News from Range Creek

Hello;
Enjoyed the program about range creek.
I have some photos of rare petroglyphs also from a
remote canyon in southern utah.
you can see the images at freewebs.com/reedgallery
click on petroglyphs
you can email me at reedzone@hotmail.com
rae a reed

Hi Team - My husband Tom and I watched your show tonight on PBS with great interest. We love visiting sites and was wondering where Range Creek Canyon is located. Do you let people come and see what you're doing? We would love to visit sometime. You're doing a great job!

Polly

I would love to know more about the meaning of
these images. they are in pristene condition.
thank you again
hope you enjoy the photos.
rae a reed

I am impressed with your show. It is upbeat, modern, great equipment, educational, fun and professional. I feel your show could attract younger students into this field. So many more experts in specialized fields are needed, as your program shows us.
Excellent documentary on this wonderful site. I just returned from a college field trip to the prairie/plains Native American country, so was glad to watch your show. I learned about it through Facebook, so keep posting!
I also liked your Coldplay song!

Range Creek was and is such a phenomenal place! The rock art and archaeological situation makes it a great archaeological laboratory, and the fact that it has been protected by the land-owners for so long has made it even more important for archaeological understanding of the Fremont culture who lived in this area. Right now, access to the area is limited, and I am unsure whether access will ever be opened up to more than a handful of people in the very near future. In spite of the campling and harsh conditions, given the chance, I'd go back in a heartbeat.

Joe Watkins

Excellent photos, Rae Ann! Any from Chaco Canyon?

Thank you so much for "Time Team America". I love this show.

I have been interested in Range Creek since I first heard of its existence. I live near the site of another relatively unknown prehistoric Native American population center, the Pueblo Grande Pueblo de Nevada. This site, which has recently come up out of the waters of the receding Lake Mead, was flooded in 1932 with the construction of Hoover Dam. Although it was the subject of archeological exploration at that time, it would be interesting to see what a new examination with the Time Team equipment and expertise would discover!

Thanks again for the fascinating program.

Watched the program for the 1st time with great interest. Wasn't aware that there was a "Time Team America". I'm a member of the Texas Archeological Society and I thought I was familiar with most tools and techinques used for archeological excavations and data recovery but I learned something new tonight. Thanks. Got a lot of questions. 1. Is the "Terrestrial Laser Scanning" and the "LIDAR" the same technique? 2. After the laser data has been compiled can the landscape images then be generated upon blue-screen walls such as in a room with walls and ceiling? 3. On the photo with the shaman images there seemed to be a "fingerprint" effect on the left side of the photo. Was it indeed a fingerprint from handling or a characteristic of the photo process? 4. It was stated in reference to the rock art images that they were "fading". Is this in reference to the pictographs or the petroglyphs? 5. Has the team utilized the "digital imaging enhancement" technique pioneered by Rupestrain CyberServices for pictographs which can reveal hidden images? 6. Any suspected burials or cairns?(the reported upside down figure suggest a person died near the site.) 7. Was the site on a suspected paleo-river flood plain? 8. What are y'all's theory regarding the descendants of the Fremont Culture? 9. What century did the Uto-Aztecan speaking people move into the Utah region? 10. Does anyone feel that there are soltice and equinox alignments associated with the images? 11. Are y'all sorry I saw the program? (Hey Joe, e-me sometime. I still have the same address.)

I worked on Fremont sites in the mid-60's. Did survey and testing of sites at the south end of Utah Lake.

I dug one shallow suacer-pit structure on a ridgeline overlooking the area. I interpreted as surrounded by a brush wall held in place by scattered rocks about fist, to double-fist, size. That was my best guess for the "wall" structure: a brush windbreak.

You may want to record the rock locations along the hard the follow rims on the saucer shaped floors and look for evidence for brush windbreaks?

The laser work opens up new dimensions in recording data, if it is affordable.

