After carefully sifting through some dirt, Noelani Elementary School fourth-grader Jake Kawasaki discovered a tiny stone flake, much like the kind ancient Hawaiians used to scrape animal hides.

"This one's sharp," he exclaimed to one of his classmates.

Jake, 9, and several dozen other students got down and dirty recently at Noelani during a mock archaeological excavation and stone tool-making demonstration — all part of a classroom presentation on archaeology in Hawai'i by University of Hawai'i lecturer Robert Bollt.

Bollt brings his presentations to O'ahu schools to help foster an appreciation for Hawaiian culture and emphasize the importance of a scientific field that many know little about in the Islands, he said.

"There's so much archaeology going on (here) and there's so much pre-history everywhere you go," Bollt said. "If people started to really understand that, then there will be a whole new appreciation for the past, and what archaeology can bring into their lives."

At Noelani, Bollt spoke about his career to more than 60 fourth-graders who were clearly interested, frequently shooting up their arms to ask such questions as: "What was the most valuable artifact you ever found?" and "What do we do if we find something in our backyard?"

He explained to students that while archaeologists prize their discoveries, they never keep or sell the items and usually give artifacts to museums or universities.

After a slide-show presentation, Bollt took the children outside to show them how archaeologists excavate sites using tools such as trowels and sifts, with the help of UH students Jarib Porter, Eric Ferraro and Philip Fisher.

They also demonstrated how ancient Hawaiians made stone tools, such as adzes, and how flakes chipped away from adzes also served as tools for cutting.

A COOL JOB

Lianna McCurdy, 9, who cupped a handful of stone flakes she got from the demonstrations, said it was cool to "search for stuff so old," and that she thought it would be fun to be an archaeologist.

Inspiring students like Lianna to consider a field in archaeology is crucial because more archaeologists in Hawa'i are needed — especially those who are from Hawai'i, Bollt said.

"The Pacific (region) has been basically a footnote to most anthropology and archaeology textbooks for 50 years or so, and now, slowly, it's starting to gain a little more attention," he said.

Grade school is the best time to get to aspiring archaeologists, "when their minds are open," Bollt said. "When picking up little things like stone flakes and little minutiae like that are fun and exciting for them."