The Asprey Center collaborated with the Department of Earth Science and Geography on a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on October 3, 2015. The purpose of the trip was to investigate properties of earth materials through the lens of art and archeology. After meeting up at the Temple of Dendur to look at the carvings of papyrus and lotus plants into the buff, yellow sandstone from which the Temple was constructed, thirty students and two faculty members dispersed in small groups to examine art and artifacts from the Chinese, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, MIddle American and Near Eastern galleries. Which types of rock were most commonly used to make large sculptures? Which minerals are most commonly used to make jewelry? Which minerals are most commonly used to make pigments used to decorate walls or statues? We addressed these questions and learned that people of ancient cultures in their resourcefulness used readily available materials for everyday tools as well as adornments .