Youths get a dig at archaeological fair

BROWNSVILLE - At the second annual International Rio Grande Delta Archaeological Fair on Saturday, Linn Keller watched 6- and 7-year-olds sift through sandboxes and dust off buttons with expert care.

"I've known I wanted to be an archeologist since I was their age," Keller said, looking at children inside neighboring tents as they crafted dream-catchers and learned to shoot arrows at the Palo Alto Battlefield.

"As human beings, we're a family of one," Keller said. "Discovering what others have left beneath the ground we walk on connects us across time."

Keller and her husband, John, work as private archeological contractors out of Bayview. She says that in a historic area, such as the Rio Grande Valley, private enterprises have little incentive to excavate the land they plan to build upon before irreplaceable artifacts are destroyed by construction.

"These days, we're surrounded with duplicates, imitations and objects made by machines," Keller said. "Being able to touch a real something makes the person who made that artifact real."

Saturday's event, organized by the Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Association and the Historic Brownsville Museum Association, included participants from the United States and Mexico.

Rolando Garza, the archeologist for the Palo Alto Battlefield, said the annual event is intended to educate people about the area's archaeological importance.

"We are the stewards of the historic resources (in the Rio Grande Valley)," Garza said. "Today, we're helping to spark an interest in that responsibility."

Garza said the Battlefield will likely receive funding for a 2010 excavation to seek remnants of earthenware, or items made from porous clay.

"By showing the public the Valley's archeological significance, we hope they begin to donate to support more of these projects," Garza said.