Great show this evening...I've been waiting since April for this episode. Range Creek has mystified me since finding out about it in 2004, so much so that I'm seriously considering leaving a company I started to go to school for archaeology. My only wish for Time Team America is that they could have stayed there a week and done a double feature! There's so little up-to-date Range Creek info available online, but Renee Barlow's blog is located here: The Dirt on Archaeology (she appeared early in tonight's episode with the figurines). Great work, Time Team, I vote for a follow-up episode! :-)

Great series. RE: rock art. The large figure, Shaman, seems to be receiving music/song (wavy line.) Could he be receiving the name of the small figure to the left? Names were not given until the beginning of the third year and should have a special meaning. Thank you for the hard work. Ruth G. Harmon

Wonderful show! My husband and I really enjoyed watching "Time Team America" tonight. The investigative/interactive format makes it very easy and enjoyable to watch. Dr. Watkins along with the whole crew and staff create a contagious aura of excitement and interest. We already set our tevo up so we won't miss next weeks adventure!

Hi Dewey,

I'm glad you enjoyed the show and that it promoted so many questions :)

I can only answer the laser scanning query. LiDAR and terrestrial laser scanning is really one and the same thing. The term LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) became strongly associated with airborne laser scanning, indeed that is the discipline in which I first started to utilize it. It is now also commonly applied to terrestrial scanning as in general the technology functions in a similar manner. However, I often just use 'terrestrial laser scanning' as it leaves less room for confusion.

The scanning data can be projected onto large scale stereo 'walls' to enable 3D viewing and interactive collaboration. The sort of thing you describe is best served by the 'CAVE' style of projection technology in which you are immersed in the 3D data.

All the best

Steve

What a great episode. It makes me want to get out into the area; built a pit house, and see if I can survive for more than a week. The Time Team America program proves to us that there are so many parts of America that really are untouched and unspoiled for thousands of years. Living on the East Coast, one would never know that places in the US could be so 'wild'. Hopefully I will get to see the vast expanse of history in my future travels.

Thanks
Vagabond Sean @ Tales of a Vagabond
www.TalesofaVagabond.com

What are the results of the examination of the pollen, seeds etc. found in the storage sites and in the middens?

I loved last night's show! I've been working in the field of Information Technology for a while now, and am curious to see all of the ways that computers can be brought in to help out with research on sites.

How do you get started with something like that? Is there a discipline that one can get into that incorporates computers and technology with archaeology?

What an UPLIFTING & REFRESHING Show! Our 10 year old son LOVES this! It's his favorite show and he wants to visit the sites. Keep it up and this is so wonderful!

I have a couple of questions / theories:
1. As a Wildland Firefighter, I am theorizing that the big camp site and structure may have burned well after it was abandoned by a wildfire in the area. You may want to search for other carbon deposits and check for carbon type sources and dating. As a wildland firefigher, I am often digging for 'ground fires'; those are fires that burn along root zones many feet under the surface. Given that many other sites, such as the granneries still have flora type construction still intact after 1,000 of years; and, that those sites are really remote from any potential wildfire sources, this cause and non-causal effect may be worth exploring.
2. I was also intrigued with the rock climbing skills required. Were there any evidence of marks on the cliff cracks left by chock usages; or, other evidence besides hand and toe holds casually mentioned in the show? Could your resident rock climber develop some rock climbing tools, skills and techniques using materials typically available in the valley? Could there then be a comparision of those tools that he developed with other items found at the cliffs, which may not be readily apparent as Fremont tools? He could explore and practice on some boulders and other cracks in a safe location such as the grannery construction was done in the show. Also, could those climbing tools, and grannery construction tools be located / hidden somewhere at the base of the grannery cliffs?

I watch your team work and all I could think of is we have a project that a bunch of town folk (Brewster & Orleans MA) have having some problem solving. We are looking for a windmill built in the 1640/50 time period by a local Thomas Pain. The site was then Eastham Massachusetts and was located just above a river called Namskatet. We have the general/approximate location but we lack the experience and equipement to unearth this important landmark. It was the first windmill on Cape Cod and we have located four mill stones which may have come over from England as balast in a ship. Eastham was the breadbasket of the New World. my telephone is 508 237-1507 should you desire to talk with me.

Yours truly,
Paul Lucier

I think it is great you are getting this out in the open as such. The most basic fragments need to be examined for the lack of missing a "tooth".

