Mt. A Classics Society hosts all-ages Archeology Day
Archeology Day has happened! The Classics Society’s big day focused on bringing together interested people of all ages to participate in a fun day full of activities and archeological education.
Many booths were set up with themed crafts and games. Notably, there were a few small children excavating shards of pottery from a tub of dirt. Others were decorating little sarcophagi and making laurel wreaths. Young and old collaborated with Mounties to breathe life into a vibrant subject. Smiles were plastered on faces, and laughter was plentiful. Perhaps one of the most popular stations at the festival was an ancient Greek drinking game called kottabos. Pairs competed, trying to sink each other’s cup using leftover alcohol in a pail of water. In this case, the alcohol was substituted with water.
The executive team for the classics society operated different booths. The kottabos booth was run by Maya Mutter, the society’s social media coordinator. “We’ve had a lot of families,” she said. “It was very surprising seeing how many non-students came out. We went to the market to see if families were interested.”
Even at the end of the day, the stations were full of children and adults digging in the dirt and learning about archeology and the classics department in general. “The money that we make goes to fees and directly into the department itself,” said Mutter. She plans on attending the department’s annual summer archeological expedition in Pompeii, one of the world’s most exciting archaeological phenomena.
Students, families and the University benefit from events of this nature. Bringing the community out and engaging them with students is central to facilitating interest and building bridges with each other.
It is clear that the students involved love bringing families out in conjunction with the Classics Society, and have done a fantastic job of engaging the community in a shared interest.
