Jen Zivkovic was born and raised in Layton, Utah where she worked as a habilitative trainer at a home for women with mental disabilities. She moved to Price about a year ago with her husband Jeff (aka “Mr. Z”). Jeff teaches Math and English at Helper Jr. High. They love this area and have decided to settle down here. Jen is a member of USAS and enjoys volunteering with the Paleo guys when she can. Anthropology has always been one of Jen’s favorite studies and she has found an excellent mentor in Dr. Pam Miller. Jen is now having a great time interning under Dr. Renee Barlow and is learning about site records, artifact analysis, drawing artifacts, profiles and site sketches, doing macrofossil flotation in the lab, and writing a site report. Jen loves the Prehistoric Museum and everyone who works there, and she is very grateful for the opportunity to be a part of it.
Jen enjoys scrambling over cliffs and steep slopes looking for and recording archaeological sites. She has worked on several sites in Range Creek, Utah, including a Fremont habitation site with the remains of a pithouse, circular surface structure, and artifacts that include ceramics (Jen reconstructed part of a vessel in the field from some of the sherds we found on site), lithic debitage and tools, and ground stone. She has also completed typing the site notes and inking the sketches for the Appliqué House site report, the small Fremont Village at the north end of Range Creek, and she completed the analyses of most of the ceramic artifacts recovered during the 2008 excavation. She is bright and a fast learner, and is an incredible asset in the field and lab.
Last week Jen assisted in recording a new discovery in Range Creek- the remains of a granary with maize and a carved wooden shovel. The crew included DWR officers Alan Green (who found the Range Creek Flute), Mark Connolly (who found the granary), Utah State University OSL lab manager Dr. Tammy Rittenour, Gary and Gavin O’Brien, Prehistoric Museum Director Dr. Reese Barrick, and Curator Dr. Renee Barlow. Dr. Rittenour extracted sediments from the site where the flute was found – more about Dr. Rittenour and the dating of the flute in our next blog…
Jen is fearless. The granary that we recorded is located about 200 feet above the canyon floor, on a narrow ledge above a 50 ft. high cliff. To reach the site requires negotiating a very narrow portion of the ledge in a precarious situation above the cliff where part of the wall juts out around a corner. It took me several minutes to assess this and decide where I would place my hands and feet, and how I would balance myself as I went around the corner, but Jen didn’t even slow down. She went straight across the ledge to the granary and was very excited to explore the site; no fear. We set up some protection above the granary and roped into our harnesses, and she helped with the IMACS form, the feature sketch and the tree-ring sample. She is a natural. We are encouraging her to enroll in a four year archaeology program when she finishes here, and to think about applying to graduate school at USU.
We love having Jen around!
Saturdays on the Swell
Our first Saturday out was “SWELL” with 11 people attending. Jen Zivkovich, of course, along with Education Director Lloyd Logan and his wife Connie Logan, Ariel Hayes, David Cassidy, Karen Brungven, Scott Harding, and CEU Engineer Kyle Larsen and family. We didn’t find the site we wanted to record after four-wheeling in the eastern Swell for about an hour, so we toured rock art sites in Buckhorn Wash and the Moore cutoff road. It was a fun day with sunshine and temps in the 60s.
Our next “Saturday on the Swell” will be December 6. We will meet at the museum at 8 am, drive to the southern part of the San Rafael Swell and record a newly discovered Archaic site, then visit several rock art panels before driving back to the museum. This activity is open to all who would like to attend, students and volunteers are welcome! Bring a lunch, snacks and lots of water, a camera, hiking boots and a warm coat, and plan on being out from 8 am to about 4 pm.
For more information, or to reserve a seat in the museum vehicle, call PR Director Christine Trease at 435-613-5757, Education Director Lloyd Logan at 435-613-5760, or Dr. Renee Barlow at 435-613-5290.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Renee Barlow
