Episodi

  • What happened at Chaco Canyon?

    What happened at Chaco Canyon?
    Jan 16 2026
    In this episode, Paul, Barbara, Phillip, and Robert discuss: Why Chaco Canyon drew people for centuries, and why it continues to remain a powerful symbol of the ancient Southwest.What social network migration has revealed about Chaco Canyon throughout the centuries.How science, oral tradition, and indigenous epistemologies can better work together to interpret sacred places like Chaco.The importance of Chaco and the need to respect all peoples involved. Key Takeaways: We want to be careful not to polarize the past with modern understandings of categories. For instance, the roads show how interconnected religion, politics, and economics were all interwoven.There are different stories and different perspectives that need to be acknowledged and treated with respect as we try to find the balance between preservation, development, and indigenous peoples.Chaco matters to different groups. While there may be different views on the best way to protect Chaco, the shared sentiment is that Chaco is powerful, sacred, and significant, and we should all do what we can to ensure its health.There are many different reasons why people may have left Chaco, ranging from droughts to astrological phenomena to clans dying out and more.“All of us have to be very, very careful that we don't take our Western European education and template and try to lay it down on a group of people that might as well come from Venus or Mars. We don't know what they were thinking; we don't know their judgment, values, and such things. We’ve got to be careful of not trying to interpret ancestral people in our everyday framework.” - Phillip TuwaletstiwaEpisode Resources: Evaluating Chaco migration scenarios using dynamic social network analysisParallel roads, solstice and sacred geography at the Gasco Site Lidar Reveals Sacred Roads Near Chaco CanyonAbout Dr. Barbara Mills: Regents’ Professor of Anthropology at the University of Arizona and Curator of Archaeology at the Arizona State Museum, Dr. Mills is one of the foremost experts on the social networks, migrations, and ceremonial practices of Chacoan society. Her work integrates dynamic social network analysis, ceramic studies, and Indigenous collaboration to explore why people gathered — and eventually dispersed — from Chaco Canyon.Connect with Barbara:Website: https://anthropology.arizona.edu/person/barbara-mills About Phillip Tuwaletstiwa: A Native archaeologist and geodesist of Hopi heritage, Phillip Tuwaletstiwa collaborated with Anna Sofaer to scientifically validate the astronomical alignments of Chacoan buildings and petroglyphs. His work underscores the engineering and cosmological sophistication of the Chacoans — and his own DNA has been linked to ancestral burials within Pueblo Bonito.About Dr. Robert Weiner: Postdoctoral Fellow in the Dartmouth Society of Fellows and a specialist in ritual landscapes, Dr. Weiner studies the roads, rituals, and cosmologies of the Ancestral Four Corners societies. His recent lidar and fieldwork at the Gasco Site reveals previously unknown parallel roads aligned with solstice sunrises and sacred mountains — transforming how we understand Chacoan movement and meaning.Connect with Robert:Website: https://dartmouth.academia.edu/RobWeiner Connect with Paul Ryer & School for Advanced Research: Website: https://sarweb.org/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@sarsantafemultimedia LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-ryer-4a4889156
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    52 min
  • How is AI Changing Archaeology / Anthropology / History / Native Studies?

    How is AI Changing Archaeology / Anthropology / History / Native Studies?
    Dec 10 2025
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    50 min
  • Welcome to In Context with SAR!

    Welcome to In Context with SAR!
    Nov 17 2025

    Welcome to In Context with SAR!


    In this episode, Doug and Paul introduce In Context with SAR!


    How do the present and past shape each other? Why does understanding this matter?


    Investigating Humanity with SAR tackles the fascinating world of scholarly research through questions like why people left Chaco Canyon or how climate change affects migration and explores them through the perspectives of three experts across anthropology, archaeology, and the humanities more broadly.


    Hosted by Paul Ryer and produced by the School for Advanced Research (SAR), each episode brings together voices from the field who share real-world stories, behind-the-scenes research, and their takes on today’s challenges.


    Founded in 1907, SAR is a hub for groundbreaking social science and humanities research, supporting scholars and artists through residencies, seminars, and collaborations. Based in Santa Fe, New Mexico SAR is also home to the Indian Arts Research Center, a leader in Native arts and museum practices.


    Whether you’re an academic, a student, or just someone who loves a good story, Investigating Humanity with SAR is here to bring big ideas to life.


    Join us as we connect history to today’s world—one question at a time.


    “The idea is to take some academic topics that are relevant to the wider world and provide a forum for cutting-edge scholars to get together and have a conversation about their work, but hopefully in ways which are intelligible to non-scholars.” - Paul Ryer


    Connect with Paul Ryer & School for Advanced Research:

    Website: https://sarweb.org/

    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@sarsantafemultimedia

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-ryer-4a4889156

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    23 min