By Science Moab, originally published on Soundcloud and with KZMU and the Moab Sun News
From the perspective of an archaeologist, the physical body of an ancient person is a gift because a body is a time capsule of the past. They lived in that space and that time, and their bodies are manifestations of what was there. We talk with archaeologist Erin Baxter, teacher and Curator of Anthropology at Denver Museum of Nature and Science, about her work unraveling the ancient southwest culture and her fascination with the archaeology of death.
Science Moab: What is the relationship between archaeology and anthropology?
Baxter: It depends on where you study anthropology. If you study it in Europe, you actually major in archaeology. If you study it in the United States, you study anthropology with sub-disciplines. So if you can imagine a big umbrella that is anthropology, under that fits four different fields: linguistics, biological anthropology, cultural anthropology, and archaeology. Linguistics is the study of language, cultural anthropology is the study of living groups of people, biological anthropology is the study of the body and how it evolved, and archaeology is the things that people have left behind.
Science Moab: What part of the interactions of these sciences do you enjoy most?
Baxter: I love the archeology bit – that’s what got me into it. It’s outside, it’s teamwork, it’s problem solving, it’s mystery-finding, and it’s interactive. As I’ve gotten into Southwest archaeology I’ve realized that archaeology doesn’t stand alone.
I’m particularly interested in the practice of ancient burial practices, and… there’s a long history of archaeologists behaving not as we should with human remains. But what I’ve learned is that I work with biological anthropologists who study the body, and then I [also] work with Indigenous descendant communities, and their wishes and their own histories and oral histories about how ancient people lived. We can’t stay in our bubbles. We’re still learning to be the best archaeologists we can be. We’re not great at it yet, but we are miles better than I think we were 100 years ago. So it’s a learning process every day and it’s relationship building.
Science Moab: Tell us about your research on death.
Baxter: I don’t love death, but… a body is a time capsule of the past: [that person] lived in that time and their bodies are manifestations of what was there. So not only can you learn sex, we can learn about height, we can learn general health, if they were injured or maybe had a disease—all of those are written in the bones. We can also now learn more things and this is where science is really fascinating. DNA studies give us hugely important information about migration patterns, occupations, and relationships of individuals across time and space.
Science Moab: So you’re trying to uncover clues and the mystery of how these ancient people lived. How do you go about doing that, scientifically? What are you looking for?
Baxter: My research question when I was in school was [about] how ancient people in the US Southwest lived. You go to…where many descendant communities live to this day… Hopi, Zuni, Acoma, and 23 living tribes in New Mexico and Arizona and others…and you see [Ancestral Puebloan sites like] Mesa Verde or Chaco Canyon or Wupatki and you sort of can’t imagine what it was like.
I wanted to get at the hierarchy of the ancient past… was there one, is it testable?… We can see hierarchy in the archaeological record. People who are better off are physically healthier, they’re taller since they have access to better foods, better proteins. They tend to live in bigger houses, and they tend to be buried with nicer things. Those are three really simple ways of [looking at the question].
There are other ways to approach these questions. If you look at a place like Chaco Canyon, which has 12 buildings called great houses of five stories, [with many hundreds of] rooms—one great house, Pueblo Bonito, was the biggest building in the United States until about the 1880s when a [larger] tenement was built in New York City. You would think that might be a place where lots of people lived, but we don’t see a lot of trash, or burials, or other stuff there. So people living in big houses that [don’t show those signs of occupation]…who are those people? The hypothesis was that those are people who are in charge of things who are important for a variety of reasons.
I think in our Western, white nation, when we see museum displays about Native American communities, there is stagnation without vibrancy and color. There has been the myth of stasis—a myth of a group of humans who haven’t changed much over time. But yet there are histories with hierarchies, kings and queens, witchcraft, death and violence and unpleasant things. Unpleasant things, unfortunately, are the ones that [tend to] show up in the archaeological record. But, with those unpleasant things, you imagine the really lovely things that might have come on the other side of that. You can see the vibrancy of history.
I thought, by studying the hierarchies and the power structures of ancient groups of people, you might actually [be able to] return a [piece] of what a Westerner would call ‘history,’ which we’ve whitewashed for a variety of reasons… to colonize, to subjugate. But you have to do that not as a white person, you have to do that as a collaborator. And so these studies become complicated.
I think I have arguments to be made for [a record of hierarchy in these ancient societies], but my arguments come from historical burial data found by people who dug this 100 years ago…white archaeologists, largely from the East Coast…and it’s not okay to talk about that [because] I am not of the position or internal to various groups of tribal representatives to be able to say that. So, it’s science, but it’s science with a level of 20th and 21st-century complexity that comes from our colonial past. In the post-colonial world, where do we [white archaeologists] fit in?
It’s going to take relationship building, and I think it’s going to be interesting to publish on this [question] one day when trust has been rebuilt. I think archaeologists in the 21st century are making great strides to do that because we’ve got a lot to make up for.
Science Moab is a nonprofit dedicated to engaging community members and visitors with the science happening in Southeast Utah and the Colorado Plateau. To learn more and listen to the rest of Tim Graham’s interview, visit www.sciencemoab.org/radio. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Watch Tim Graham explore pothole ecosystems with Discover Moab!
Have a press release or story you’d like to see published on Discover Moab? Email asst. marketing director Alison Harford at aharford@discovermoab.com.
A pothole shrimp, captured by Mark Finley in Moab.
