Date: May 1, 2007
CONTACT: Mike Brown, (775) 753-0386
Email: mbrown@nv.blm.gov
ELKO FIELD OFFICE NO. 2007-56

ARCHAEOLOGY MONTH FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCED

In celebration of Nevada Archaeological Awareness and Historic Preservation Month, a four-part archaeology film festival will be held at Great Basin College. The films will be shown on Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m. on May 9, 16, 23, and 30 in the Health and Sciences Building Room 107. The festival is free to the public.

The film festival schedule is:

     May 9 - In Search of Human Origins – Surviving Africa
     May 16 - Nomadic Indians of the West
     May 23 – Rabbit Boss
     May 30 - Exploring Nevada: African Americans on the Comstock

“All the films are fascinating and look at different aspects of archaeology,” said Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Archaeologist Bill Fawcett. “The film In Search of Human Origins – Surviving Africa examines evidence for the ways our earliest ancestors lived in Africa several million years ago. Were we hunters or scavengers? Why did our brain sizes increase? Why did human start using stone tools?”

Nomadic Indians of the West shows variations in Native American life ways, and the ways archaeology informs us about how people lived.

The film Rabbit Boss shows how Washoe organize and conduct communal rabbit hunts or drives. Learn more about this important source of Washoe identity.

The last film in the series is Exploring Nevada: African Americans on the Comstock demonstrates the importance of historical archaeology and addresses the questions: what can we learn through archaeological investigations about miners and other people who lived on the Comstock? Why aren’t written records and histories sufficient?

There will be a discussion following each film led by a local archaeologist.

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