contributed photo
Lydia Peters (left) holds a chunky stone during an archeology lesson at Kennedy Community School. A chunky stone is part of a game similar to bocce ball. Student Abby Dierkes is at right.

Third-grade students in Jodie Kragness’ class recently got to do more than read about artifacts that date back to more than 7,000 years.

On Jan. 3 and Feb. 3, Dr. Debra Gold, an anthropology professor at St. Cloud State University, and SCSU students Erica Beacom, Minda Lee and Amanda Robinson spoke to the class at Kennedy Community School about just what it takes to be an archeologist.

It was a timely visit as the students were learning about Pompeii in their language-arts class. Pompeii was a city partially destroyed and buried as a result of the volcanic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D.

Pompeii lay buried for nearly 1,700 years. It wasn’t until 1748 that archeologists began to uncover the ancient Roman city, preserved under 9 feet of volcanic ash.

About three-fifths of the city has been uncovered from the solidified volcanic ash and pumice.

“It was interesting,” Jodie Kragness said of Gold’s visit. “The students were excited. They were able to hold artifacts that were 7,000 years old.”

Gold is the parent of Sam Brewer, one of Kragness’s students. During her visit, Gold created archeology stations so students could experience such things as why archeologists study soil color and why context is so important in archeology. The students even mapped an excavation unit.