Utah archaeological discussion tonight

The Range Creek archaeological region — which Utah's state archaeologist has described as probably the most important archaeological discovery in the past 30 or 40 years in the United States — is the topic of a free public discussion tonight.

The presentation starts at 7 p.m. in the Salt Lake City Main Library auditorium, 210 S. 400 East. A panel of six experts will talk about the value of Range Creek, a large section of land located near the Carbon-Emery county line about 130 miles southwest of Salt Lake City and recently acquired by the state.

When the site was publicly disclosed last June, Kevin Jones, the state archaeologist, said Range Creek is notable for "very, very dense evidence of habitation, big villages, fabulous rock art, granaries and things like that."

Speaking tonight will be Michael Styler, director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources; Duncan Metcalfe, curator of archaeology at the museum; Jones; K. Renee Barlow, assistant professor at Salt Lake Community College; Steve Gerber, research consultant; and Jerry Spangler.

Spangler, Washington correspondent for the Deseret Morning News, puts on his other hat tonight — that of an archaeologist and an adjunct professor at the College of Eastern Utah, Price.

Many of the 1,000-year-old sites at Range Creek are untouched by looters, thanks to the vigilant protection by rancher Waldo Wilcox, a rancher who owned much of the land before the state acquired it.