Programs and Field Trips
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Conference ID: 851442042#
** August 18, 2026 **
Trees of Life
Presented by Ree Rodgers, Archaeologist
National Park Service, Great Sand Dunes NP&P
Culturally Peeled Ponderosa Pines in Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve
Ree Rogers – Park Archaeiolgist
Photo Fred Bunch 2025
One of the few living “sites” on the National Register of Historic Places, 5SH1035, is a grove of approximately 72 culturally peeled Ponderosa Pine trees. Also known locally as “Indian Grove” this cluster of trees represents a distinct phase in the history of the San Luis Valley of southern Colorado. We’ll discuss what distinguishes these trees as cultural phenomena, the historical context of the site, how they have been studied and by whom, what archaeologists have learned about them, and finally how the park is working to preserve them for future generations.
** September 15, 2026 **
Ancestral Astronomy
Presented by: Jenna Dittman, Pikes Peak State College Professor of Archaeology
The Chacoan Cosmos
Did you know that the oldest science practiced by humans is astronomy? In the Chacoan landscape (800 CE and 1300 CE), the Ancestral Puebloan utilized astronomical observations made by the naked eye to influence their perceptions of time, art, community, architecture, and connection to the spirit world. Although archaeologists have been aware of these ancient cultures and their developments using astronomy for decades, it has not been until recently that we have made the connection among astronomy, archaeology, and linguistics. Language is a gateway into a culture’s history, functionality, and longevity; therefore, it can be a source of detecting communication across time through the documentation of events, especially those as globally significant as supernovas and lunar standstills. This presentation aims to visit your curiosity about how astronomical events were captured within archaeological media in the Colorado region of the four corners where the Chacoan people settled, as well as create an open forum to discuss multidisciplinary frameworks of anthropology that combine archaeology and linguistics
Jenna Dittman
Jenna Râmu (Dittman) is the current archaeology instructor a Pikes Peak State College. Râmu grew up a military dependent, first generation American, and Indigenous descendent. Due To those experiences, she naturally gravitated towards learning about human history, our relationship with the Earth, and how we communicate across cultures. Râmu holds a BS in Communication and Sociology from the University of Mobile and a master’s degree in Anthropology from the University of Southern Mississippi where she received training in quantitative and ethnographic research, in addition to activism anthropology, Indigenous climate mitigation practices, and nonprofit management. Throughout 2024, Râmu served as an AmeriCorps lead member in a field crew at Capitol Reef National Park (American Conservation Experience) and K-12 museum educator with History Colorado. In 2025, she shadowed as a tribal liaison for Aztec Ruins National Monument, Chaco Culture National Historical Park, and Mesa Verde National Park. During her two years with the park service, she developed a multidisciplinary theory that combines archaeology, astronomy, and linguistics, to which she presented at the World Anthropological Union Congress in Antigua, Guatemala in November
2025.
