Archaeology for Everyone: Citizen Science and the Windy Ridge Quarry with Chris Johnston - Plains 49
In this episode of The Great Plains Archaeology Podcast, Carlton speaks with Chris Johnston, Operations Director of the PaleoCultural Research Group (PCRG), about his journey through archaeology and the importance of bringing the public into archaeological research. Chris discusses his path from his undergraduate program at CU Boulder, through graduate research on communal bison hunting at the Roberts Ranch Buffalo Jump, his time as Assistant State Archaeologist of Colorado, and his return to PCRG. The conversation explores PCRG’s approach to citizen science and how involving volunteers can both advance archaeological research and create a broader community of stewards for the archaeological record.
The second half turns to Chris’s ongoing research at the Windy Ridge Quartzite Quarry (5GA872) in northern Colorado. Chris discusses the evidence for American Indian quarrying at the site dating back at least to the Folsom period, as well as his team’s investigations of workshop areas located away from the main quarry. The conversation explores what these workshop areas reveal about stone tool production, prehistoric mobility, and technological organization in the Rocky Mountains, along with the questions that remain for future research.
Transcript
Links
The Archaeology of the North American Great Plains by Douglas B. Bamforth (2021)
Archaeology on the Great Plains Edited by W. Raymond Wood (1998)
Contact
Instagram: @pawnee_archaeologist
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