FIFTY-ONE youths have successfully completed a three-week junior archaeology summer programme facilitated by the Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology. Speaking at the closing ceremony yesterday, instructor Samantha Solomon said it was divided into two components.
Level one was for 31 of them ranging in age from eight to 11 years and level two comprised 20 aged between 12 and 16.
According to Ms. Solomon, the objective of the course was to familiarise the participants with the social science discipline of Anthropology, as well as its four sub-disciplines, social/cultural anthropology, archaeology, anthropological linguistics and physical anthropology.
She informed the audience, comprising also of the parents, that archaeology is “the comparative study of human societies and cultures and their development; it encompasses the past, present and future.”
Solomon indicated that, as part of the course, she taught the function of museums in society and the history of Guyana’s ethnic groups.
“In addition, they toured St. Cuthbert’s Mission and other areas of interest,” she disclosed, adding: “They also participated in other fun activities.”

New things
“The programme was interesting fun and I got to learn new things,” said Naomi Paul, a 13-year-old who attends St. John’s College.
Twelve-year-old Saint Stanislaus College student Khemchandra Ramlochan concurred, acknowledging that he learnt “a lot of stuff” and said the process was “educating”.
Director of Culture, Dr. James Rose, under whose purview the Walter Roth Museum falls, hailed the venture as significant.
“This type of programme is important to sensitise young people about the communities in which they live. The national school curriculum is overcrowded and, for good or bad, over-emphasises on exams,” he asserted.
The Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology is reputedly the oldest such in the English-speaking Caribbean, having been established in 1974 but not opened to the public until 1982.