Thursday, May 31, 2012

The Prehistoric Museum, USU Eastern is proud to participate in Blue Star Museums

Blue Star Museums is a great resource for military families that offers free admission to more than 1,600 museums across America in the form of free admission to all active duty military personnel, including active Reserve and National Guard, and their families from Memorial Day through Labor Day 2012. The complete list of participating museums is available at www.arts.gov/bluestarmuseums. 

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Friday, May 25, 2012

The Prehistoric Museum - Lots of "Originals"

Home of the Utahraptor, The Prehistoric Museum also has the only original Animantarx and Peloroplites discovered so far. Visit the museum and discover life 500 million years in the making! 155 East Main Street - Price, Utah 800-817-9949 museum.ceu.edu

Thursday, May 17, 2012

The Wayward Figurine Finds Its Way Home

In March of 1950 Clarence Pilling discovered a set of clay figurines crafted by a Fremont artist or artists about 1000 years ago.  Known as the Pilling Figurines, one of these went missing decades ago, only to—apparently—re-emerge last year.  Dr. Bonnie Pitblado and a team of world-renowned scientists used techniques ranging from fingerprint analysis to geochemical characterizations to test whether the lost warrior had truly been found. It is such a relief to have this figurine back where it belongs!


 Dr. Pitblado, of Utah State University, serves as an associate professor of anthropology, director of the Anthropology Program and director of the USU Museum of Anthropology.  She teaches courses in archaeology and museum studies and serves as the advisor for USU's "Museum Studies" certification program. Dr. Pitblado specializes in the earliest human occupations of the Rocky Mountains, and she has an active research program aimed at trying to better understand how people used the mountains and adjacent landscapes, 10,000-7,500 years ago.  She has expertise in lithic technology and a research focus on geochemical characterization of a variety of materials (including Fremont figurines).

Currently, Dr. Pitblado has grants from the National Science Foundation and the Bureau of Land Management to conduct field research in the Gunnison Basin of southwest Colorado, and she is entering her fifth year of a parallel field research program based in northern Utah and southeast Idaho. In 2003, Dr. Pitblado published a book with University Press of Colorado, Paleoindian Occupation of the Southern Rocky Mountains. In October 2007, the same press released a volume co-edited by Dr. Pitblado, Frontiers in Colorado Paleoindian Archaeology. She has also published many articles and writes regularly for popular audiences.