MVAC Artifact Show 2024

Brief view of the 2024 Artifact Show including interviews with avocational archaeologists Jim Losinski and Jay Bittner.
Timecodes
00:00
00:05 - Introduction
01:26 - Jim Losinski
09:23 - Jay Bittner
Artifact collections from throughout the state were on display at Valley View Mall this past Saturday, May 2nd. Visitors to the mall were able to view a variety of prehistoric and historic collections brought in by 15 collectors, along with having their own artifacts identified by MVAC staff. Special thanks to Jack Larson and UWL student Brian Nelson for providing flintknapping demonstrations and to Valley View Mall for co-hosting the event! Thanks to everyone who helped make this day a success.
Facebook album for 2024 Artifact Show
www.facebook.c...
UW-La Crosse and Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center partner for artifact show
Link to WXOW News 19 piece covering MVAC’s Artifact Show at Valley View Mall over the weekend: www.wxow.com/n...
Artifact Identification
Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse works mainly in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa and can provide information related to that region. If you would like information on artifacts, email a description of the item and where it was found, and attach a picture of the artifact with a scale to show its size. For more information visit MVAC’s website at: www.uwlax.edu/....
For information on other regions, we suggest contacting the appropriate state archaeologist from the following list: sites.google.c....

[@chrisinkansas8507]

Today, with hand-held GPS's affordable, more enthusiasts can take to the field and plot the locations of artifacts found and share that with the experts. Artifact collections are cool, and a lot of what's found is cool. Recording each artifact's location with a GPS, mapping a site, is invaluable. Many sites are known, but, even those studied with multiple digs often lack good site boundary data. Many sites are on private property. Resources at state archaeology office's and state schools are limited. Amateurs with an interest who follow some basic rules - always get permission to be on private land, inform the landowner of your process ("I never dig, just collect from the surface" etc), be emphatic that whatever you find belongs to them, and so on - can make a significant contribution to our knowledge of local prehistory.