I have friends in the central Ohio that collect artifacts that are so prevalent in this area. Common survival tools were always at arms length and so is the archeology!

Out of all the shows that examine geology etc. it all comes down to how you "look" at a rock! I have copralites large and small, spear points, grinding tools (like they had on the show). These things are not too awfully rare but you have to look AND understand. It may not be just a rock, it maybe someones work tool or possibly a large dinosaur copralite.

I am an artist and have done pen/ink paintings of the ruins in the Mesa Verde area. I also have a collection of pottery pieces that I was allowed to collect on private property. Are any of the pottery pieces show any relationship to the Mesa Verde type?

I find that the term "savages" given to the American Indian to be so wrong when you see the beauty of their pottery and the living areas that they built and the intelligence it took to do.

Dear Ralph,

The rock climbing skills were key to the life of the Freemont in this area. I will forward your question to Larry and see what his response is. For more information on the rock climbing, you can check out a radio broadcast that Larry and I did on Utah Public Radio at the following link.

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/upr/local-upr-852025.mp3

-Meg

Hi Ralph,

Good questions and ideas. One critical aspect of our paleoenvironmental investigation is fire history. The sediment cores we have collected from two bogs in the canyon contain fluctuating amounts of charcoal that reflect local fire frequency and severity. Interestingly, our first results indicate a strong uptick in fire events beginning just after the Fremont left the canyon (AD 1400 and later). We explain these results by hypothesizing that while they were present the Fremont probably regularly burned to clear ground for farming, and once they left fuels were allowed to build up until natural ignition triggered significantly larger fires. This summer we collected a new, and very long core from a new site, so we’ll have to see if that pattern persists. Stay tuned.

And as far as the climbing goes, I do feel that I’m beginning to figure out the methods used by the Fremont to reach at least most of the sites. In some cases they pounded sticks into cracks in the cliff to be used as ladder rungs- some of these are still in place, or remnants are. In other cases they used logs or ladders to get over the worst sections of rock to gain more comfortable ledges- I’ve found pecked areas in the rock to support such logs/ladders. But perhaps the most interesting conclusion I’ve come to is that they must have used ropes to pull larger items up the cliff, such as the large Douglas fir beams that make up the Scaffold Granary. No ropes of this size/strength have been found in Range Creek or vicinity, although one very large rope was recovered in Fremont excavations near Capitol Reef National Park- it’s on display in the visitor center. We were discussing last weekend trying to make such a rope and testing it for tensile strength.

Cheers,
Larry

I have one additional comment regarding fire. Perhaps the granneriers were 'fire safes' as well as 'security safes' from marauders. Fires, as I understand, were an integral part of Plains Indians' tools for driving game (Bison). Perhaps fires in the valley were used to clear brush for farming; those fires got out of control; and / or the fires were used by enemies. Of all the items still intact the 'organic' items out of reach of fires are the ones still avaiable after 1,000 years. Again, as a wildland firefighter, it is truly amazing to see all the plant growth the year following a wildfire. The nutrients released would surely created an abundant corn crop; hence, the granneries to carry over non-productive years.

I've long been a fan of the original Time Team from the BBC, and this was the third episode of Time Team America I've watched.

Upon first view, I was immediately turned off by the Cold Play theme and the narrator Colin Campbell, who lacks the dynamism of Tony Robinson--whom Americans will most likely remember as Baldrick from the Blackadder series--who more or less plays the role of enthusiastic archeological impresario. Campbell's commentary is flat, uninspired, and less informed in comparison.

I wish I could say otherwise, but I was equally disappointed with the Time Team America archeologists, who seem to have been selected for their youthful appeal rather than other considerations. BBC Time Team's archeologist may be old, eccentric, oddly dressed, and argumentative, but they are engaging. In particular, dig leader Chelsea Rose is totally apathetic and uninspiring. I can only assume she was chosen for her copious body art, which a middle-aged PBS producer would undoubtedly view as hip.

