As our society did last year, the AIA Iberian Peninsula chapter will have a booth at the Museu Nacional de Arqueologia, in Lisbon, during the week following the Dia dos Museus (International Day of Museums).  Last May, we focused our attention towards getting visibility with families and schools and conducted a well-received faux excavation in the monastery cloisters of the National Museum of Archaeology which is housed in the internationally famous Jeronimite Monastery in Belém.  Our theme was “Escava, Investiga e Explora!” (Excavate, Investigate and Explore) and over 200 children between the ages of 3 and 14 participated in an excavation where they learned proper excavation techniques and method of field investigation while looking for the burial chamber of Prince Pepi’s pet crocodile!  After locating the various artifacts (looses beads, small replica statuettes, scarabs, broken terra cotta plates and mummified crocodiles, the participants went inside the booth and researched and identified their finds with the aide of posters and research pamphlets designed to describe the finds and real artifacts that are similar to them.  They also learned how to wrapped mummified crocodiles and “restore” broken shards with the assistance of one of the museum conservation specialists.  

In addition, we hosted a round table discussion which concerned itself with the importance of education, excavation and using archaeology in the instruction of history and cultural traditions in elementary and secondary schools.  Topics such as teaching team work skills to at risk youths on excavation sites and the growing visual and mental distances between the cultural and archaeological world s were dicussed.  Given that the roundtables were broadcasted on speakers), the talks and  Q&A  sessions were aired to all of the participants and felt to be very successful.