Name: Food and Feathers: The Role of Animals in the Prehistoric Middle San Juan Region
Start: 2025-11-18T18:30:00-07:00
End: 2025-11-18T19:30:00-07:00
Location: Otero Arts Inc

Food and Feathers: The Role of Animals in the Prehistoric Middle San Juan Region

Collaborative Event: Otero Arts & Jornada Research Institute
Date: November 18, 2025
Time: Doors at 6:00pm | Presentation at 6:30pm
Join Otero Art and Jornada Research Institute for a special collaborative evening as we welcome Kathy Roler Durand for her presentation: "Food and Feathers—The Role of Animals in the Prehistoric Middle San Juan Region." Celebrate the intersection of food, art, archaeology, and local history on November 18, 2025. Doors open at 6:00pm, with the presentation beginning at 6:30pm.
Discover how animals shaped the lives of the Ancestral Puebloan people in the northern Southwest, especially at the Chacoan Outlier communities of Aztec and Salmon Pueblos. Dr. Durand will explore the diverse roles animals played—from sources of food to providers of feathers and fur—highlighting changes in dietary and ritual practices over time. Learn how turkeys exemplified the multiple purposes animals served in these communities.
About the Speaker:
Kathy Roler Durand is Emerita Professor of Anthropology at Eastern New Mexico University, with expertise in the analysis of archaeological animal and human bones. Her research spans Neolithic sites in Cyprus and Jordan to Chacoan and Hohokam sites in the U.S. Southwest. Dr. Durand has focused on migration patterns in the prehistoric northern Southwest and the ritual use of animals at Chacoan sites. Over her career, she has studied thousands of animal bones from Aztec, Guadalupe, and Salmon Ruins, providing insight into the evolving diet and traditions of these ancient societies.