About this item
has shaped the lives of everyone who calls it home. Archaeologist and conservationist R. E. Burrillo takes readers on a journey of discovery through the stories and controversies that make this place so unique, from traces of its earliest inhabitants through its role in shaping the study of archaeology itself - and into the modern battle over its protection. is an archaeologist and conservation advocate. His writing has appeared in Archaeology Southwest, Colorado Plateau Advocate, the Salt Lake Tribune, and elsewhere. He splits his time between Salt Lake City, Utah, and Flagstaff, Arizona.
About the Author
Ralph "R.E." Burrillo is an author, conservationist, and cultural resource management specialist whose primary interests are the people and places of the greater Colorado Plateau region. Born and raised in upstate New York, he moved to New Orleans at 18 to attempt to become a writer. Five years of tending bar later, he took a seasonal job at a lodge in Glacier National Park, and ultimately spent another five years working for a series of concessionaires in wilderness destinations--including two summers living and working at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, where he discovered and fell in love with the region and its various communities. That led to spend the next five years at Northern Arizona University, where he graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Anthropology. ?While in graduate school at University of Utah, Burrillo gradually became more involved in the archaeology and conservation of the Bears Ears area. He was subsequently hired by a consortium of groups to help write the technical portion of a lawsuit that would ultimately be brought when an executive order drastically reduced the boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument, a case that remains open to this day.?He is the author of dozens of articles, both technical and mainstream, appearing in venues such as Archaeology Southwest, Kiva, Blue Mountain Shadows, Flag Live, The San Juan Record, Colorado Plateau Advocate, and The Dust. He also appears in Jonathan Bailey's 2019 book Rock Art: A Vision of a Vanishing Cultural Landscape.He is currently an assistant principal investigator for SWCA Environmental Consultants in Salt Lake City, and splits his time between there and his hometown of Flagstaff, AZ.
