TORRINGTON – As the dry lukewarm air of night slowly gave way to a beautiful sunrise in Goshen County early Friday morning, a handful of curious residents ready to expand their minds while embarking on a brief but peaceful journey stood patiently waiting near the Fine Arts Center at Eastern Wyoming College (EWC).
These residents waited anxiously to catch the first-of-the-day provided college shuttle to finally take a beautiful little drive across sacred Wyoming countryside to visit the historically mysterious, yet almost legendary town of Sunrise.
Currently owned by prominent Platte County resident John Voight, Sunrise appropriately became the inaugural site of the first ever EWC Archaeology Symposium. Upon arrival residents could see, smell, and feel both modern and ancient history lingering at every turn as soon as they stepped off the bus.
The event which ran from June 27 - 29 was what the local college hopes to be the first of many archeological and anthropological events to come. Additionally, the ongoing project is meant to spark public interest in both Sunrise and the progressive research measures of EWC.
According to Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon, the event is a visionary piece of innovation representing the preservation of antiquated history as well as progressive first-class higher education.
Gordon would address all guests and participants of the symposium digitally during the first night’s archeological presentations at EWC’s Auditorium. Furthermore, the Governor would give well-deserved public recognition to one particularly dedicated and well-known local archeologist, George Zeimens.
“I am very excited to see all the work you are all doing,” Gordon said in kicking off the event. “Wyoming innovative partnership was really devised to bring new opportunities, but what’s really exciting … is we have a unique opportunity for EWC students to train at a world class archeological site. George Zeimens is a remarkable anthropologist and archeologist. We think about the work here being started, and the magic of finding these things and understanding cultures. Who was here? What were they doing? How did they live? It’s such a real educational experience, and I hope you have a wonderful few days and months working on this amazing new project.”
College President Dr. Jeffry Hawes would concur with Governor Gordon, adding innovative partnerships between the college and local entities will continue to bring valued interest and economic revenue.

The EWC president likewise acknowledged the recent ongoing ideas and immense hard work of the college’s newly appointed Professor of Archeology and Anthropology, Dr. Steven Howard.
“We are very excited to have all of you here for what will hopefully be the first symposium of sharing some unique and exciting things not only a part of Wyoming’s history, but a part of our community,” Dr. Hawes said. “This can allow investments back into our local communities, and in areas which could see economic impact in our own backyard. Everything from agriculture to areas of business, and one of them ties directly into tourism.”
He further stated Dr. Howard is a key to organizing the program and continuing to build a relationship between the school and Sunrise Mines.
In addition to the involvement of local historians and archeologists, the Sunrise-EWC Symposium was also prominent with the active presence of several international archeological professors visiting for the weekend; hoping to find out first-hand what the Powars II Archaeologic Site at Sunrise has to offer.
Or more specifically, what it has to reveal.
Among the various professors who traveled a great distance to loan their time and expertise to the event were Dr. Bruce Bradley of Colorado, Dr. Astolofo Gomez de Mello Araujo of Brazil, Dr. Leticia Cristina Correa also of Brazil, Dr. Rafael Suarez Sainz of Uruguay, Dr. D. Clark Werneke of Texas, and Dr. Richard Gramely of Massachusetts.
According to Dr. Bradley, the three-day symposium is highlighting ongoing archeological work and discovery at Powars II in Sunrise, which amounts to a dream come true for such innovative research.
As the Colorado professor would further advocate, even the simplest of discovered artifacts could have a vast and fascinating story to tell the modern society of today.
“One of the things we are always looking at are artifacts,” Bradley noted. “The only things which get preserved are stone artifacts, and we don’t always have a lot of evidence to go by... Archeology is the investigation of the human experience based on physical evidence…[While it is evidence based on discovered artifacts,] when we are working in these early sites it can be more about geology than anything else - and it is a real science. Artifacts are what we deal with, and everything we are sitting with here is an artifact.”
“Diagnostic artifacts are objects whose style, form, and method of manufacture or use indicates its cultural and chronological origin,” Bradley explained. “There are artifacts which are very related to both time and space, and we use a certain way [to classify them.] Think of biology or botany: how do you classify plants - what they are and how do they grow? It’s by using characteristics.”
“We are looking at grouping things (artifacts) which hold together as a group,” Bradley continued. “The research we do is always question-oriented and question-based. What do we learn from typology? Lots of different things. Was it functional? How was it used? Did it work? Did it kill bison? Hunt beavers? What was going on with these particular pieces? That’s what archeology is best at doing – and we have various methods to determine this. Many of them are microscopic.
Bradley described the fine line where an archaeologist (who studies artifacts) and anthropologist (who studies the culture and life of ancient peoples) meets. After discovering and studying artifacts, further questions are asked about the people who created them, “…What was in their heads? What were they thinking, and how much were they willing to invest beyond function? It gets heavily into beliefs and rituals, as well as ethnicity,” Bradley said.
Dr. Bradley also explained how such discovery of ancient artifacts certainly ties into the very way of life modern human beings live today. According to Bradley, archeology and anthropology do not necessarily always relate to history: sometimes it is right before our very eyes, and currently in the making.
“The clothes you wear and the styles you wear represent your identity. We are in Goshen County, right? It was named after it was first identified with Goshen Paleoamerican projectile point types from the high plains of Wyoming,” Bradley said at the Symposium presentation at EWC as he explained how the names are given to places and things. He then described the evidence he looks for with ancient artifacts. “[In studying artifacts,] we always look at technology. How was it made? What choices were made to create it? It’s like learning a complex tune on the piano. All the steps have to be in order to get exactly what you want.”
In his studies, Bradley uses similar tools and materials of the ancient peoples to see if he can mimic the patterns, they used in order to understand their process and knowledge. At the Symposium tours in Sunrise, he demonstrated some tools and steps to get a spear tip or arrowhead. While doing this for the audience gathered under the shade of a tree, he said, “…What you do is break pieces off [in a specific way] and turn pieces into the point [you want.] Technology is a process, not a thing – In actuality, it’s far more of a behavior.”
Professor Howard said at the conclusion of the symposium on Saturday, the symposium was a success, and he is pleased with the turnout. He concluded, he is looking forward to turning it into an annual event.