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Next Speaker Lecture on January  20, 2026

Kari Schleher  and Christopher Chavez

             UNM     Online  7 pm

Please join the link below at 6:50pm

https://unm.zoom.us/j/5458429500?omn=92942504146

Kari Schleher (Ph.D. University of New Mexico, 2010) is the Curator of Archaeology at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico. She ran the archaeological lab at Crow Canyon Archaeological Center from 2011 through 2020. Kari’s research interests include the archaeology of the southwest US and especially the history of Ancestral Pueblo communities in New Mexico and Colorado. Her major focus is on studies of material culture, especially pottery and jewelry, and is interested in using scientific studies of materials and methods used to better understand choices made by artists in the past. Over the past 25 years, she’s worked on archaeological projects, both in the field and in the lab, from across the southwest, with an emphasis on the north central Rio Grande region of New Mexico and the Mesa Verde region of southwest Colorado. She’s the coeditor of The Archaeology and History of Pueblo San Marcos, New Mexico and is author or coauthor on 16 articles and book chapters focused on archaeological pottery and jewelry in the southwestern US. 

Christopher Chavez is a well-respected citizen of Santo Domingo Pueblo and a PhD student in the department of anthropology at UNM. Christopher was born at Santo Domingo Pueblo in 1946 and was the Tribal Historical Preservation Officer there from 2006 to 2025, when he left that position to become a full-time student PhD student in UNM's department of anthropology (although he is still assisting the THPO in a support and training role). Beginning in 1968 he served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps as a Surgical Technician in Vietnam. In his first career, he worked as a Physician Assistant and pursued accreditation and training until the 1980s in various US states. Later he returned to New Mexico and attended UNM, receiving a BA in University Studies in 2006, an MA in American Studies in 2017, and an MA in Native American Studies in 2022. He is an active member of the UNM community and is often encountered circulating around campus taking classes, offering constructive comments at UNM lectures in archaeology and US Southwest History and serving as a consultant and collaborator on a variety of topics, including Pueblo farming, horse handling, and Pueblo jewelry.
Identity in Ancestral Pueblo Jewelry from the Present to the Past

In this presentation, Dr. Schleher will discuss two collaborative projects focused on Ancestral Pueblo jewelry. In the first, she looks at what ornaments can tell us about social identity of the residents of two Chaco-period great houses in the Mesa Verde region. In the Lakeview Community of southwestern Colorado, Ornaments vary in distance to source of the materials used and in the colors selected and worn. This community, like others in the region, is often discussed in relationship to Chaco Canyon, yet we see differences in how ornaments are made and used as compared to ornaments in Chaco Canyon proper. 

In the second project, she works with Indigenous artists from Santo Domingo and Zuni Pueblos to examine the production and meaning of Ancestral Pueblo jewelry to communities today. With the goal of understanding the deep history of jewelry making in the US Southwest, we are working with 7 jewelers to conduct a collections review of over 500 Ancestral Pueblo jewelry pieces and jewelry-making tools from New Mexico at the Maxwell Museum and will co-curated exhibit at MMA that presents over 1,000 years Pueblo jewelry production continuity and change. 

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History of Taos Archaeological Society Project

 An effort is currently underway to build a historical timeline of TAS events and history! We need your help!

The Taos Archaeological Society has operated for 34 years. In that time, many documents have been produced. Unfortunately, TAS does not have a complete record of documents produced and distributed.

 We are in need of documents/publications that date from September 1999 through February 2014. 

 You can help by contributing:

Past bulletins, meeting minutes, financial statements, member lists, and other communications. 

Thank you for your continued support of the Taos Archaeological Society.

Contact admin@Taosarch.org