Mikayla Vasquez-Salgado, University of New Mexico

(June 28, 2024)—My time with Archaeology Southwest has already been an eye-opening and informative experience. During our first week of field school, my rotation was experimental archaeology. I found out firsthand (literally) just how much work it takes to make and use stone tools.

I also learned how much specialized knowledge it took to make everything you needed to survive. People had to study the world around them intensively and extensively. You had to know what time of year a tree would be ready to harvest. Or where you could find this kind of stone to make into a tool. Just think of the knowledge and the know-how you would have needed to just to make one stone knife! How to find the stone, shape it, carve a wooden haft, harvest adhesive material to haft it, tan a hide that you would use for strips to further bind the blade to the haft.

I liked having time off my phone and something to work on with my hands. I felt like the time flew by because I was in no rush to hurry and potentially mess up my project. If anything, I didn’t have enough time to do every project I wanted to do! The highlight of my week may have been when I first tested out my atlatl—and it worked! I had taken a piece of wood and made it into something that was completely new!

I loved being out and about in nature. Luckily, the only animals I saw were cows, horses, and the occasional dog! Wild animals would’ve made me a little nervous. I even like cooking over an open fire. And who can have a camping trip without s’mores? The one thing I missed from “civilization” may have been the ability to shower.

We did catch the onset of the monsoon season, so not everything stayed dry. I’ve never seen such big thunder and lightning storms! Being so close to nature and being immersed in the environment has given me a new appreciation for how people made a life and the life I might have in the field as an archaeologist.