In typical American fashion, PBS has totally missed the mark on what is so appealing about the BBC version and turned to focus groups and business models in what will be a failed attempt to compete with network reality television. Okay, it's a step up from Deepak Chopra, but I strongly suggest your check out the original and contact your local PBS station and ask that they air the BBC 4 series.

http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/T/timeteam/

Larry, your reply comments are most interesting. I would like very much to see your updates on the fire ecology and the rock climbing techniques. Another question: are there very, very old cedar trees (Juniperus sp.) in the area? I mean those that are over a 1,000 years old. They may be very high up on the valley floors away from frequent fires; and, where the annual rings would be very close together (stronger bows). Look carefully at the base of those, and, about 1 to 1-1/2 meters up for additional marks or notches cut into the outlying tissues. These may have been raw sources for the bows which would have then been stripped off after the tissues between those notches have 'cured' after several years. Look for stripped zones too. Some may have been just 'abandoned'.

Dale
Do all BBC viewers think we Americans do things to model ourselves after British precedent? We've done it our way since that war; you know, the one for Independence where we ousted such stuffy constrained notions as the "right way to do things." Get over it. Move on.

This show rocks. Dig leader Chelsea Rose is what I dig most- she is art in motion and has soul [something lacking in the fossilized cobweb that is the British psyche] Colin Campbell is just the right mix of Buddha style Beginner Mind, artist, and welcoming "come, we are all learning here" narrator. Impresario? He's part of THE TEAM!

One of the things I love about this show is that it reflects the modern attitude of collaboration in science; bringing together resources and know-how [and good 'ol American "can do"] to further our understanding of who we are. There are no answers, only more questions. And Time Team America is putting them out there more than any other show to date. Nothing since Jurassic Park has inspired a generation of new scientists like this will. Hear me now/believe me later.

As for your own music tastes, views on body art, opinion of women and idea that a younger [than you] generation of scientists can't do the job [and FYI,look again pal,the TEAM includes quite an age spread]... sounds like a personal problem. Get over it.

I enjoy the series very much and look forward to it each week now. I think it is probably the best show on PBS now. The one thing that I do not like is that the show has to waste valuable time giving a bio of each team member every episode. They could be showing us more interesting discoveries during that time.

Very interesting, where is this location?
I have been watching on TV.

I love Utah and I loved this episode. Do you think the Fremont people would have used ladders during the construction of their grainneries?
I hope the Time Team will do updates on all of the episodes. Thank you.

Hi! My wife and I have studied petroglyphs in New Mexico and Utah on our summer vacations for several years now and have the same questions you have expressed as to their meanings and I have tossed around the ideas of educational art (teaching young hunters where to strike the prey) enticement art (come on up here! We have corn, birds and women, come on up here, then we'll kill you and eat you!) boundary art (stay away! We have powerful warriors and shamans with potent magic!) and just plain artistic expression like modern day graffitti, which we find quite interesting as well. The beauty of it all is that no one really knows what they were doing and it's all a matter of individual interpretation. The best thing of all is to be standing in the same spot that it was created in long before us.

I appreciate your comment about the possibility of ropes being of use on these cliffs. I was wondering why that had not been discussed on the show itself. You probably know Vaughn Hadenfeldt down in Bluff, Utah, who knows Cedar Mesa like the back of his hand. Vaughn is another climber who has discovered multiple sites of interest throughout the canyon country. He's a skilled archaeologist without the degree. Vaughn feels confident that ropes played a significant part in allowing the local folk to access the high graneries.

All the best in your work!

I am so glad that you chose to do an episode at Range Creek! Ever since I heard the ranch was opened up for archaeological investigation, I've been hoping some really amazing finds would be discovered.
I loved seeing the LiDAR used for scanning the site and the petroglyphs. The next step that would be awesome to see is the LiDAR merged with the photography of the site. I've seen it used here in California for large bedrock mortar sites and combined with photography, it really helps with visualization, especially for students. I have also seen it used to look at individual artifacts in the lab to look at manufacturing techniques in detail. It would also be interesting to see if some other remote sensing techniques using some high resolution imagery could tease out some large-scale structures on the canyon tops or bottoms. Texture and material composition analysis may make it easier to locate pit houses (cheaper than flying if it works), even irrigation networks, if they are present.
I can't wait to see the next episode!