Dr. Benjamin C. Pykles, the Historic Sites Curator for the LDS Church History Department will present on “Using Remote-Sensing Technologies at the Church Historic Sites” on March 27.
Pyckles, as part of the Department of Geological Sciences’ Quey Hebrew Memorial Lecture, will illustrate the value of remote-sensing technologies ranging from specialty-trained canines to ground-penetrating radar at the Priesthood Restoration Site, Historic Nauvoo, Hawn’s Mill, Far West Burial Grounds, and the Original Provo Tabernacle.
Pykles has worked as a professor of anthropology at the State University of New York at Potsdam and is the author of Excavating Nauvoo: The Mormons and the Rise of Historical Archaeology in America, which won the Best First Book Award from the Mormon History Association in 2011.
During his years as an archeologist, Pykles has utilized his passion for LDS Church archaeology in order to bring to light valuable, historic Church sites, including the ghost town Iosepa, historic Nauvoo, and the original Provo Tabernacle.
According to Pykles, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints operates twenty-three historic sites in the continental United States and Great Britain. These sites are crucial to the Church’s mission, serving as tangible, three-dimensional witnesses of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This lecture will illustrate the value of remote-sensing technologies ranging from specially-trained canines to ground-penetrating radar at the Priesthood Restoration Site, Historic Nauvoo, Hawn’s Mill, Far West Burial Grounds, and the Original Provo Tabernacle.”
This lecture will be held Friday, March 27 at 7:00 p.m. in room B190 of the Joseph Fielding Smith Building (JFSB). Light refreshments will be served before the lecture.