Sanibel holds archaeology lecture
“Santa Fe Trail Archaeology” will be the subject of a talk presented by the Florida Public Archaeology Network at Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation on Jan. 11, at 5:30 p.m. Speaking will be Dr. Bonnie Clark, an associate professor at the University of Denver and Dr. Minette Church, associate professor and chair of anthropology at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. The lecture will be free and the public is welcome.
The Santa Fe Trail was one of the most important international trade and travel corridors of the 19th century. Written histories of the Santa Fe Trail tend to focus on the American side of that history and on those who traveled the trail. Archaeology of the sites associated with the trail tells a complex and multicultural history, one that reveals the important role of those who resided and worked along the trail.
Dr. Bonnie J. Clark has been using archaeology to tell a more inclusive history of the American West for 20 years. Dr Clark is an associate professor at the University of Denver and an advisor to the Colorado Historical Society. Dr. Minette Church earned her Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania in 2001. She is currently associate professor and chair of anthropology at University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. Church is a past-president of the Colorado Council of Professional Archaeologists. Her research focus has been on the nineteenth and early twentieth century United States West, where she explores the many, dynamic cultural interactions that took place along the Santa Fe Trail.
SCCF is located at 3333 Sanibel-Captiva Road on Sanibel; for info on the program, please call Steve Archer, director, Southwest Regional Center of FPAN at 765-0202 ext. 152 or email sarcher@fortmyersbeachfl.gov. FPAN’s web site is www.flpublicarchaeology.org
The Florida Public Archaeology Network was established in 2004 to help stem the rapid deterioration of the state’s buried past and to expand public interest in archaeology. Regional Centers provide public outreach, assistance to local governments, and assistance to the Division of Historical Resources in the administration of its archaeological responsibilities. The Southwest Regional Center is hosted by the Town of Fort Myers Beach, and will open its facility at the Seven Seas home in Newton Park in late January 2010.