Earth Oven Experiments in Texas and Wyoming

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Experimental Pedagogies: Teaching through Experimental Archaeology Part II" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The durable remains of earth oven construction—namely, fire-cracked rock (FCR)—lack the same tactile connection to the past as lithic or ceramic artifacts. However, constructing experimental earth ovens provides an immersive experience where students, researchers, and the general public can gain a better understanding of FCR, earth ovens, and Indigenous cooking strategies more broadly. Providing this experiential window into earth ovens is critically important for archaeology because (1) Indigenous groups across the world continue to use earth ovens, and (2) FCR are frequently encountered in academic and contract archaeological projects. This paper summarizes my experiences using oven experiments as part of research, field schools, and public outreach projects in Texas and Wyoming. Due to the effort required to construct an earth oven, most oven experiments fall somewhere along the continuum from replicative public displays with limited or no quantitative data collection to meticulous recording of every input variable. However, even in instances where features are constructed for public engagement, researchers are still able to collect meaningful information from oven experiments—especially when working with descendant communities.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)   •
• Experimental Pedagogies: Teaching through Experimental Archaeology Part II

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39061.0