Towards the end of my second year as an anthropology major, I began to look at field schools and I chose the ‘Field Methods in Rock Art’ course offered through Texas State and Shumla. I had no previous experience with rock art but it was only three weeks long and I had a busy summer. Little did I know that attending that field school would set up a whole chain of events leading to my current job. The field school is led by Dr. Carolyn Boyd, the current expert on the rock art of the Lower Pecos region. My interest was sparked the very first day of field school and Dr. Boyd’s passion for the art was contagious. When I returned to San Antonio after field school I was determined to find a way to get back out to west Texas so, I went back as a volunteer with the research team for a two-week field session in July and that’s when I knew I was hooked.
Shumla is also an acronym for Studying Human Use of Materials, Land, and Art. The education department of Shumla creates programs for elementary school children that use archaeological concepts to teach kids in a fun interactive way. The education department works out of the main office in Comstock along with our accountant and grant writer. The research team, which I am a part of, is a separate department that focuses mostly on recording, preservation projects, and learning as much about the rock art as we can.
My internship duties involved being a teaching assistant for the Field Methods in Rock Art course. We set out to record a site called Black Cave (41VV76) that is located in Seminole Canyon State Park. Acting as a T.A. for the field school was a great leadership experience. After, I began my duties as a Shumla representative at Dr. Black’s Lower Pecos Canyonlands field school, which he held on the Shumla campus. I participated in the same activities as the students but also acted as a duties master and kitchen facilitator. I made sure the students kept the campus clean. I also made the menu each week and cooked meals for 20 people; it was not an easy task. In addition, Dr. Black counted on me and another Shumla intern to teach different primitive technologies to the students. In the evenings we showed them how to use an atlatl, make cordage, and do friction fire. Dr. Boyd wanted me to attend the field school since all the knowledge I would gain would be relevant to our work and also to learn the Shumla ranch backwards and forwards. Interns often have to take people out to certain sites and be able to tell them about the landscape.
For the next year I will stay in Comstock as a research intern with Shumla and I could not be more excited. This summer has been the busiest of my life but also one of the best. To have a job that I am so passionate about cannot be described by words alone. We have successfully finished three sites in the past few weeks: Black Cave, Black Cave Annex, and Pancho’s Shelter. At the moment we are in the middle of the illustration process for White Shaman, an extremely important site. After we finish White Shaman, we have 10 more sites to complete. The information we have already learned is so tremendous and it will only continue to grow with the work Shumla is doing. I wanted to take this opportunity to make connections, gain focus, and get some good experience in the field of archaeology and I believe Shumla has allowed me to do all those things and much more.