Growing up I loved hearing stories of my family's history, exploring, and I loved finding cool rocks.
Not many things have changed. I still adore hearing stories of anyone's history and family background. Becoming an archaeologist has allowed me to explore countries and places I never dreamed of visiting. I still love finding cool rocks.
When deciding what I wanted to go to college for I kept looking into archaeology courses remembering how much the subject always lit me up as a kid. Thoughts of "Who does that though" and "Do archaeologists even make any money?" came to mind. After drooling over various excavations, recent finds, and talking to more and more archaeologists and avocational archaeologists I knew I was going to go for it and follow my dreams.
During my time at Colorado State University I learned so many valuable skills and met some amazing people. My schooling there set me up for some amazing life events. One of these big life events was getting my first paid archaeology gig out of Fairbanks, Alaska. Working there was no joke. It wasn't armchair archaeology. It was getting deep into the work, getting dirty, crying because I was so out of my element, and really learning what being an archaeologist was all about.
After a season of transects and walking and digging and being devoured by mosquitoes I was able to work with my boss and crew chief to present our seasonal findings at the Society of American Archaeology's annual conference in San Francisco, CA.
This presentation and several projects in school gave me a major taste of what Public archaeology is really about. If we do not talk about archaeology and let the public know what is happening, then the public most likely will never know unless they seek it out themselves. Public archaeology became a new dream of mine. Thus began several years of me figuring out ways to best interact with the public and get them interested in archaeology and history.
I became a tour guide and an archaeologist at the same time and was looking for ways to get the public involved in archaeology. I worked with local archaeological groups and companies out of Colorado (my home state) to learn as much as I could about getting the word out about archaeology. The more and more I searched though, the more and more I saw that archaeology could really use some help with getting the public involved. After years of brewing and learning, Jasmine and I finally started...Community Connections LLC!
Jasmine said it best:
"We are committed to using archaeology in local communities to connect members of the community together in a meaningful way by showing how heritage can be a valuable tool for exploring and preserving our stories. We can't wait to explore the exciting stories in your community, too!"
Welcome to Community Connections LLC! We are so excited to create a better future for our past and get the public excited about archaeology and history just like we are!