Kate and Aaron are joined by Rachel Morgan, author of Sins of the Shovel: Looting, Murder, and the Evolution of American Archaeology. Rachel is an archaeologist based near Washington, DC, and her book, which was published earlier this month, is largely focused on the Southwest. She gives a detailed account of the Wetherill family, which settled in southwest Colorado in the 1800s and explored Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, and Grand Gulch extensively. She also talks about how legal and scientific transformations have given rise to the science we know today as archaeology.

• Sins of the Shovel: Looting, Murder, and the Evolution of American Archaeology – University of Chicago Press
  
• Lawmakers mull $100M Kelly parcel sale to Grand Teton Park – WyoFile
  
• Sign up for Look West, CWP’s daily newsletter
  
• Wolverines now considered threatened species under Endangered Species Act – CBS News
  

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 

Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: Step House, Wetherill Mesa, Mesa Verde National Park; Source: Ken Lund, Flickr

The post Sins of the shovel: How archaeology evolved from pot hunting to science appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.