Santa Fe residents, Curtis and Polly Schaafsma will talk about the archaeology of the Galisteo Basin with a focus on San Marcos Pueblo and its history that ended with the Pueblo Revolt in 1680. Polly will address the regional rock art and how it gave and continues to give meaning to place, creating a cultural landscape defined by Pueblo cosmology.
Curtis received his BA in anthropology from the University of Colorado in Boulder and his MA in anthropology from the University of New Mexico. He is Curator of Anthropology Emeritus from the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture /Laboratory of Anthropology, and he was New Mexico State Archaeologist from 1979-1992. He is author of Apaches de Navajo and co-editor of The Casas Grandes World.
Polly is an archaeologist and artist whose diverse works are connected to the land and the people of the Southwest. As an archaeologist, her specialty is ancient Indian rock art and Pueblo kiva murals from the late pre-Hispanic period. In order to better understand the people of the Southwest, her studies focus on the meaning and cosmologies expressed through the images painted and carved on rocks across time throughout the region. As an artist, her drawings and paintings find their inspiration in these same arid landforms.
Polly received her BA in art history (Mount Holyoke College), an MA degree in Anthropology (University of Colorado), and honorary doctorates from the University of Colorado and the University of New Mexico.
Polly’s many publications include: The Rock Art of New Mexico, The Rock Art of Utah, Indian Rock Art of the Southwest, Warrior, Shield, and Star, Images and Power: Rock Art and Ethics. Polly is volume editor of and contributor to, Kachinas in the Pueblo World, and New Perspectives on Pottery Mound Pueblo, and co-editor of Painting the Cosmos, as well as author of numerous journal articles and book chapters.
