Archaeology Programs
A variety of achaeology programs are available for elementary, middle, and high school-aged students which include lectures, hands-on activities, demonstrations, and field trips. The purpose of these workshops are to foster awareness, appreciation, and preservation of the historical and cultural heritage of the community. Succesful programs have already been implemented through the River Pierce Foundation in San Ygnacio in 2007, 2008, and 2009 with generous underwriting by the Guadalupe and Lilia Martinez Foundation.
Please contact for a price estimate.
Customer testimonials:
The real reward is watching the students begin to understand San Ygnacio not as a sleepy little place but as a real cultural treasure, like the pyramids at Giza or the ruins of Tenochtitlan. If a little imagination goes a long way, then South Texas is ready to take popular imagination by storm. With its rich binational heritage and its unexplored archeological highlights, places like San Ygnacio are the secret laboratories for planting the seeds of tomorrow’s cultural leaders.
-Christopher Rincon
Executive Director
Program Lessons:
Lithics
Students learn about prehistoric stone tools and how they are manufactured, identify common projectile point(arrowhead) types from South Texas, and learn how archaeologists document stone tools.
Includes: Flintknapping demonstration (stone tool manufacture)
Subjects involved: Geology, history, physics
Abasolo Dart Point from San Ygnacio, TX
Mayan Lithic Artifacts at the Center for Archaeological Research
University of Texas San Antonio
Rock Art
Students are introduced to the prehistory of rock art from around the globe and how symbols were used in cultures with no written language. Students also learn about prehistoric Texas rock art, especially rock art of the Lower Pecos.
Includes: using paints made from natural minerals demonstration
Subjects involved: art, history, social studies, chemistry
Rock art from White Shaman rockshelter
Painted pebble activity near Del Rio, TX
Mock Dig
Students are taught archaeological practices, procedures, ethics, and the purpose of archaeological excavations.
Includes: participation in a practice excavation
Subjects involved: trigonometry, geography, biology
Mock Dig 2007-River Pierce Archaeology Program
Mock Dig 2008-River Pierce Archeology Program
Atlatl
Students learn about the atlatl and dart hunting system. The history of the atlatl as well as theories about the mechanics involved are discussed.
Includes: atlatl demonstration and student participation, construction of take home atlatls
Subjects involved: history, physics, social studies, botony
Alatl practice
Prehistory of Deep South Texas
Students learn about the prehistory of the South Texas borderlands leading up to European contact and Spanish colonization. This lesson may be costomed tailored to relate to the prehistory/history of the community*.
May include: tour of prehistoric and/or historic locations, archery demonstration and participation
Subjects involved: history, architecture, botony, biology, social studies
Los Corralitos fortaleza (1786)
Scenic bluffs overlooking the Rio Grande River in Zapata Co.