Living Archaeology Weekend

09/19/2025

We are more than grateful for the Medicine Eagle Dance Troup educating the local community school groups.

09/19/2025

Today was an epic day for Living Archaeology Weekend school day! Come on out to natural
Bridge State Park Hoedown Island tomorrow for the public day! 9am -4pm

08/18/2025

09/21/2024

09/21/2024

Visit us today! We will be here rain or shine!

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

08/16/2024

A BIG announcement for LAW 2024!

The Gladie Center is getting some much-needed improvements this fall, so we will be relocating to the Natural Bridge State Resort Park's Hoedown Island for 2024.

08/27/2023

Hi Folks!!!

It's time! The 35th annual Living Archaeology Weekend event is right around the corner: Friday and Saturday September 15-16, 2023 at the Gladie Center in the Red River Gorge.

The Saturday, September 16th event is open to the general public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. Concessions will be available for purchase from the American Veterans Post 67 from Clay City.

On Friday, September 15, demonstrations are for preregistered school groups only.

For more information, go to www.livingarchaeologyweekend.org

This year, three new (or newly reprinted/revised) posters will be available for visitors on Saturday.

The new poster is the 2023 Kentucky Archaeology Month poster, prepared by the Kentucky Organization of Professional Archaeologists. This year, it focuses on the local plants domesticated by Kentucky's ancient Native peoples.

Copies of the newly reprinted/revised Kentucky Before Boone poster also will be available. The one-color poster is free; the full color poster costs $10.00.

Hope to see you there!

04/26/2023

Kentucky Before Boone Posters FINALLY Reprinted!

In 1989, the Kentucky Heritage Council printed Kentucky Before Boone, Jim Railey’s amazingly detailed and informative poster depicting Indigenous lifeways, technology, and diagnostic artifacts drawing upon research carried out at Kentucky archaeological sites.

The poster went through several reprintings, but in time, there were no more.

Now, at last, the Kentucky Before Boone poster has been reprinted in two versions. The brown-on-ivory version gives a nod to the original colors of the first poster; the colorized version is new.

Funding came from Corn Island Archaeology, the Kentucky Archaeological Survey, and the Kentucky Native American Heritage Commission.

To get/purchase your copies, you can wait until Living Archaeology Weekend's 35th Anniversary - Saturday September 16, 2023 for the general public...
OR
you can check out the website of the Kentucky Organization of Professional Archaeologists (KyOPA): https://www.kyopa.org/kentucky-before-boone-posters/

Sales support poster reprinting and will help KyOPA defray the costs of developing and printing the annual Kentucky Archaeology Month posters.

12/14/2022

Living Archaeology Weekend 2022 - our first in-person event since September 2019 - was a great success.

Many of you helped make it successful. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!

A little over 1000 fifth-graders, teachers, and chaperones attended on Friday, representing public schools and homeschools from 11 Kentucky counties.

We estimate that about 1100 people stopped by on Saturday. Most folks who attended on Saturday came from Kentucky, but some came from as far away as Ohio and Arkansas.

Based on the responses on questionnaires turned in to us on Saturday, the atlatl demonstration was the favorite by far, followed by flintknapping, pump drills, and the new h**p brake demonstration. Bu every demonstration received some votes.

It just goes to show you: LAW has something for everyone!

At the heart of the event are our demonstrators, and it is clear visitors recognize that. Folks found them knowledgeable, accessible, interactive, friendly, and enthusiastic. In a word: GREAT!

Visitors loved the learning opportunities at LAW and the hands-on activities, too. Here is a sample of what folks said:

“I came with no expectations - this was my first visit. I was fascinated by everything I saw.”

“LAW is always wonderful and a learning experience.”

See you again next year!

And HAPPY Happy Holidays!

10/02/2022

Testing. Testing 123. We've experienced an issue making posts to our page. This is simply a test post to ensure we can proceed with our posts of gratitude for a most excellent Living Archaeology Weekend 2022.

09/14/2022

Don't forget!

Living Archaeology Weekend is this Saturday, September 17 at the Gladie Visitor Center in the Red River Gorge. It's free - as always. The Clay City American Veterans Post will be on-site with food for sale.

Demonstrators this year include flintknappers, weavers, and spinners. You can try drilling wood with a pump drill, scraping a deer hide, breaking h**p or flax, and shooting a spear with a spearthrower. Or you can learn about Native ceramic-making technology, the use of the bow and arrow, and basket-making.

You'll DEFINITELY want to buy a t-shirt with our new logo! Or a magnet...or a sticker. So don't forget to stop in at the Information-Sales Booth.

Hope to see you there!

09/06/2022

Are you planning to visit us next Saturday, Sept 17th from 10-5pm in the Red River Gorge? We sure hope so.

The Steering Committee is getting all the details worked out. Demonstrators are pulling their materials together. The Forest Service is working to get the event site ready for you.

To help you plan your visit, here is a link to our website that provides information on the event site, as well as directions and short descriptions about our demonstrators: https://www.livingarchaeologyweekend.org/visit

While you are there, surf on over to view our new videos on American Indian and Pioneer textiles. The textile artists featured in the videos will be on hand to answer your questions on Saturday.

See you there!