Event Details

Join the Friends of Coronado and Jemez Historic Sites for their free monthly lecture series held at Martha Liebert Public Library in Bernalillo. This month, archaeologist Dr. Sean Dolan is presenting "Obsidian Tools: Indio Amigos and the Coronado Expedition.

Obsidian – volcanic glass.  Mined, traded and used to produce projectile points and scrapers along with deadly weapons long before the arrival of the Europeans reveal much. For one, obsidian stone tool production and exchange exposes long-distance interactions. This presentation examines New Mexican and Arizonan obsidian artifacts using geochemical analysis that prove the obsidian came from Mesoamerica. Using lithic analysis and historical evidence, these artifacts were likely brought by Coronado’s Indios Amigos.

Sean Dolan, a professional archaeologist, has managed cultural resources at Los Alamos National Laboratory since 2014.  He has a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Oklahoma with research focused on the archaeology of the American Southwest and Mexican Northwest with particular emphasis on the Mimbres Valley. He has published in Kiva, Journal of Archaeological Science Reports and American Antiquity among others.

Martha Liebert Public Library is located at 124 Calle Malinche, Bernalillo NM, 87004.