The Trader's Twin

6/11/11
Dr. Anthony Peet

I’m not sure why I doubted Lori when she said she knew of another Trader petroglyph located in Utah.
She’d never given me reason to doubt her before. I suppose I was facing a moment of denial. For two years now I’ve been convinced that The Trader in Chaco was unique, a one of a kind. Nothing like it had been found in the southwest before. Perhaps The Trader represented an advancement from their typical stick-figure art; a shift from two dimensional figures toward three-dimensional depth in respect to the placement of The Trader’s arms. This kind of progress had never been discovered before and I found it. It’s been a pleasant coup to add to my career discoveries.

So when Lori insisted that she knew of an exact replica of The Trader I was less than willing to accept her report. Okay, so I let my ego get in the way, but you can imagine my surprise when she called confirming her find. Actually, compared to the surprise that soon followed, my initial reaction was one of selfish disappointment. The Chaco Trader wasn’t so unique after all.
Like I said, that was only the first of my surprises.

In her search for a pottery cache buried beneath the Utah Trader, Lori found herself excavating into a grave. Thankfully she had the presence of mind to stop digging and contact me. Of course, being a licensed archaeologist doesn’t automatically grant me permission to excavate human remains. Knowing the legal implications that we’re going to face with Lori’s find, and with the dig in Chaco well underway, I was reluctant to leave for Utah to say the least. But Lori was incredibly persuasive that I examine her find, and I gave in.

So here I am, reporting in before I pull out of Chaco. I’m uncomfortable leaving my team for the day. The department dean won’t be happy when he hears about this. But there’s something pulling at my curiosity; something Lori said before she hung up the phone.

She knows what The Trader is holding.