Atchison Native Digs America's Past in High Places

MH-MA graduate Brendon Asher '02 was highlighted recently in several media outlets for his key role in a world-class archeological dig. The following article appeared recently in the Atchison Globe with another in the Kansas City Star.

By MARY MEYERS
Courtesy of the Atchison Globe

From stone aged finds along local soggy bottom grounds, a career path for Brendon Asher has led to mammoth proportions amid world class paleontologic prominence.
Mr. Asher, an archaeologist, is among a team of renowned scientists who are part of an excavation at Snowmass, Colorado. Their mission is currently on hold until the spring thaw. Its core focus is to uncover the remains of prehistoric animals and insects that roamed throughout the kettle-like mountain top thousands of years ago. Numerous botanicals indicative of the Pleistocene period have also been discovered. He described the mountain kettle as a place where glacial ice is melting.

“I never imagined I would have an opportunity to do the initial work on what is being considered a world-class site,” Mr. Asher said. “It is certainly something one dreams about.”

A 2002 Maur Hill graduate, Mr. Asher served as a crew chief and mapping specialist related to archaeological excavation techniques during the dig’s initial phase. To date, a Jefferson sloth and numerous ice-aged bison have turned up. These are the first of their species to be found at a 9,000-foot elevation on the North American continent.  

The sloth also marks the first of its type discovered in Colorado. The site has also checked in a documented eight to ten mastodon, which tops the previously recorded three in the state. Mammoth and deer were also uncovered in what he described as an ancient peat bed. Green grasses and leaves, spruce and fir cones that appeared to have fallen off the tree days earlier have been found, as well as iridescent beetles, snails, and other insect varieties.

“It is wild to think you are looking at a shiny beetle carapace (its protective shell) that is potentially 43,000 years old or older that looks very similar to a beetle one would see outside today,” Mr. Asher emphasized. He added that is a very rare thing in the field of science to find remnants of the past that well preserved at such high elevations.

According to Colorado and national new sources, the expert scientists have estimated the bones found ranged in age from 12,000 to 15,000 years old dated back toward the end of the last ice age.

Mr. Asher said he considers his involvement on the project as what might be a “once in a

lifetime experience” for some. “This experience has been beyond comprehension at this site for me,” he said.

“Perhaps reality is still attempting to sink in. It has been an absolute pleasure working alongside respectable world experts in their field.”
Mr. Asher explained it was Oct. 14 when a mammoth bone was discovered during an expansion of Ziegler Reservoir to provide water for the increased needs at Snowmass Village located near Aspen.A bulldozer operator initially unearthed the bone and it was pushed against the dozer’s blade.

Mr. Asher is currently associated with University of Kansas Department of Anthropology.
He indicated he became involved in the rare find when he was contacted to assist by Dr. Steve Hollen, curator of archaeology for Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Mr. Asher and Dr. Hollen had previously worked on early man sites in Kansas, mostly in the western region of the state.
Mr. Asher embarked on his 20-day long scientific journey Oct. 31. He returned Nov. 18 before winter weather sets in on the Rocky Mountain top. He indicated that he has plans to return in mid-May 2011, weather permitting, and continue his work for another season.
Reared north of Atchison city limits, Mr. Asher credited his archaeological prowess to his father, Jim Asher and maternal uncle Mike Dooley as their eyes would comb fields north of Atchison after hard washing rains. They collected North American artifact surface finds.
“I was so involved with the discovery of new things that I acquired the nickname of Nose to the Ground,” Mr. Asher said, “constantly looking for something new. That desire of discovery and learning led me to pursue archaeology as a career.”
Stephen Denton taught Mr. Asher during his seventh and eighth-grade years at Atchison Catholic Elementary School.
Mr. Denton acknowledged that it was a long time ago when he taught earth and life sciences at the school. He recalled that Mr. Asher maintained a strong drive to learn during his younger years.

“He was wonderfully motivated,” Mr. Denton said, “a bright student.”
Mr. Asher said he became involved with Kanza Chapter of Kansas Anthropological Association and KAA affiliated digs. It was when he enrolled in anthropology classes at KU he became hooked and has participated in fieldwork since, mostly in the Great Plains.
“And (I) have come to realize it isn’t always about what you find,” Mr. Asher said, “but what you can find out about the past.”