On Thursday, Nov. 13, Scott Van Keuren will present “Pottery and Cults in the 14-Century Pueblo World.” This lecture, the first in the Museum of Peoples and Cultures’ Fourmile Ruin Lecture Series, will begin at 5 p.m. in the Harold B. Lee Library auditorium at Brigham Young University.
This lecture series will highlight the museum’s collection of more than 3,000 artifacts from the Fourmile Ruin archaeological site in Arizona. The museum's collection is one the largest collections of pottery artifacts from this site, which is one of the most important Anasazi villages in eastern Arizona.
“By inviting lecturers to come and present on BYU campus, we as a museum are able to increase exposure of our collections and generate a greater interest from the community and students,” said Paul Stavast, museum interim director.
Van Keuren is an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Vermont. He is the principal investigator of the Shumway Archaeological Research Project in Arizona and has received a major grant from the National Science Foundation to excavate 14-century villages in the mountains of eastern Arizona. Van Keuren is a North American archaeologist who studies prehistoric cultures of the Southwest and specializes in the analysis of ancient pottery.
The Museum of Peoples and Cultures is located at 700 N. 100 E. in Provo. Current exhibits are "Touching the Past: Traditions of Casas Grandes" and "Kachinas of the Southwest: Dances, Dolls, and Rain." The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and until 7 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Admission is free. For more information, visit mpc.byu.edu
This program has received funding from the Utah Humanities Council, which promotes understanding of diverse traditions, values, and ideas through informed public discussion.
Writer: Erika Riggs
