Archaeologist Grant Coffey will speak on “Creating Symmetry: Building Social Landscapes in the Central Mesa Verde Region,” at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 9, at the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center.
Pueblo people created cultural landscapes with a sense of balance that mirrors that found in the natural world, Coffey says. Individual buildings and larger architectural landscapes were designed to reference aspects of the natural world, including the cardinal directions and important astronomical events. Through analyzing the spatial relationships between public buildings at different spatial scales, archaeologists may be able to identify larger alliances or partnerships that extended beyond individual communities in the region.
Coffey, who earned a master’s degree from Northern Arizona University, is a lifelong resident of Southwest Colorado with more than 15 years of experience as an archaeologist. Much of his work at Crow Canyon has focused on sites in the Goodman Point Unit of Hovenweep National Monument and he directed Phase II of the Goodman Point Archaeological Project from 2008 to 2011. He has published peer-reviewed journal articles about social organization, public architecture, migration, and community persistence.
The presentation, sponsored by Crow Canyon as part of the Four Corners Lecture Series, is free to the public. Crow Canyon is at 23390 Road K, Cortez. For more information, phone 970-564-4362.
