News & Events
“GUNNISON — In the early 1990s, when Mark Stiger first unpacked what’s known as the Peterson collection, the anthropology professor found more than 100 objects wrapped in decades-old newspaper and stuffed in cardboard whiskey and grocery boxes, stacked and nearly forgotten in a stairwell on the Western Colorado University campus.
When he peeled away the paper and saw a human skull, and ultimately the remains of 25 individuals among about 100 other cultural objects, the discovery triggered an almost visceral reaction.
“It was embarrassing,” Stiger recalls, noting how much attitudes had changed after federal law created the first template for repatriation of culturally identifiable remains and disposition of those whose origins remained a mystery.
The objects had been amassed by a man who lived in the southwestern corner of Colorado in the 1920s and ’30s. When he died in the 1940s, he left the collection to his brother, an alumnus of what then was known as Western State College of Colorado.
In 1946, the brother offered the collection to his alma mater. Under the direction of C.T. Hurst, one of the founders of the Colorado Archeological Society, the school had opened a museum in the 1930s that displayed regional artifacts before Hurst’s death in 1949.”
This article continues on the Colorado Sun page linked above.
“On one of his program trips to Belize, anthropology professor David Hyde, Ph.D., spent a majority of his time studying stone tools. One of his colleagues would often tease him about how boring it is to study rocks. After defending himself in one interaction, his colleague responded, “Alright, whatever, Rock Boy.” Thus, the DJ behind Radio Shipwrecked was born.
Celebrating an Exciting Milestone
Radio Shipwrecked is a two-hour long show Hyde—Rock Boy—puts on every Thursday at Western Colorado University’s student-run radio station, KWSB. Thursday, March 24, 2022, was the 300th airing of the show. To celebrate, the station opened its doors to the public during the show from 4 to 6 p.m. for a listening session with drinks and snacks.
When Hyde was hired at Western in 2011, he had no intention of becoming a radio star. At his job training, he became friends with the faculty member who was hired to run KWSB at the time. Hyde said he had mentioned always wanting to do a radio show but didn’t think much of it.”
“Not long after job training, I got message from him asking if I still wanted to do the show and started training for it,” said Hyde. “A month later, I was on air. It was awesome.””
This article continues on the Western news page linked above.
“We evaluated potential socioeconomic contributors to variation in Andean adolescents’ growth between households within a peri-urban community undergoing rapid demographic and economic change, between different community types (rural, peri-urban, urban) and over time. Because growth monitoring is widely used for assessing community needs and progress, we compared the prevalences of stunting, underweight, and overweight estimated by three different growth references.
Female Alteños’ growth was positively associated with household and maternal income indices. Alteños’ height averaged ∼0.8SD/∼0.6SD/∼2SDs greater than adolescents’ height in urban and rural communities measured in 1983/1998/1977, respectively. Overweight prevalence was comparable to the WHO, and lower than MESA and Puno, references. Stunting was 8.5/2.5/0.5 times WHO/MESA/Puno samples, respectively.
Both peri-urban conditions and temporal trends contributed to gains in Alteños’ growth. Rural out-migration can alleviate migrants’ poverty, partly because of more diverse economic options in urbanized communities, especially for women. Nonetheless, Alteños averaged below WHO and MESA height and weight medians. Evolved biological adaptations to environmental challenges, and the consequent variability in growth trajectories, favor using multiple growth references.”
This article continues on the National Library of Medicine arcticle page linked above.
Featuring Dr. Mark Stiger this episode of Rocky Mountain PBS’ Colorado Experience focuses on evidence of prehistoric mammals and early humans that have been discovered across Colorado. Lamb Spring in Douglas County is home to the largest collection of Colombian mammoth bones in the state, offering archaeological insight into these prehistoric dwellers. The discoveries of Lindenmeier near Ft. Collins and Mountaineer in Gunnison reveal much about the people who lived here over 10,000 years ago.
This documentary aired in November of 2017 but still others a distinct and helpful look at some of the earliest dwellers in the Colorado area.
Colorado Experience is a local public television program presented by RMPBS.