Cool! Thanks for posting. I love this story.
I did a great dig back in college (Late Woodland Period, C 900 AD) on the very edge of a new neighborhood being built back in the late 1970s. I worked on the limestone “box burials” and the skeletons and artifacts were remarkably well preserved.
The newly-arriving home buyers were quite surprised to find there were “dead Indians” practically in their back yards, but the kids were so excited and fascinated. Soon enough, the adults got cool with it, too, and we had church groups and Sunday school groups coming out to see what we were up to.
There was one wonderful little boy who had just moved into the house on the very edge of the burials. He was so much fun. My naughty grad student in charge of the dig loved to josh the kid. One day he asked “How can I tell if they’re under our house?” to which the naughty fellow replied “Flush your toilet. If it makes a gurgling sound, they’re under there.”
Kid runs into the house and back out like a flash, a!l axcited.”They’re under there! You gotta come dig them out!” Of course I set the poor kid straight.
Anyway, it was great to see the public and kids so interested in the prehistory of their community.
Bush whack almost anywhere in the Cedar Mesa area of southern Utah and you can find broken pottery under your feet.
https://andrewskurka.com/quickstart-guide-cedar-mesa-grand-gulch-utah/
You will not find tourists, paved walking trails, restrictive backcountry regulations, and a glossy visitor center here.
There are no commercial services on Cedar Mesa. Bring all the food and water you will need, and plan to car-camp or wilderness camp.