State archaeologists’ hands-on lesson for visually impaired

BATON ROUGE, La. – Some state archaeologists are spending three weeks with students at the Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired, including a mock dig for 26 students.

Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser said in a news release Wednesday that the program runs through June 28. It also includes pottery making and a field trip to the Louisiana Museum of Natural Sciences.

The students range from first through 12th grade.

Archaeologists generally use stakes and string to mark off a grid for digging. The students’ grid was made of wood. They put dirt from inside the grid into buckets, then sieved the dirt to find whether they’d turned up anything.

The three-week program is a partnership between the school and the Louisiana Office of Cultural Development’s Division of Archaeology.