The College of Western Idaho (CWI) Anthropology Club celebrated a milestone in its petroglyph project at Celebration Park near Melba, completing the field work phase of the multi-year preservation effort. This month, 23 students volunteered over three days to record more than 20 petroglyph panels. Since the start of the project, over 60 Anthropology Club members have participated in four trips to conduct field work.
CWI students have been recording, mapping, and photographing petroglyphs since March 2014 through a grant from the Canyon County Historic Preservation Commission.
“We are grateful to the Commissioners support as well as our partners, Idaho Department of Fish and Game and Canyon County Parks, Recreation, and Waterways and their Director Tom Bicak,” says CWI Anthropology Faculty, Nikki Gorrell.
Gorrell says CWI Geography faculty, Bryan Krouse, has also been providing invaluable assistance on the project by helping map the glyphs. The group is currently creating an ArcGIS Collector app with the data so that anyone with an interest in the project can learn more about it on their smartphone. The goal is to have the app available by the end of this year.
“The students that have participated are the reason this project has been successful,” Gorrell adds. “Their contributions serve as a legacy for prehistoric preservation of the cultural heritage of Canyon County.”