Monday, December 9, 2024 – In Person Meeting Begins 6:00PM MDT with
Presentations Starting 7:00PM MDT (Hybrid)
Speakers: Deb Bollig and Meredith Avery
Our annual Members Night Potluck and Presentations is a time to share food and stories, celebrate our accomplishments, and hear about the exciting activities in store for Denver CAS in 2025. The program will showcase two of our members sharing their summer field experiences. Deb Bollig was at Hell Gap, a rich Paleoindian site in Wyoming. Meredith Avery worked on the Auraria Campus 9th Street Historic District excavation.
Bring a dish to share and join us for a fun and interesting evening of archaeology with friends in the Martin Family Foundation Room, 4th Floor, History Colorado, 1200 N. Broadway, Denver 80203. Kindly bring your own serving utensils and please mark your dish with any known allergens.
Please enter and exit the building through the Staff/Security entrance located on the east side of the building on Lincoln Street. Buzz the intercom and security will let you in. Walk up the ramp past security and through the large double doors into the main foyer. Walk straight across the foyer to the elevators and take an elevator to the fourth floor. Upon exiting the elevator, turn right and walk towards the hallway. Once at the hallway, turn right again. The Martin Family Room is located at the end of the hallway.
Metered street parking is available on Lincoln Street (free after 6:00PM). Paid garage parking is available at the Cultural Center Complex Parking Garage, 65 W. 12th Avenue, Denver 80204, located just west of the Arts Hotel at 12th Avenue & Broadway.
PRESENTATION #1 - EXCAVATION AT HELL GAP, WYOMING:
Abstract: This presentation by Deb Bollig is from an avocational archaeologist’s point of view and will give an overview of the Hell Gap site, the history of the major excavations at the site, and information from the 2021 and 2024 digs. Hell Gap is a site known in the archeology world as an important Paleo-Indian site. However, “No other excavated site in North America contains a record that includes all cultural complexes known on the Plains between 11,000 and 8,000 B.P. Major excavations during the 1960s, conducted by the University of Wyoming and Harvard's Peabody Museum, not only removed vast quantities of Paleoindian deposits, but also trained some of the foremost archaeologists of our time.” This excerpt is from the summary review of Hell Gap: a stratified Paleoindian campsite at the edge of the Rockies.
Bio: Deb Bollig is an avocational archaeologist whose advanced degrees are in mathematics and Management Information Systems. Her earlier careers were mathematics instructor and software engineer mostly in OLD Mainframe technologies. After retiring several years ago, she developed a serious interest in archaeology. She has taught classes about Paleo-Americans, Stonehenge, computers, eco-anxiety and weather for the Osher Life-Long Learning Institute centered at DU. She was privileged to be able to participate in two digs this last summer – the brothel dig at Central City and the Hell Gap dig near Guernsey, Wyoming.
PRESENTATION #2 – ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT SITE 05-DV-102, AURARIA CAMPUS - EXPLORING DENVER’S 9TH STREET HISTORIC PARK, DENVER, CO:
Abstract: This presentation by Meredith Avery will discuss archaeological investigations conducted by students on the Auraria Campus, Denver, Colorado. The project focused on three primary features of the 9th Street Historic Park: “The Russel House”, “The Schulz-Madden Duplex”, and a lightly explored potential carriage house site. The investigation aimed to uncover and contextualize the historical use and transformations of these features, exploring their connections to the area’s development from indigenous settlements through urbanization and displacement. The 9th Street Historic Park was home to Native American tribes such as the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute before its colonization by gold seekers led by William Green Russel in 1858. By the 1870s, Auraria became a middle-class immigrant neighborhood, later displaced in the 1960s for the Auraria Higher Education Center. Artifacts and historical records from the site highlight its evolution as a cultural and industrial hub, revealing layers of history from indigenous use to urban renewal.
Bio: Meredith "Phee" Avery is a multifaceted writer and professional with a diverse background spanning storytelling, archaeology, and private investigations. Avery is the author of The Unknown, a gripping psychological thriller set to release digitally in November 2024 and in print in January 2025, and is the creator of the upcoming novel Agent X, which blends sharp wit and high-stakes action in the life of a mercenary. Meredith holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Cultural Studies from Metropolitan State University of Denver, where she cultivated her passion for cultural narratives and storytelling. Her academic journey included archaeology field school, where she excelled in excavation techniques, research, and detailed reporting. This hands-on experience deepened her appreciation for history and the human experience, elements that resonate in her writing. In addition to her literary and academic accomplishments, Meredith has an extensive background in private investigations and executive protection. These roles honed her observational skills, problem-solving abilities, and understanding of complex human behavior, all of which enrich her storytelling.
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