St. Stephen’s Episcopal students in Wimberley are returning next summer to a 5,000 acre Nature Conservancy-owned ranch in Colorado to excavate skeletal remains they discovered during a school field trip. The discovery at Madeno Ranch, next to the Great Sand Dunes, was the highlight of an eight day adventure led by St. Stephen’s Head of School Richard T. Stark, Ph.D. An archeologist, Stark, offers these exciting field trip opportunities for students to promote a curiosity about ancient civilizations. The students quickly found themselves in the world of Paleo-Indian hunter/gatherers in Texas, New Mexico and Colorado.

 

“While we were at the Madeno Ranch, the manager asked us to inspect an archaeological site that had recently been discovered by a hiker. We found the site in a dune blow out, with two hearths, many stone tools, and an exposed human burial. We hope to return to this site next year for an excavation and reburial. That way, the site will be well documented and the skeleton will be protected. On the way out we drove through a herd of bison that roam the Madeno Ranch. It was an amazing day,” said Stark.  

Stark has been studying the Paleo-Indian campsites, which are 9,000 years or older, for more than ten years. In 1993, Stark worked as an archeologist for the Smithsonian Institution at the Cattleguard Site, which is a bison kill campsite at the Great Sand Dunes National Park in southern Colorado.

 

The coordinates at the human burial site are documented digitally using a Global Positioning System to protect the location.

 

“In adhering to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1998, the burial will be protected and reburied by local Ute Shaman,” said Stark.

Autumn Larronde, a student at New Mexico State University, was the other staffmember on the trip, along with St. Stephen’s fifth grader Faith Stephens, and seventh  graders Madison Watts and Mallory Mazarella.

 

“The trip was unforgettable and I hope that whoever that skeleton may be, may he rest in peace. I look forward to going back and witnessing a proper burial for the remains,” said Watts.

The students camped during the trip and on one occasion backpacked into the dune field and camped overnight. They visited the Lubbock Lake Site, the Clovis Site, the Museum of the North American Indian in Santa Fe, and the Cattleguard Site where Stark had worked as an archeologist for the Smithsonian.

 

Stark began his third year as Head of School. His undergraduate degree is from the University of Arizona in Tucson, and his graduate degrees are from The University of Texas at Austin in the field of anthropology. He served as Middle School Head at Texas Military Institute (TMI) in San Antonio for several years, where he distinguished himself as a creative educational leader and administrator. He has taught archaeology, ancient history, environmental science, world geography and geology to students at the middle school, high school and college levels.

 

These field trip opportunities are available to any students in the community ages 10 to adult. This summer’s trip is scheduled for May 27 through June 1, 2007. For more information about St. Stephen’s Episcopal School or the trips call (512) 847-9857.