18 Jul Andrew Bradbury Teaches Cub Scouts about Flintknapping

On June 7, Andrew Bradbury, an archaeologist working in CRA’s Knoxville office, spent a day discussing archaeology and flintknapping with Cub Scouts from the Toqua District (West Knoxville) Day Camp. Every year the scouts have a day camp. The theme this year was Cub Scout Investigation. Each day a different kind of investigation was conducted by the scouts. The theme for June 7th was “digging in the past”. Scouts ages 6–10 took part in the day long program. Four groups of approximately 30 scouts each listened to Mr. Bradbury discuss archaeology and flintknapping. The flintknapping demonstration was rather informal and allowed the kids to ask many questions. Basic stone tool making was demonstrated along with some demonstrations of how various stone tools would have been used prehistorically. Several different tools (scrapers, retouched flakes, projectile point) were made while the scouts watched and asked questions.

The flintknapping demonstration then lead to a discussion of what archaeology is and what archaeologists do. Scouts learned about how archaeologists find sites, basics of excavation, various dating techniques, and what questions can be answered through site excavation. Mr. Bradbury discussed several sites that he had excavated. The scouts asked a number of interesting questions throughout the discussion.