The Story of Nevada: An engaging science lecture that delves into Nevada’s history through the lens of archaeology, offering a detailed look at mobile foraging of early peoples in Nevada and how their behavior changed with shifts in precipitation, as well as delving into the Lost City and what scientists are doing to preserve the archaeological sites from erosion. Plus, a short film about the Basque arborglyphs in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Doors open at 6 p.m. Presentation begins at 6:30 p.m.
Beer, wine, and small bites will be available for purchase from Aspire Coffee House.
Visit the Springs Preserve website to purchase tickets: springspreserve.org/events
Featured Presenters:
Dr. Greg Haynes
Dr. Haynes is an Associate Research Professor at DRI and has been a practicing archaeologist for nearly 40 years. His research interests have long been focused on sedentary agricultural villagers on the Colorado Plateau, the Ancestral Puebloans or Anasazi, and transhumant mobile foragers of the Great Basin and Mojave Desert, including the Ancestral Paiute and Shoshone. He is currently conducting investigations on ceramic assemblages obtained in the 1950s from the shorelines of ancient Lake Cahuilla, of which the Salton Sea is but a remnant.
JD Lancaster
JD Lancaster is an Associate Research Scientist in Anthropology and Archaeology at DRI. Lancaster’s work has focused on archaeology of the Great Basin and Columbia River Plateau, quaternary paleoclimatology and paleogeography, archaeological prospection and predictive modeling, and human behavior ecology.
In the summer of 2019, Lancaster, along with other researchers, used drone technology to create high-resolution 3-D maps of the Pueblo Grande de Nevada archaeological site, also known as Lost City. The use of drones to map the archaeological site allowed the team to identify erosion sites that put the Lost City at risk and help develop and test mitigation strategies.
Nathan Harper
Nathan Harper’s passion for the past began at an early age helping his parents investigate the family’s history in small, dusty courthouses and storerooms across Kansas. This early experience would lead him to search even deeper into the history and prehistory of the people of the American Southwest, Great Basin, and the eastern Mediterranean.
He completed his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in Anthropology at Wichita State University, culminating in a Fulbright Fellowship to Cyprus in 2001. Nathan has conducted fieldwork in Nevada, Arizona, Kansas, Texas and internationally in Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, Jordan, Mexico.
From 2010 to 2022 Nathan served as the Preserve Archaeologist at the Springs Preserve in Las Vegas, conducting preservation and compliance projects and was part of a curation team that restored and rehabilitated four San Pedro railroad workers cottages for the development of Boomtown 1905. Nathan currently serves as the Archaeologist for the Southern Nevada Water Authority conducting preservation and compliance work on all SNWA and Las Vegas Valley Water District managed properties, which includes the Springs Preserve, Warm Springs Natural Area, and the Las Vegas Wash.
In the community, Harper serves on the State Board of Museums and History, overseeing the State of Nevada’s Museums and Historical Society.
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