Few places have more reason than Montezuma County to celebrate Archaeology and Historic Preservation Week. A wealth of Ancestral Puebloan ruins are the centerpiece of the local tourism effort, and they provide the spirit of place that pervades the southwestern atmosphere. Next week, some of the agencies that manage those ruins, and others that value them, will provide opportunities for the public to view them in a new light.

"The horizon of the present cannot be formed without the past" is this year’s theme, and it emphasizes the way history serves as a backdrop for local activity. The goal of Archaeology and Historic Preservation Week, May 13-21 this year, is to promote public awareness of Colorado’s rich and diverse cultural heritage and of current stewardship efforts. The Colorado Historical Society is the statewide coordinator of events and provides support for annual celebrations through the Colorado State Historical Fund.

To jump-start the week, Mesa Verde National Park will hold its seventh annual Business Open House on Friday, May 12, beginning at 8:30 a.m. An informational session will be held in the morning, and tours will follow in the afternoon. The park concessioner, ARAMARK Mesa Verde, will provide lunch for participants.

"This is a great way for employees of local businesses to see the park, meet some of our key staff members, and get a first-hand look at the programs and services that will be offered this year," said Park Superintendent Larry Wiese. "We look forward to meeting more of our neighbors."

Anyone planning to attend should call Sue Johnson-Erner at (970) 529-4612 to register for the open house.

The Anasazi Heritage Center will offer free admission from May 13 through May 21, and visitors are invited to a museum reception, sponsored by the Public Lands Interpretative Association, from 1 to 4 on Saturday, May 13. The reception will kick off the Heritage Center’s schedule of events for the week and will showcase recent improvements to the museum.

According to Museum Director LouAnn Jacbson, "We have many new things to share with visitors — a new movie about archaeology on the Great Sage Plain, new trail signs, a new special exhibit, and a new educational handbook on teaching archaeology in Colorado."

At 1:30 and 3:30, the new video, called "The Cultural Heritage of the Great Sage Plain," features a fascinating look at the earliest archaeologists and explorers of Colorado’s prehistory. It also includes many interviews with modern archaeologists and with Native Americans whose ancestors were the original settlers in the Four Corners. The movie will soon be available to museum visitors, as well as to teachers for classroom use.

At 2 p.m., archaeologist Winston Hurst will give a talk entitled "Almost Archaeology: 1890s Artifact Collecting in Utah’s Canyon Country." Hurst is a principal organizer of the museum’s current special exhibit and is an expert on the first collecting forays into Grand Gulch and surrounding areas.

Visitors to the Heritage Center can also view the special exhibit, "The Landscape Remembers." Its focus is reverse archaeology, an attempt to reconnect "orphaned" artifacts with the archaeological sites they were taken from a century ago. These artifacts, including baskets, sandals and game pieces, have never before been exhibited so close to their place of origin.

On Sunday, May 14, from 1 to 5 p.m., members of the public are invited to join scholars and craftspeople in a discussion about ancient pottery kilns unearthed in southwest Colorado. Many kilns have been identified, although few have been excavated. One kiln on Woods Mesa, dubbed "Camp Kiln," was excavated and refired experimentally. Potter Clint Swink and archaeologist Joel Brisbin collaborated to rediscover techniques for creating black-on-white pottery identical to that created by Ancestral Puebloans almost a thousand years ago.

For those with a deeper interest, the Heritage Center is sponsoring a week-long workshop, entitled "Mesa Verde Black-on-White," May 15-21. The workshop will give participants the opportunity to learn how to observe, record and replicate ceramics from actual Mesa Verde black-on-white pottery. There will be field trips to clay sources and a visit to an unexcavated kiln site. The workshop is limited to 20 adults, and the cost is $325. For more information, call (970) 563-4624.

The Mancos-Dolores Ranger District of the San Juan National Forest will offer a guided two-mile round-trip tour of selected sites in the Lost Canyon area at 9 a.m. Thursday, May 19. The site contains Pueblo II cliff dwellings and surface structures. The free tour is limited to the first 12 adults who register. For more information, call (970) 882-6818.

On May 20, the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center will offer a site tour of Shields Pueblo. Currently under excavation, Shields Pueblo is a large Ancestral Puebloan village that was repeatedly occupied between A.D. 600 and 1300. Dr. Andrew Duff will lead the tour on Saturday, May 20, from 9:30 a.m. until 1 p.m.