Programs and Field Trips
Next Meeting
Open Mic Night
A fun evening of educational (and short) presentations
Join us as we continue a favorite chapter tradition, with four members sharing their recent archaeological and historical adventures. Don’t miss this free, fun, and informative program!
- Mike St. Claire: A Tour of Ancient Archaeological Sites in Greece. With Mike as “tour guide,” we’ll travel to the Athens area, Meteora, the Peloponnese, Crete, Rhodes, and Santorini.
- Cindy Zenkert-Strange: Magical Moments at Haunting Hovenweep. Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon command the lion’s share of attention in this corner of the Southwest, but Hovenweep offers its own rewards. Here’s a look at what was, and what remains, at this national monument shared by Utah and Colorado.
- Julie Haverluk: Trip to Bears Ears with Crow Canyon Archaeological Center. See examples of the magnificent preservation of structures in Bears Ears National Monument and hear fascinating insights shared by Native American scholars who accompanied this trip.
- Jerry Rhodes: Travels in Peru. Enjoy a pictorial overview of major historical and archaeological sites visited throughout Peru.
** February 18, 2025 **
The Sand Creek Massacre
Presented by John Orsborn
On November 29, 1864, Chiefs Black Kettle, White Antelope, Left Hand, and others were encamped with around 750 Arapaho and Cheyenne people in a valley by the Big Sandy Creek in Colorado Territory (what is now southeastern Colorado). A hope for peace, brought forth by Chief Black Kettle, was in the balance. In the end, it was a tragic day—a massacre of approximately 240 Arapaho and Cheyenne Plains Native Americans (mostly children, women, and the elderly) at their camp by members of the Union Army under the command of Col. John Chivington and elements of Colorado infantry and cavalry volunteers. Join us for a well-researched look at this tragic historical event. This discussion offers a foundation of learning for those who participate in our chapter’s May field trip to the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site (date TBD). Note that you must be a PPC/CAS member to participate in chapter field trips.
After graduating from Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa, John C. Orsborn spent the next two summers as a ranger at Mesa Verde National Park, an experience that forged his decades-long passion for researching Colorado history. Now retired, he taught and was a counselor at Gorman Jr. High School in Colorado Springs. He is a docent at the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, giving tours of the museum’s collection and continuing to share his in-depth knowledge of Colorado history.
** April 15, 2025 **
The Northern Chaco Outliers Project
Presented by Susan C. Ryan, PhD, Crow Canyon Archaeological Center
The Northern Chaco Outliers Project, initiated by the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, focuses on the Haynie site, a multi-component ancestral village with two Pueblo II period (A.D. 950–1150) great houses, located in present-day southwestern Colorado. The great and small houses at the Haynie site were part of the larger Lakeview community, a relatively small area comprised of the densest concentration of great houses found north of the San Juan River. Research suggests the great houses were constructed above earlier architecture dating to the Basketmaker III and Pueblo I periods (A.D. 500–950). Further testing seeks to determine precisely when the site was occupied, when it was depopulated, and how this village related to other great houses in the region. This project contributes to a greater understanding of ancient communities and regional systems, resource sustainability, the natural and cultural impacts of environmental downturns, and migration.
Susan C. Ryan, PhD, has worked at the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center since 1998. As Executive Vice President of the Research Institute, Ryan aligns the Center’s mission with ongoing research initiatives pertaining to human behaviors in the past and present and human-environmental studies. She holds a PhD from the University of Arizona. Her research interests include public archaeology, community formation and dissolution, the built environment, and the relevance of archaeological research to today’s societies.
Photo: Susan Ryan, Haynie East Great House
** May 20, 2025 **
The Barger Gulch Site: A Unique Folsom Campsite in
Middle Park, Colorado
Presented by Todd Surovell, PhD, University of Wyoming
The Barger Gulch site preserves evidence of a Folsom cold season occupation dating to 12,800 years before present in an intermontane basin of Colorado. While many Folsom sites leave little archaeological materials (reflecting a highly mobile lifestyle), the people at Barger Gulch left behind tens of thousands of pieces of chipped stone as they overwintered here. Careful excavation of the site and analysis of the materials recovered have yielded evidence of Ice Age households. These are among the oldest houses ever found in the Americas. By comparing the contents of those households, Dr. Todd Surovell has been able to infer aspects of Paleoindian social organization, demography and activities—such as a camp circle, child flintknapping, and household production of weaponry—which are difficult to study from other kinds of sites.
Todd Surovell, PhD is a Professor of Anthropology and Director of the George C. Frison Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Wyoming. He received a BS in Anthropology and Zoology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MA and PhD from the University of Arizona. His areas of expertise include human behavioral ecology, hunter-gatherer archaeology, and the colonization of the Americas. He is also skilled in quantitative methods, geoarchaeology, archaeometry, and ethnoarchaeology. Dr. Surovell is the author of two books and more than 75 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. He is the principal investigator of the Barger Gulch and La Prele Mammoth site projects. He completed a five-year ethnoarchaeological study of Dukha reindeer herders in northern Mongolia, examining spatial properties of human behavior in campsites of nomadic peoples.
Photo: Todd Surovell, Burger Gulch Site
** June17, 2025 **
Rethinking the Origins of Horse Domestication and Its Impact on the Ancient World
Presented by Dr. William T. Taylor
Assistant Professor and Curator of Archaeology at the University of Colorado-Boulder
The domestication of the horse is widely understood as one of the most significant events in human history, with horse transport linked to drastic changes in ecology, communication, culture, ceremony, and even the very structure of societies across the ancient world. But how did this transformative relationship between people and horses first emerge? New discoveries from archaeological sciences are overturning long-held assumptions about the timing and process of the first domestication, revealing a process that was far more rapid – and far more disruptive – than previously understood.
Dr. William T. Taylor is the author of Hoof Beats: How Horses Shaped Human History and an Assistant Professor and Curator of Archaeology at the University of Colorado-Boulder. His work explores the domestication of the horse and the ancient relationships between people and animals through archaeozoology and archaeological science. Taylor received his PhD with distinction from the University of New Mexico. His scholarship has been published in top-tier scientific journals and has been funded by international granting agencies, including National Geographic and National Science Foundation. Taylor’s research was awarded the Popejoy Prize from the University of New Mexico and his collaborative work with LIU scientists received the 2024 Newcomb Cleveland Prize from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Photos: William Taylor
