Michael Bryk Memorial Grant

Dear Members of the Michael Bryk Memorial Grant Committee, As a graduate student seeking a masters in anthropology with a focus on archaeology at Northern Arizona University (NAU), I am passionate about preserving the cultural resources of the United States, and I am resolved to continue my service to our country by stewarding the sites and landscapes that give Americans a sense of common history and place. My research interests focus on the prehistoric archaeological sites within the Canyon Pintado National Historic District in Northwest Colorado. The focus of my thesis is on the efficacy of archaeobotanical analysis in an understudied region, and is a part of a larger data recovery project in collaboration with Dr. Kaitlyn Davis of NAU, Lukas Trout with the Bureau of Land Management White River Field Office (BLM-WRFO), and representatives from the Ute Mountain Ute and the Southern Ute Tribes. Previous fieldwork in Canyon Pintado has identified an actively eroding rockshelter with fifteen thermal features at site 5RB.363, which are estimated to be fully eroded within a few years. Our overall goal is to map, model, excavate, analyze, and preserve nondigital data in digital spaces for future research and education. Our plan is to fully excavate all thermal features by bisection: half will be tested for archaeobotanical samples and the other half will be screened for artifacts. If, during the excavation, other thermal features are identified, then a comparable excavation will be conducted as time allows. Field crews will draw-up detailed profile sketches and maps. Photogrammetry models will be generated showing the site before and after excavation. Field crews will also conduct tests in an adjacent alcove located within the site. This has the potential benefit of identifying subsurface deposits associated with the site. This project will not only enhance my academic abilities, but will also allow me to engage in hands-on, real-world research that I can integrate into my professional life as a cultural research manager because I will be learning from professional archaeologists who are established within their respective fields. Additionally, this collaboration between NAU, the BLM, and Tribes affiliated with Canyon Pintado will help me to further refine skills necessary for successful interactions between multiple stakeholders. The grant award will be used to help cover the archaeobotanical analyses necessary for completion of my thesis research. BGP Consulting LLC, an affiliate of NAU, will use four soil samples for microbotanical analysis ($350 per sample), and four soil samples for macrobotanical analysis ($300 per sample). This is the link to BGP Consulting LLC where you can verify the costs of these analyses: http://www.bgpconsultingllc.com/archaeobotany. With your support, the data from this project will be synthesized in service of the following archaeological and descendent community goals: 1), conduct a comparative analysis of the archaeological materials (artifacts and sediment samples) to provide more information on site activities at 5RB.363, and whether or not any clear cultural distinctions can inferred from those materials. 2), expand our understanding of how sites like 5RB.363 were utilized during the Late Prehistoric Era (300 CE to 1300 CE), which coincides to the Fremont-to-Numic transition period. 3), evaluate whether archaeobotanical analyses are viable methods to understand agricultural practices in an under-studied region like the northwest periphery of the Colorado Plateau. 4), further collaborative efforts between Indigenous knowledge holders, and Western institutional methodologies as an approach to answering questions pertaining to heritage preservation in the region. Thank you for considering my application for the Michael Bryk Memorial Grant. Sincerely, Ian Burnett