Pothunters

6/7/11
Lori Dewson

I was mortified just as much as everyone else as we all gathered around the pit dug at the base of The Trader’s boulder. It was the mark of pothunters.
 But even as the implications of the pit left behind by the thieves sank in, a new question began to arise – how did the pothunters know to dig here? Given the variety of broken ceramics scattered throughout the scene, there is no doubt they’d discovered a pottery cache. It’s impossible to know how many artifacts were stolen from this pit. It’s a shame and a total loss to the archaeological record, especially considering the information that may have given us further insight to the ancient inhabitants of Trader Ruin just waiting to be excavated nearby.

Despite all that, there was something else running through the back of my mind. Despite Dr. Peet’s claims that no other rock art exists in the same shape and form as The Trader, I know of one other petroglyph exactly like it – on my father’s ranch.

What excites me is this sudden and unexpected link between the ranch and Chaco. Could this petroglyph be the one answer my dissertation has been waiting for? More importantly, could the two Trader petroglyphs be markers for pottery caches? Could The Trader not be the figure of a trader but a potter carrying his latest creation instead?

Could this be a record of one potter’s migration from Chaco Canyon to Utah?

To find out, I have to get back to the ranch.