Potholes abound on the Colorado Plateau — and not the ones associated with road work. Rather, natural potholes are depressions that occur primarily in sandstone. These depressions house ephemeral pools of water and tiny, unique ecosystems. In this episode, Science Moab speaks with biologist and ecologist Tim Graham about these fleeting environments and the organisms that have evolved to live in them.
Science Moab: So what’s happening inside potholes?
Graham: Potholes are small depressions in rock that form temporary aquatic environments. Many have dark biofilms, which are probably formed by a community of cryptobiotic algae and cyanobacteria.
Science Moab: How do these potholes support living organisms when they are prone to drying out?
Graham: Organisms living in those potholes have three main strategies to survive dry periods. Most insects and amphibians escape the pool when it starts to dry up. That creates some hazard, because the organisms have to reach adulthood before they’re capable of leaving the pool. If the pool dries out before a tadpole can metamorphose into an adult, the tadpole will die.
The next strategy is called the “tupperware” strategy. Organisms seal their surface from water loss and stay wet inside. It’s a good strategy for the short term, because as soon as water falls back into the pool, they can become active within seconds. But it’s really tough to be completely waterproof if you’re trying to remain alive. It works for a few months, maybe up to a year. If you’re dry longer than that, chances are that that strategy will fail and you’ll die.
The third strategy is the one I find most interesting and most bizarre. It’s often referred to as cryptobiosis. “Crypto” means hidden, and “biosis” means life. Organisms stay alive, but you can’t measure that they’re alive because the amounts of heat and gas released are so small. These organisms can lose up to 92% of the water in their cells and remain alive.
The organisms in the big puddles that use this are the eggs of crustaceans: fairy shrimp, tadpole shrimp, and clam shrimp. The egg makes a sugar called trehalose. There are parts of the trehalose sugar structure that mimic a water molecule. So as the egg dries out, trehalose molecules are plugged in where the water molecules would be. Then, when water comes back in, the water molecules replace the trehalose.
Science Moab: How else have pothole species evolved to survive in this limited habitat?
Graham: We all know the saying “don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” But the pothole critters are stuck in one basket. Mark Twain had a different perspective: “Put all your eggs in one basket and watch that basket,” he said. The way these critters “watch” their basket is by laying eggs with different kinds of hatching criteria. Crustaceans will produce eggs that hatch after one water filling, or after two or three. They’re in the same physical basket, but they’re in different response baskets.
Science Moab: How do humans impact these potholes by running over or in them?
Graham: Dry potholes get a physical crust on the surface. The crust is resistant to erosion by wind, so anything that breaks that crust is going to make sediment susceptible to being eroded out of the pothole, including organisms waiting for the next rain event.
In the wet potholes I’ve been studying in the Sand Flats area, I’ll be up there and the pools look like they’re doing fine. They’ve got tadpole shrimp and fairy shrimp and maybe some insects. I’ll come back a few days later, and there will be particular pools that are very cloudy. I found a pair of mountain bike gloves sitting next to a cloudy pothole. Chances are some mountain biker decided to take a dip.
These depressions can be quite small. But if you look around, there are a plethora of organisms in there. That’s an ecosystem, and if you walk on it, ride your bike on it, drive on it, then you will wear that system down and kill those organisms. So try to stay out of those potholes.
People who have studied alpine vegetation know the term “belly plant,” where the plant is so short that you have to lay your belly to study it. That’s why I like studying potholes: they’re belly ecosystems.
Science Moab is a nonprofit dedicated to engaging community members and visitors with the science happening in Southeast Utah and the Colorado Plateau. To learn more and listen to the rest of Tim Graham’s interview, visit www.sciencemoab.org/radio. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Watch Tim Graham explore pothole ecosystems with Discover Moab!
Have a press release or story you’d like to see published on Discover Moab? Email asst. marketing director Alison Harford at aharford@discovermoab.com.
Pints for Parks 2024
Moab is known for its breathtaking landscapes, world-class outdoor adventures, and a community that cares deeply about protecting the places we love. If you’re looking for a way to celebrate and support the national parks while having a fantastic time, Pints for Parks is the event for you! Hosted by Friends of Arches and Canyonlands Parks, this lively fundraiser is returning for its 2nd annual celebration on March 9th, 2025, and here’s why it should be on your must-do list:
1. Support a great cause
Every ticket supports Friends of Arches and Canyonlands Parks, a nonprofit that has been funding projects and initiatives in southeastern Utah’s national parks since 2010. Proceeds help fund vital initiatives like search and rescue efforts, trail improvements, and youth education programs—ensuring our parks stay safe and accessible for all.
2. Enjoy local live music
Get ready to groove with the Cactus Cats, a local favorite known for bringing high-energy, feel-good tunes to Moab events. Whether you’re dancing under the stars or just enjoying the music with a drink in hand, the live soundtrack will make the night even more memorable.
3. Meet and mingle with with NPS rangers
Get behind-the-scenes updates from the southeast Utah Group of National Parks Superintendent Lena Pace, chat with volunteer stewards about their incredible work, and learn how you can get involved in protecting the parks you love.
4. Get exclusive merch and win prizes
Each ticket includes souvenir drinkware, a drink ticket for the beverage of your choice, and a chance to win amazing prizes—ranging from custom artwork, gear, and handcrafted jewelry to an annual park pass!
5. Spend an evening with the community
Moab is more than just a destination—it’s a community. Pints for Parks is a gathering of locals, visitors, and park lovers all coming together to celebrate and support our national treasures. If you love Moab, love the parks, or just love a good time, this event is for you!
Get your ticket here!
Have a press release or story you’d like to see published on Discover Moab? Email asst. marketing director Alison Harford at aharford@discovermoab.com.
