the Colorado Plateau and San Francisco Peaks
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Sunset crater on the Colorado Plateau
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the landscape on Black Mesa, AZ
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the first farmers (Basket Maker II) left their hand prints in a rock shelter
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and they left images of the animals they valued
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subsistence became increasingly dependent on maze agriculture
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successful farming encouraged communities to grow
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but ultimately the land could not support the population and the region was abandoned (Hovenweep National Monument)
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a few communities managed to survive and thrive (Hope Mesas)
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new Athabascan peoples colonized the empty land (Navaho Hogan)
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The BMAP project was to identify and save cultural properties before they were swallowed by Peabody Coal mines
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the largest archaeological project in the country in the 1980s (ready to leave for the sites in the morning)
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preparing for the day's fieldwork
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In a sea of tents, my camp on Black Mesa - a 1966 VW bus
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local Navajo and Hopi worked with the BMAP team
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starting a trench
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a lot to excavate in a deep pit house
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we excavated all the way to the bottom
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the screening goes all day
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floor features in a deep pit house
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stone-lined pit house
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timber-lined pit house
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chimney for a deep pit house
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surface jacal houses adjoined deep pit houses
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storage cists held corn and beans for the winter
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is there really something here? (Dana Anderson, Pat Gilman, & David Cushman)
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it's a Basket Maker shallow pit house
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regular site tours let us see what other teams were doing
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Do they know what to do with fry bread? (end of season lunch)
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this is how fry bread is supposed to be made
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BMAP vicitnity: Marble Canyon bridge
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BMAP vicitnity: Grand Canyon north rim
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BMAP vicitnity: White House at Canyon de Chelle
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BMAP vicitnity: Canyon de Chelle
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BMAP vicitnity: Wupatki National Monument
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BMAP vicitnity: Wupatki National Monument
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BMAP vicitnity: Wupatki National Monument (Chris Downum and Jane Dogene [?])
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BMAP vicitnity: Hovenweep National Monument
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BMAP vicitnity: Hovenweep National Monument (Margaret & Deb Olszewski)
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BMAP vicitnity: Hovenweep National Monument (Margaret)
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BMAP vicitnity: Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Monument
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BMAP vicitnity: Mesa Verde National Monument
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BMAP vicitnity: Betatikin Ruins, Navajo Natoinal Monument
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BMAP vicitnity: Betatikin Ruins, Navajo Natoinal Monument
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BMAP vicitnity: Betatikin Ruins, Navajo Natoinal Monument
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BMAP vicitnity: Betatikin Ruins, Navajo Natoinal Monument
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BMAP vicinity: Baby Rocks
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BMAP vicinity: Elephants Feet
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BMAP vicinity: the world famous Jack Rabbit Trading Post (Margaret, Peggy Trachte, Deb Olszewski)
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