Date: Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Location: Kit Carson Electric - 118 Cruz Alta Rd., Taos - No change in Location
Title: "A History of the Ancient Southwest"
Speaker: Stephen H. Lekson, Ph.D., Curator of Anthropology, Museum of Natural History, University of Colorado, Boulder
The following information is taken from the University of Colorado Faculty and Staff Newsletter of May 5, 2010. Cynthia Pasquale is the author.
Steve Lekson has stirred up a lot of dust in his time. He's spent years researching prominent archaeological sites, including Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, Yellow Jacket at Mesa Verde in Colorado, and Casas Grandes, known as Paquimé, in Mexico.
But he also likes to shake up conventional wisdom. For instance, he contends the peoples of Chaco, known for using celestial objects to align settlements, used similar orientations to migrate and settle in other areas both north and south along the 108th meridian. (See his book "The Chaco Meridian: Centers of Political Power in the Ancient Southwest," AltaMira Press, 1999).
Such thinking has earned him praise and raised some eyebrows. Some have called him one of the greatest minds of this generation; others have called him just plain wrong. He takes it all in stride with good humor. In the opening of "Chaco," he writes, "This book is not for the faint of heart, or for neophytes. If you are a practicing Southwestern archaeologist with hypertension problems, stop. Read something safe."
His research focuses on the politics, human geography and the architecture of peoples who inhabited Colorado and the Southwest so long ago. He came to the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1997 to head the museum and field studies graduate program. Fieldwork and the laboratory analyses of artifacts and samples are passions, but he also enjoys working with the CU Museum of Natural History, where he is curator of anthropology. While he oversees and uses the museum's anthropology collection in his research and teaching, he also has been bringing the museum into compliance with federal law regarding some artifacts. The law requires institutions that receive federal funding to return cultural items undefined such as sacred objects and human remains undefined to their respective Native American peoples.
Join other TAS members and our speaker at the Trading Post Cafe, 4179 State Rd. 68, Ranchos de Taos.
We need to make reservations by Saturday (March 5th)
Please RSVP to Dorothy by Sarturday, March 5th if you plan to join us for dinner.
dorothy_wells@mac.com or 751-3265.
