Trinidad Lake State Park Presents: Digging Up Our Past!

One of the most important artifacts that an archaeologist can find are the small fragments of pottery that most often are all that remain from the bowls, plates, and jugs from a past village or small settlement. Although these broken pieces may not seem exciting or museum worthy, they form the basis for archaeological interpretations about what tribes or culture the people belonged to, what they may have eaten and how they prepared their meals, and how old the site may be.

In this presentation, we will discuss the archaeological excavations at Trinidad Lake, which took place just before the construction of the dam. We will also use some of the ancient techniques to make the pottery that was used by the people who lived here. We will also look at artifacts from the area.

A little about the presenters:

Kimberly Munro is an archaeologist with over a decade of experience working in Peru. In addition to her excavations in the Central Andes, she has spent several years working in Cultural Resource Management (CRM) for the National Park and National Forest services in Florida. Kimberly earned her dual B.A. degree in Anthropology and Religious Studies in 2007 from Florida State University. She also holds a M.S. in Geography (Geographic Information Sciences) from FSU. She attended Louisiana State University for her doctoral degree and graduated with her PhD this past December of 2018. She currently works as an instructor at Trinidad State Junior College, teaching Anthropology classes and the local summer field school. Kimberly also directs excavations and research in the Caceres District of Ancash, Peru, specifically at the Cosma Archaeological Complex.

Craig Dengel is currently the base archaeologist for the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site, and lives in Trinidad, CO. He recently moved from Louisiana, where he was the Cultural Resource Manager for Fort Polk, while also concurrently working on his PhD at Louisiana State University. He has an M.S. in Geography from Florida State University, and a B.A. in Anthropology from Metropolitan State University of Denver. While in Florida he spent several years working for Tyndall Airforce Base, out of Panama City, Florida, and over a year at the Southeast Archaeological Center through the National Park Service. His main research interests during his time in Louisiana and Florida was on Middle Woodland (100 AD-700 AD) shell middens. Craig also splits his summers working on survey and test excavations in the central Andes of Peru.

This event is free to the public. All vehicles must have a valid Park pass.