On Saturday, October 14, 2023, from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., the National Park Service, California State Parks, and Western National Parks Association (WNPA) will host Archaeology Day at the Santa Monica Mountains Interagency Visitor Center in Calabasas.
The family-friendly event, including parking, is free and is organized to shed light on a discipline that is sometimes overlooked.
The morning will start with a blessing, land acknowledgment, and Native American presentations
All-day activities will include digging up artifacts in an “excavation” box, spear throwing, flint knapping demos, local artifacts on display, replica viewing and much more.
Visitors of all ages will also get a chance to earn a special patch and become junior archaeologists.
Archaeologists from the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and California State Parks will also present on the following topics:
11:00am to 12:00pm - Early Archeology and the Public in 19th Century America by James Snead, Ph.D. (California State University, Northridge)
12:00pm to 1:00pm - Stewarding the Past and Present: Chumash and University Collaborations at CSU Channel Islands by Colleen M. Delaney, Ph.D. (Professor of Anthropology, California State University, Channel Islands)
1:00pm to 2:00pm - Why Archeology in National Parks? by Laura Kirn, M.A. (Cultural Resources Team Lead, Channel Islands National Park )
2:00pm to 2:30pm - Closing presentation by Chumash elders Ted and Dennis Garcia
Call or email the Santa Monica Mountains Visitor Center if you have any questions at (805)-370-2301 or samo_interpretation@nps.gov.
More specific details at www.samofund.org/outdoors-calendar#event=76831217;instance=20231014090000?popup=1
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA) is the largest urban national park in the country, encompassing more than 150,000 acres of mountains and coastline in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. A unit of the National Park System, it comprises a seamless network of local, state, and federal parks interwoven with private lands and communities. As one of only five Mediterranean ecosystems in the world, SMMNRA preserves the rich biological diversity of more than 450 animal species and 26 distinct plant communities. For more information, visit www.nps.gov/samo.
