Museum to host three archaeology lectures

The Idaho Museum of Natural History and the Idaho State University Department of Anthropology are sponsoring a three-part lecture series on Idaho’s archaeological heritage in IMNH Classroom 204 from 7 to 8 p.m. The series celebrates Idaho Archaeology and Historic Preservation Month and highlights recent research conducted by staff from the Department of Anthropology.

Presentations include:

•    May 4, Dr. Skip Lohse, “Don Crabtree—Idaho’s Pioneering Flintknapper.” Crabtree, recognized as one of the leading flintknappers in the world, was an Idaho native who taught at ISU from 1969 to 1974. His cutting edge research had a dramatic impact on archaeology. His stone tools were featured in an exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City in 1969.

•    May 11, Mark O’Brien, “Lava Rock and Indian Wells – Archaeological Investigations in the Bennet Hills.” O’Brien is an anthropology graduate student who has documented 12,000 years of prehistoric and historic use of lava flows including trails to water catchments and hunting blinds.

•    May 18, Paul Santarone, “Fairfield’s Exceptional Simon Clovis Cache.” Santarone is an anthropology graduate student who will discuss a cache of 12,000-year-old Clovis points accidentally discovered in an agricultural field in central Idaho in the early 1960s.  The Simon Clovis cache represents one of five or six of its type ever recovered and contains projectile points 10 inches long.

For more information, contact Kristin Fletcher at 282-2262 or fletkrisl@isu.edu.