Reemerging from the Ancient and Current Pasts: Recent Archaeological and Ethnographic Research in Southeastern Utah

Part of: Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Reemerging from the Ancient and Current Pasts: Recent Archaeological and Ethnographic Research in Southeastern Utah" at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Over the last decade the state of archaeological and ethnographic research has changed dramatically with the realignment of research priorities resulting from the creation of the Bears Ears National Monument, other changes in federal land management strategies and goals, and the isolation and disruptions caused by the global pandemic. Throughout this tumultuous time scholars conducting academic, contract, and conservation-based research have made herculean efforts to maintain, develop, and report on new and on-going research on public lands. While adapting to these adverse conditions has been challenging, many researchers in the area have developed new and innovative ways of documenting and interpreting the past with the use of ethnographic landscape studies, collaborative research with descendant communities, large-scale radiocarbon dating projects, dendrochronology, landscape and object photogrammetry, and virtual reality tours, to name a few. This session brings together researchers and stakeholders to discuss recent archaeological, anthropological, and ethnographic research in southeastern Utah. The goal of the session is to bring researchers together to reforge collaborative partnerships and working relationships, and to see what new patterns are emerging (and reemerging) in the archaeological and ethnographic fields in the area.

Other Keywords
Landscape Archaeology • Indigenous • Ethnography/Ethnoarchaeology • North America: Southwest United States

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-6 of 6)

  • Documents (6)
Documents
  • The Bears Ears Digital Cultural Heritage Initiative (BEDCHI): A Collaborative Project Bridging Ethnography, Archaeology, Stewardship, and Tribal Perspectives in Southeastern Utah (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Benjamin Bellorado.

    This is an abstract from the "Reemerging from the Ancient and Current Pasts: Recent Archaeological and Ethnographic Research in Southeastern Utah" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Bears Ears Digital Cultural Heritage Initiative (BEDCHI) is a collaborative project that brings together tribal representatives, federal land managers, museum professionals, archaeologists, ethnographers, and students to document important cultural sites in the Bears...

  • Edge of the Cedars: The Site, the Park, the Bigger Picture (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Jonathan Till.

    This is an abstract from the "Reemerging from the Ancient and Current Pasts: Recent Archaeological and Ethnographic Research in Southeastern Utah" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This presentation discusses recent work at the Edge of the Cedars State Park, including a recent recording of the great house site itself, documentation of surrounding historic and prehistoric sites, and a consideration of the great house site relative to other cultural...

  • Forever Home, Foundations of an Identity: Where Acoma's Ancestors Left Their First Footprints (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Samuel Duwe.

    This is an abstract from the "Reemerging from the Ancient and Current Pasts: Recent Archaeological and Ethnographic Research in Southeastern Utah" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Southeastern Utah encompasses an archaeological record of thousands of years of Pueblo Indian, Ute, and Navajo history. A compelling site assemblage dates to the Early Pueblo period (650-950 CE). This time was when and where small Ancestral Pueblo family groups began to...

  • From Sandals to Sashes: The Origins and Elaboration of Basketmaker Dress in the Greater Bears Ears Area (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Laurie Webster.

    This is an abstract from the "Reemerging from the Ancient and Current Pasts: Recent Archaeological and Ethnographic Research in Southeastern Utah" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Cedar Mesa Perishables Project has documented nearly 5,000 perishable artifacts from alcoves in southeastern Utah. As part of this work, the project has generated about 100 radiocarbon dates from well-preserved woven textiles, sandals, baskets, and other perishable...

  • The Monticello Uplands: A Cultural Resource Survey in The Lands Between (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Eli Lyon.

    This is an abstract from the "Reemerging from the Ancient and Current Pasts: Recent Archaeological and Ethnographic Research in Southeastern Utah" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Between September 2023 and April 2024, Woods Canyon Archaeological Consultants, Inc. (Woods Canyon) conducted a Class III cultural resource inventory of 6,485 acres of land for the BLM Canyon Country District in San Juan County, Utah. These acres were broken across 23...

  • Pueblo of Zuni Connections to the greater Bears Ears cultural landscape (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Jessica Yaquinto.

    This is an abstract from the "Reemerging from the Ancient and Current Pasts: Recent Archaeological and Ethnographic Research in Southeastern Utah" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Living Heritage Anthropology, LLC and the Pueblo of Zuni have conducted ethnographic fieldwork for two recent ethnographic studies funded by the Bureau of Land Management, Bears Ears Partnership, and World Monuments Fund, looking at cultural connections, public...