Rhett Breedlove
TORRINGTON – As the dry, tepid night air in Goshen County slowly gave way to a beautiful sunrise early Friday morning, several curious residents waited patiently near Eastern Wyoming College’s (EWC) Fine Arts Center, ready to take a short but peaceful journey and broaden their minds.
Residents eagerly awaited the University’s first shuttle bus ride for the short drive through the hallowed Wyoming countryside to visit the historically mysterious yet legendary town of Sunrise Mines.
Sunrise Mine, now owned by well-known county resident John Voight, was a fitting location for the inaugural EWC Archaeology Symposium, where upon stepping off the bus, residents could see, smell and feel the modern and ancient history wafting everywhere.
The event, which took place last Thursday-Saturday, is what the local university hopes will be the precursor to many upcoming archaeology and anthropology events. The ongoing project also aims to generate public interest in both Sunrise and EWC’s progressive research methods.
According to Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon, the event is a visionary and innovative initiative that symbolizes the preservation of historic sites and progressive, top-notch higher education.
Governor Gordon digitally addressed all guests and participants of the symposium during the opening day archaeology presentation at the EWC Auditorium.In addition, the Governor will present well-deserved public recognition to one dedicated and well-known local archaeologist.
“I’m so excited to see all the work you’re all doing,” Gordon said as he opened the event. “The Wyoming Innovation Partnership was conceived to bring new opportunities, but what’s really exciting about your work is that it’s created a unique opportunity for EWC to provide training for students at a world-class archaeological site. George Zaimens is an incredible anthropologist and archaeologist. I think about the work that’s been started here and the magic of uncovering these things and understanding cultures. Who was here? What were they doing? How did they live? It’s a really educational experience and I hope it’s going to be a fantastic few days and months working on this amazing new project.”
University President Dr. Jeffrey Hawes agreed with Governor Gordon, adding that the university’s innovative partnerships with local organizations will continue to bring valuable interest and economic revenue not only to EWC but to all of Goshen County.
The EWC President commended the recent and continuing ideas and hard work of the College’s new Professor of Archaeology and Anthropology, Dr. Steven Howard.
“We’re excited to have everyone here for our inaugural symposium where we’ll share not only Wyoming history but the unique and exciting things that are part of our community,” said Dr. Hawes. “This will allow us to invest in areas that can have an economic impact on our local community and in our immediate vicinity. There are everything from agriculture to business areas, one of which is directly tied to tourism. Dr. Howard is joining our university to make this investment and continue to build our relationship with Sunrise Mine.”
The event was notable for the active participation of local historians and archaeologists as well as several international archaeology professors who were visiting over the weekend to discover the wonders of Sunrise Mine first-hand.
Or, more specifically, what it has to reveal.
Among the professors who traveled from far away and donated their time and expertise for the event were Dr. Bruce Bradley of Colorado, Dr. Astropho Gomes de Mello Araujo of Brazil, Dr. Leticia Cristina Correa also of Brazil, Dr. Rafael Suarez Sainz of Uruguay, Dr. D. Clark Werneke of Texas, and Dr. Richard Gramery of Massachusetts.
According to Dr Bradley, the three-day symposium and the ongoing archaeological research and discoveries at Sunrise are almost a dream come true for such innovative research.
As the Colorado professor argued, even the simplest of artifacts discovered could have vast and fascinating stories to tell modern society.
“One of the things we look at all the time is artifacts,” Bradley points out. “There’s only stone artifacts that are preserved, there’s not always a lot of evidence. Archaeology is about investigating human experience based on physical evidence. It’s evidence-based, we’re always looking at things. When you’re working at these ancient sites, it becomes more about geology than anything else, it’s a real science. What we’re dealing with are artifacts, and everything we’re sitting here with is an artifact. Diagnostic artifacts are objects that give you an idea of their cultural and chronological origins because of their style, shape, or how they were made or used. There are artifacts that are very connected in both time and space, and we use certain ways of classifying them. Think of biology or botany. How do you classify plants? What are they and how do they grow? It’s about using characteristics.”
“We’re trying to classify things that are cohesive as a group,” Bradley continued, “and our research is always question-oriented and question-based. What does a typology tell us? It tells us a lot of different things. Was it functional? How was it used? Was it functional? Did it kill bison? Did it hunt beaver? What was going on with these particular pieces? That’s what archaeology does best, and we have a lot of different ways to determine this, a lot of it microscopic. What was going on in their heads? What were they thinking, and how much were they going to invest in beyond function? That goes deep into not just ethnicity, but beliefs and rituals.”
Dr. Bradley explained how the discovery of ancient artifacts is connected to the very way of life that modern people actually live. According to Dr. Bradley, neither archaeology nor anthropology is necessarily related to history.
Sometimes it’s right in front of our eyes, being made as we speak.
“The clothes you wear and the style you wear express your identity. We’re in Goshen County, right? The county is named for the first identified Goshen Paleoamerican artefact points found in the high plains of Wyoming. It’s such beautiful stuff. We’re always looking at technology. How was it made? What choices were made to make it? It’s like learning a complex piece on the piano. You have to take all the steps to get exactly what you want, and then fold the pieces and turn the pieces into a point. Technology is a process, it’s not a thing. It’s actually like an action.”
