Try your hand with a pump drill, help prepare native foods to cook over an open fire, or weave reeds into a durable mat to cover a prehistoric-style wigwam.

These are only a sample of the activities visitors can enjoy in the newly expanded Battelle Archaeology Park. Representing the time periods of the late prehistoric as well as the Historic American Indians, the Archaeology Park will be open this fall for special school and public programming only. General access to the site is limited.

A natural sanctuary, featuring a small pond and plantings native to Ohio, provides an attractive and appropriate introduction to this participatory, outdoor area.

From the orientation area, visitors may, then, follow a path to the "Discover Archaeology!" shelter, which houses a simulated archaeological dig site, or pursue another pathway leading to an expansive garden, planted with heirloom varieties of corn, squash, beans, and gourds. Sunflowers, berries, small hazelnut trees, and goosefoot also can be found among the native plantings. Nearby, a second garden features the unique grasses and plants of Ohio's prairies.

Adjacent to the garden is an open activity space where visitors can participate in a number of hands-on activities reflective of the daily life of Ohio's prehistoric and historic Indians. Among the activities featured are cooking over an open fire, pottery making, mat weaving, scraping out the interior of a log canoe, weeding the garden using a bone hoe, and spear-throwing using a prehistoric device called an atlatl.

Participating in historic American Indian games and listening to storytellers also are a part of this outdoor activity center. Nearby, another outdoor shelter makes available additional hands-on activities, including making a clam shell necklace using a pump drill and "etching" designs on copper.

Staffs from the Ohio Historical Society's natural history, archaeology, and educational services offices, as well as from the Society's archaeological sites (most notably Fort Ancient), partnered in the project.

Look on the Special Events and Programs page for the dates and times of upcoming school and public programs in the Battelle Archaeology Park.