focuses on some kind of important aspect of archaeology or anthropology. Students then discuss the concept with the club’s supervisor, teacher-archaeologist, John McHugh, and their peers. Club meetings usually conclude with some kind of art or crafts project. On September 26th students made split-twig figurine replicas reminiscent of those found at Archaic Period sites throughout the Southwest. Because this is a complex project, it was essential to have some of the older Shovel Bums help their younger classmates. 8th grade Shovel Bums, Helene Mabanza and Nomar Santana, joined up with 7th grade Shovel Bum, Isabeau Martin, to patiently and lovingly give the younger Shovel Bums a step-by-step tutorial on how to make a split-twig deer or bighorn sheep.
On Fridays the Shovel Bums go into the Field to steward rock art in the Lake Mountain area; with any important findings relayed to the BLM archaeologist of that region, Mike Sheehan. Mr. McHugh has students fill out an IMACS rock art attachment form for every petroglyph at the site, which the students enjoy doing. Considering how much most children love drawing, it is interesting that students find the sketching of the rock art to be the most difficult part of filling out the IMACS forms.
Moreover, considering the dedication Steve and Diana Acerson and the rest of the members of URARA demonstrated in protecting rock art by getting target shooting prohibited near Lake Mountain rock art sites, it is exciting to note that the Shovel Bums have found little evidence of any new shooting in the Lake Mountain region; which allows all URARA members to breathe a sigh of relief.
On the Friday, September 27th field trip the Shovel Bums happened upon two small petroglyph panels that may have been overlooked in previous surveys. Mr. McHugh will be looking to see if they can be found on any site form. One was a “plant” or “corn” motif found by 8th grade Shovel Bum, Matthew Mills. The other was a curved petroglyph discovered by Emma Ashby, who is part Ute. The Shovel Bums joked that Emma’s great, great, great (say “great” 30 more times) … grandfather may have made this panel, which she fortuitously stumbled upon a thousand years later.
From October 3rd through 5th the middle school-aged Shovel Bums will be viewing and stewarding rock art and performing archaeological survey with Vernal BLM archaeologists under the tutelage of Dave Christensen. The students are extremely excited about this opportunity. Finally, on October 18th the Shovel Bums will travel for a day-long field trip to Fremont Indian State Park, where they will be viewing rock art and performing sundry museum duties for archaeologist and Fremont Indian State Park Museum curator Elizabeth Nagengast-Stevens.
original article published in the October Monthly Newsletter of URARA, the Utah Rock Art Research Association