Program: 16,000 Years of Global Warming December 12, 2006

Join us Tuesday, December 12 , at 7pm at the Las Cruces Museum of Natural History for a talk, 16,000 Years of Global Warming: An Archaeological Perspective On Human Reaction to Climate Change in Southern New Mexicos, presented by Karl Laumbach, Archaeologist, Human Systems Research, Inc.

The value of archaeology is often questioned, even by environmentalists. What does it matter if we know that southwestern agriculture started 3000 years ago or if a particular pottery style was replaced by another in A.D. 1275? The fact of the matter is that new technologies start and old styles are abandoned for a reason. And that reason is often because those adaptations were forced on humans by a changing environment. The wood, bone, and charcoal found in archaeological sites makes each site an environmental time capsule linked to human use of the land. Archaeology is important because it provides us with the longest record of human reaction and interaction with a changing environment that we have access to. Using data from a variety of sources, this lecture will focus on changes in climate and human land use in southern New Mexico from 16,000 years ago to the present.

Karl Laumbach has pursued an archaeological career in southern New Mexico since 1974. A graduate of New Mexico State University, he spent nine years directing projects for the NMSU contract archaeology program before joining Human Systems Research, Inc. (HSR) in 1983. After serving as Executive Director of the organization for 10 years, he is now an Associate Director for HSR. His research interests are varied, including land grant research in his native northeastern New Mexico, the pueblo archaeology of southern New Mexico, and the history and archaeology of the Apache. Fascinated with the Sierra County area since a weekend field trip in 1971, Karl has been involved in recording sites and collecting local history in that area for the last 30 years. Karl was a gubernatorial appointment on the Cultural Properties Review Committee for the State of New Mexico from 1997 to 2003, serving as both vice-chairman and chairman as well as chairman for the archaeological subcommittee.

If you need an accommodation for a disability to enable you to fully participate in this event please contact 48 hours before this event at 522-3120/V or 541-2182/TTY.

For more information: Mike Walczak, Museum Mgr. 505/522-3120 office

Event submitted by Eventful.com on behalf of lcms.