Public Archaeology Event – February 26, 2012

Our team of Stanford volunteers

The Market Street Chinatown Archaeology Project is holding another Public Archaeology Event on Sunday, February 26th! This hands-on event is designed to introduce children from 4 to 12 and their families to archaeology. Children will participate in “mock” excavations and study authentic archaeological artifacts to learn about San Jose’s hidden history. It is a fun and educational event for the entire family! This event is FREE and open to the general public.

Free Public Archaeology Event

Sponsored by the Stanford Archaeology Center and History San José

When:  Sunday, February 26th, 2012, 11:00PM to 4:00PM

Where:  Peralta Adobe at the San Pedro Square Market

175 West Saint John Street

San Jose, CA 95110

For directions and more information about the Peralta Adobe site, please see History San José’s website (http://www.historysanjose.org/plan-your-visit/peralta-fallon-historic-site/).

Learn how to identify artifacts from the first Chinatown in San Jose

The event on February 26th is the fourth Public Archaeology Event that we have put on with History San José. This is the last event at the Peralta Adobe for 2012, so come, stop by and enjoy an educational and fun afternoon for the whole family!

 

 

 

If you cannot make it on February 26th, we have two additional Public Archaeology Events scheduled for this spring:

April 29th, 2012

May 20th, 2012

Both of these events will be held at History San José’s History Park (http://www.historysanjose.org/plan-your-visit/history-park/directions-to-history-park/).

If you have any questions about the event on February 26th or our other events in the spring, please contact Megan Kane (mskane@stanford.edu).

Our First Public Archaeology Day at the Peralta Adobe

We continued our public events with a Public Archaeology Day at History San José’s Peralta Adobe on November 13, 2011. Our revamped Public Archaeology program was a hit among the visiting kids and their families! Our volunteers had a fantastic time as well.

Students setting up our new excavation activity.

For this event we created a new, more complex Excavation activity. The visiting kids first excavate a “trash pit” with the trash from several different buildings. Then they use the evidence from the items found in the trash pit to identify the types of businesses or residences that threw their trash in the pit. We also added an activity where the kids can learn how to catalog the artifacts that they find.

This was our first event at the historic Peralta Adobe site in downtown San Jose. This Spanish-Colonial period adobe is the last of the original adobe buildings from El Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe remaining in the city. The Peralta Adobe is located just a few blocks from the site of the Market Street Chinatown in downtown San Jose.

Families enjoying our hands-on activities

We have additional Public Archaeology Events planned for the coming months, and we would love to see you and your families at these events!

February 26th, 2012 – Peralta Adobe, 11:00 PM to 4:00 PM

April 29th, 2012 – History Park

May 20th, 2012 – History Park

For information about or directions to either location, please see History San José’s website (http://www.historysanjose.org/).