Quivira: Conquistadors on the Plains

Archaeology is, in its most simplest basic form, the study of the past. This is about the highest vantage point that we have here in central Kansas. Kansas has a rich prehistoric and protohistoric and historic record. It may be the largest Indian archaeological site in the U.S. and Canada. That's a pretty big deal. Right here you can see it's coming around, and so the serpent has something in its mouth. It's quite possible this is yet another part of what they call a ceremonial landscape. We're really lucky to have this group of people here, all these experts with their instruments, because although we've known about this feature, this site, for a long, long time, all we've known about is what's on the surface. So this is your unfouled field. This is land that nobody's excavated on ever. Looks like a little trail up here. For Dr. Blakeslee especially, this is a huge dig for him because this is his pinnacle. You know, I found this stuff, and I'm tying it together. When I ran across that, I was so thrilled. I emailed everybody I knew who was interested in the topic, and I said, you've got to read this. We know the battle was in the southern part of Etcinoa, which is where we're sitting right now. When they got him back to New Mexico, they got so much interesting information that they took him down to Mexico City, and he ended up drawing a map. How did they survive? What tools did they use? What did they eat? How did their houses look? By digging in the ground, we can find that. We can find their tool kits. We can test them to find out what they were eating, what they were growing. We're looking at the remains of what people left and trying to figure out how they went about surviving. You know, we're out treasure hunting, really. I keep getting the question, did they find anything? I found it right at the base of this tree. So our view of the archeology is radically changed. In order for things to carry on, I think it's important that our kids know our history. You cannot know where you're going unless you understand the past. Do your best to carry on the way your ancestors did, and there'll be a connection there, and that'll enrich your life. It's very exciting stuff for history and for archeology.