The Bears Ears Water Project
Channel: ArchaeologySouthwest
Date: 23/01/2020

On Tuesday, January 7, 2020, R. E. Burrillo discussed Bears Ears in his talk, “The Bears Ears Water Project: What Environmental Chemistry Reveals about Agriculture and Landscape Archaeology in the Greater Cedar Mesa Area.”

Explore what makes this place special, discover what it tells us about life long ago, and learn how you can experience this significant place today by making a visit to Newspaper Rock.

From R. E.:

“The Indian Creek corridor has been a thoroughfare and occasional habitation spot for different groups in the Bears Ears region for thousands of years. Archaic period foragers stopped by to hammer their images and symbols into the same patinated sandstone surface as the Basketmaker, Fremont, and Pueblo farmers that succeeded them. Historic Ute and Navajo petroglyphs also adorn the surface, attesting to these cultures’ antiquity in the area. And early Anglo ranchers and wranglers also added their signatures before the site was officially protected against modern vandalism.

The story of Bears Ears as a whole is the story of a place that draws people from all over the place, sometimes acting as a cauldron in which whole new practices and lifeways were forged. Although the archaeological record can be subtle, hidden, and tricky to interpret at times, sites like Newspaper Rock give stark testimony to this variegated human history.”

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View upcoming Archaeology Café presentations at: https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/things-to-do/cafe/