A Silver Lining at the Failed Hardin City Mine: An Opportunity for Public Land Stewardship through Archaeology

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Digging Deeper: Pushing Ourselves to Engage the Public in Our Shared Heritage through Outreach and Education" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

ncouraging the public to invest in resource conservation, education, and exploration is an ongoing priority for the Nevada BLM, Black Rock Field Office. Black Rock Rendezvous (BRR), an annual event hosted on the Black Rock Playa, is one such effort. The event introduces a wide variety of speakers, including BLM archaeologists, who have used it as an opportunity to engage in public outreach and education with an enthusiastic group of participants. In the past, this has included presentations about tool stone procurement, the California/Oregon Trail, and prehistoric Lake Lahontan. These talks have also led to opportunities to inform enthusiasts about the consequences of unauthorized artifact collection on public land. BLM archaeologists are planning to expand on the interest received at past BRRs by developing a cultural interpretation site. The ruins of Hardin City present an opportunity to share a story tying together multiple themes of postcontact Nevada history with a twist of deception and murder. It is the BLM’s mission to introduce the public to local archaeology in hopes of fostering stewardship of cultural resources on public land.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Digging Deeper: Pushing Ourselves to Engage the Public in Our Shared Heritage through Outreach and Education   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36153.0