Children make pots at The Deschutes Historical Museum’s Archaeology Roadshow. (Courtesy Beverly Clement)

Portland State University’s Archaeology Roadshow aims to make the historical past relevant through the examination of found objects.

It started on the downtown Portland campus in 2012, at the same time Virginia Butler, professor of anthropology at the university, was shifting her focus from full-time research to splitting her time between research and public outreach.

The Roadshow has since grown organically, arriving in Bend in 2019, with additional events taking place in The Dalles and Harney County.

The 13th annual event comes to Bend on Saturday, featuring exhibits, activities, and a panel of experts in archaeology and geology who will be identifying personal artifacts.

Digging deeper into history

One of the Roadshow’s goals is to help the public become better stewards of physical artifacts. If an object is found, Butler suggests marking the spot on a map or in a smartphone and speaking with a federal agency, a museum or with someone at the Roadshow so that it may be properly stewarded.

“Something that we hope the Archaeology Roadshow does is bring the past forward so that it becomes more meaningful to people. It can affect how they think about the world and their place in it. I mean, I know that sounds really really big, but that’s kind of the big goal,” Butler said. “We’re trying to bring history and archaeology alive and help people build more connections to it and understand some of the important entities that are part of taking care of this history.”

She hopes the event may lead people to think differently about ownership and that it may instill a curiosity in found objects that could have tremendous value to tribal members or to science.

“Is it actually possible to own something that is truly priceless?” Butler asked. “It’s not just mine to appreciate. At some level, it could belong to all of humanity.”

It’s part of the reason no appraisals are given at the Roadshow. Butler stresses the importance of learning from an object, rather than trying to assign a dollar amount to it for resale, which moves into another kind of ethics.

Speaker series

A three-part speaker series will take place inside the museum on Saturday. At noon, Robert David of the Klamath Tribes will speak about an example of rock art from the Klamath Basin, followed by a presentation by the Bureau of Land Management’s Pat O’Grady on the Rimrock Draw Rockshelter and an overview of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act by Garin Riddle of the Klamath Tribes.

If You Go

What: Archaeology Roadshow

When: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday

Where: The Deschutes Historical Museum, 129 NW Idaho Ave., Bend

Cost: Free

Contact: deschuteshistory.org or 541-389-1813