PBS "Time Team America" visits Mesa Verde/Crow Canyon

[Colorado Media Newsroom]

From The Denver Post:

PBS archaeology series “Time Team America” visits a couple of local sites this month, and brings animation to bear on the subject. In the “Lost Pueblo Village” episode, at 8 p.m. Aug. 26 on Rocky Mountain PBS, the revolutionary leap from nomadic to agrarian lifestyle, from hunter-gatherer to farming is on view as scientists peel back the layers on 1400 years of geophysical data at Mesa Verde and Crow Canyon. Also on view: the gimmicks of reality TV, as the scientists have three days to uncover the mysteries of the locations — the editing is active and the clock is ticking.

The series is up-front about its nature: “Part adventure, part hard science, part reality show.”

Still, “Time Team America” is educational, at the very least letting viewers in on how archaeologists think. “In archaeology, our interpretations change every day, often ever hour,” explains a team member at the Dillard site, near Cortez, CO. The site has the only documented Basketmaker III-era great kiva in the Mesa Verde region.


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