Archaeologist Allen Dart Lectures November 2

On November 2, the second day of the “Dias de Los Muertos” Mexican
celebration, Arizona Humanities Council scholar Allen Dart will provide a
bridge from Hispanic Heritage to Native American Heritage programming
at the Copper Queen Library when he asks: “What Do We Do With Our
Ancestors?” The presentation, sponsored by the Arizona Humanities Council,
the Friends of the Copper Queen Library, and the City of Bisbee, will begin
at 7 pm in the CQL Meeting Room and is free and open to the public.

A Registered Professional Archaeologist, Dart founded Tucson’s nonprofit
Old Pueblo Archaeology Center in 1993 to provide educational and scientific
programs in archaeology and culture. He has been a volunteer member of
several nonprofit archaeology and history organizations’ boards and committees
and has received the Governor’s Award in Public Archaeology from the Arizona
Archaeology Advisory Commission.

At his November 2 lecture, Dart will discuss the differing views held by
archaeologists and others about the handling of archeological remains. Ever
since archaeology became an active intellectual pursuit, many archaeologists
have held a view that all materials left behind by ancient peoples – including
human remains as well as artifacts and architectural features – are proper
subjects for scientific study, and that these materials should all be preserved
in museums to keep them accessible for study in the future.

However, many people, including many Native Americans, believe that human
remains and grave objects should not be subjected to any kind of destructive
scientific studies – if they are studied at all – and that when they are disturbed,
they should be respectfully reburied.

Drawing on his own education and experience as a professional archaeologist,
and on his years of working closely with Native Americans in the Southwest, Dart
will explore some of the reasoning behind the disparate viewpoints on treating
ancestral remains and will also give audience members the opportunity to discuss
what should be done when human remains and grave objects come to light in
archaeological excavations.

For further information, contact the library at 432-4232.