Summer
trip offers experience of a lifetime
By Mari Shinkai
On-line Forty-Niner
In
collaboration with the University of Hawaii,
a group of Cal State Long Beach students
and anthropology professors are preparing
for their first arranged trip to Rapa Nui
of Easter Island, Chile as part of the archaeological
field school.
The field school, which is creditable for
Anthropology 450 for six credits, will be
held from June 2 to July 3.
With a limit of eight students, the field
research will be conducted with not only
archaeological filed surveys, but also in-depth
knowledge about Rapa Nui culture, history
and people, said Carl Lipo, professor of
anthropology and director of the field school.
Lipo is responsible for bringing this program
to anthropology students at Cal State Long
Beach for the first time.
With support of the anthropology department
including Dan Larson, chair of anthropology
department, Lipo came to CSULB as an assistant
professor August 2002 and has projected
the field school to be an annual program.
“Our immediate goal is to integrate field
training for local Rapa Nui and CSULB field
school students with archaeological research,”
Lipo said. “But we hope our field research
will also contribute to the long-term preservation
and protection of archaeological sites on
Rapa Nui.”
Lipo explained that the trip will be focused
on learning how to excavate, do surveys,
make maps, analyze archaeological materials.
Students will be trained on the use of geophysical
techniques.
The group will use three remote sensing
equipments which detect resistivity, magnetometry
and ground penetrating radars. Ileana Bradford,
senior anthropology major who will attend
the field school explained that this work
is “very cutting edge.”
“This is very exciting because Cal State
Long Beach is one of the only schools in
the U.S. to have such technology as part
of their archaeology program and we’re so
glad about it,” Bradford said.
Iain Freckleton, junior anthropology major
and student assistant of anthropology department,
is expecting that this field trip will help
him reach his future goals as an archaeologist.
“It’s a good opportunity to learn how to
do field work research. This experience
will be one of the best practical trainings
in the field that I’ve been dreaming of
since I was little,” Freckleton said.
The field school participants will work
directly with students and staff from the
University of Hawaii as well as with students
from Rapa Nui high schools. Archaeologists
from P. Sebastian Englert Museum of anthropology
on the island will also be involved in the
project, Lipo said.
“Besides the archaeological study, I want
to learn about the culture of the people
from Chile,” said Susana Gonzalez, senior
anthropology major and one of the participants.
“One of the greatest treasures will be mingling
with the locals talking to them, and making
new friends.”
Easter Island which is located 3,700 kilometers
off the west coast of Chile is known as
the world’s most isolated inhabited island
and one of the most mystifying places of
Earth, possessing a history that remains
as unclear as it is evocative.
“The archaeology and natural history of
the small, isolated island have drawn a
great deal of attention, yet few people
actually ever get to visit this remarkable
place,” Lipo said. “It will be my first
time to visit Rapa Nui as well, so I’m very
excited as much as my students.”
“When I first heard about this [field school],
I definitely thought I must go and take
advantage of this opportunity,” Gonzalez
said. “When you go out of your country,
it is totally a different world out there.
A world that is patiently waiting to be
explored by all of us.”
Bradford, Freckleton and Gonzalez said that
they are thankful for the program Lipo brought
to Cal State Long Beach. The archaeological
field school is about to produce a new history
of archaeological research for the anthropology
department.
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