Anthro Club Digs Deep

West Valley College’s Anthropology Club took a very hands-on approach during their 

meeting on Wednesday, October 16th. Traveling over 65 million years into the past, they put their archaeological skills to the test, digging up dinosaurs. Chiseling through the dirt, they uncovered the bones of prehistory.

Club officers supplied members with dinosaur excavation kits. Members used chisels, 

hammers, and brushes to uncover little plastic dinosaurs. A list of dug-up dinosaurs was kept on a whiteboard; record-keeping is important to archaeology. Club attendees also worked on two large excavation kits.

Members of Anthro Club dug through multiple excavation kits while chowing down on 

pizzas supplied from the campus café. Snacks are often provided while club members discuss anthropological articles, work on their homework, watch an anthropology-related movie, or create tier lists of historical sites and imagery. In the past, members have watched movies such as Indiana Jones, National Treasure, and Prince of Egypt. Club members once made a tier list of their favorite cave paintings. 

Last semester, the Anthropology Club held two big events: Stone Knapping and Cave Painting. Stone knapping is the act of creating stone tools by breaking off flakes of larger stones. Both events attracted a lot of attention. At the time of writing this article, the club will be holding another cave painting event on October 23rd and 24th. They chose to hold the event over two days to draw more interest.

The club meets every Wednesday and Thursday at 3 pm in LASS  30. Those 

interested in joining the club should go to connect.westvalley.edu/club_signup, attend a club meeting, or speak with Dr. Andrew “Andy” Kindon at the LASS Building.

(This article originally appeared in Issue 1 of The Helm)