Description
Geology and archaeology intersect in this dynamic talk. Les McFadden sets the stage by describing the deep time of geologic events that produced the iconic features and landscape of the West Mesa and the Petroglyph National Monument area. Matt Schmader discusses how the geologic landscape dictated choices for site types and locations, dwellings in the river valley, and culture change over 10,000 years. Both talk about climate change and its effects in the past, present, and future.
Les McFadden is a professor emeritus in the UNM Earth & Planetary Sciences (E&PS) Department. He received an MS & PhD in geosciences from the University of Arizona and a BA in anthropology from Stanford. He served as chair of the E&PS Department. He has received the Kirk Bryan Award for Excellence. Matt Schmader, PhD, has more than 40 years of field experience in southwestern archaeology. He has worked on sites of virtually every cultural time period, ranging from Paleo-Indian to Archaic campsites, from Spanish contact/colonial sites to the historic Red Light district in Albuquerque.