More about Steve Lekson
Dr. Lekson, a professor and curator of anthropology at the University of Colorado, is an archaeologist, working in the U.S. Southwest. Most of his fieldwork has been in the Mogollon and Anasazi (Ancestral Pueblo) regions, but he has also dabbled in Hohokam, Casas Grandes, Jornada, and Rio Grande areas.
His principal interests are human geography, built environments, and government; but his current research projects have more to do with migrations (Pinnacle Ruin, in southern New Mexico) and household archaeology (Yellow Jacket, in southwestern Colorado).
Dr Lekson is also interested in museums (Curator of Anthropology at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History) and archaeology’s role in American and global intellectual life.
Before moving to the University of Colorado, he served as President and CEO of the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center in Cortez, Colorado, and as an archaeologist with museums in Arizona and New Mexico. His explorations have been supported by the National Science Foundation, National Geographic Society, and National Park Service.
A History of the Ancient Southwest
Mass migrations, alignments that connected ancient towns, rulers who were really kings—these are part of the new picture, the “big picture,” of Southwestern archaeology that Dr. Lekson proposes. “Great things happened in the ancient Southwest,” he says.
Not all archaeologists buy into his theories. Still, reviewers have called his new book, A History of the Ancient Southwest, a “magnum opus—a highwire act that strings hundreds of bold ideas into a dazzling new synthesis” and “one of the most provocative and forward-looking books in archaeology today… written with literary flair, wit, and a dash of sarcasm.”
Recent Excavations
Dr. Lekson’s most recent excavations have been at Black Mountain pueblo, a huge ruin in the bleak Chihuahua Desert of southern New Mexico. The site may be a “missing link” between the famous Mimbres and Casas Grandes cultures of the Southwest.
READ Report from the Field: Stephen H. Lekson
2011 Distinguished Explorer Announced