KEYSER, James D. 1950-

PERSONAL: Born March 3, 1950, in Fort Collins, CO; son of Raymond C. Keyser. Ethnicity: "Caucasian." Education: University of Montana, B.A. (with high honors), 1972, M.A., 1974; University of Oregon, Ph.D., 1977.

ADDRESSES: Office—c/o University of Utah Press, 260 South Central Campus Dr., Room 252, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-9153.

CAREER: Educator, archaeologist, and author. Field archaeologist affiliated with universities and with provincial parks of Alberta, Canada, 1973-76; State University of New York at Buffalo, assistant professor of anthropology, 1976-77; University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, assistant professor of anthropology, 1977-78; U.S. Forest Service, archaeologist with Minerals and Geology Group, Northern Region, 1978-80, regional archaeologist with Pacific Northwest Region, 1980—.

Portland State University, lecturer, 1999-2000. Walking Softly Adventures, European rock art tour leader, 1999-2001. Plains Anthropological Conference, member of board of directors, 1985-88; International Scientific Advisory Committee for the Study of Chauvet Cave, member, 1999-2001.

MEMBER: Sigma Xi, Phi Kappa Phi.

AWARDS, HONORS: Grant for Europe, National Endowment for the Humanities, 1987-88; Distinguished Award, Society for Technical Communications, c. 1992, for Indian Rock Art of the Columbia Plateau.

WRITINGS:

Indian Rock Art of the Columbia Plateau, University of Washington Press (Seattle, WA), 1992.

Indian Petroglyphs of the Columbia Gorge: The Jeanne Hillis Rubbings, J. Y. Hollingsworth (Portland, OR), 1994.

The Five Crows Ledger: Biographic Warrior Art of the Flathead Indians, University of Utah Press (Salt Lake City, UT), 2000.

(With Michael A. Klassen) Plains Indian Rock Art, University of Washington Press (Seattle, WA), 2001.

Contributor to books, including The Landscape of Rock Art, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY), 2001; and The Ethnography of Rock Art, edited by David S. Whitley, Altamira Press, 2001. Contributor of articles and reviews to anthropology journals, including Northwest Parks and Wildlife, Archaeology in Montana, Wyoming Archaeologist, Longbow, Journal of Interpretation, Montana: Magazine of Western History, Columbia: Magazine of Northwest History, Canadian Journal of Archaeology, Journal of Field Archaeology, and Plains Anthropologist.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Research on North American archaeology, rock art, and archaeological interpretation.

SIDELIGHTS: James D. Keyser told CA: "I grew up in a small town on an Indian reservation in Montana. As a boy I was very interested in all things Indian or historic, and there was much to explore, including ghost towns, battlefields, ancient campsites, and Indian rock art carved and painted on the cliffs throughout the state. American Indians were my playmates, then classmates, and later teammates in high school sports. Some of my earliest career-oriented memories are of seeing ancient pictographs and knowing then that I wanted to be an archaeologist and write about the past.

"In college I studied anthropology and graduated with a specialization in archaeology. Throughout my career I have done rock art research and very early recognized the intrigue that these ancient pictures held for people first seeing them. In addition to often being stunning works of art, pictographs and petroglyphs are different from many other types of archaeological artifacts in that they provide a glimpse into the minds of their makers. Often these images tell a fascinating story.

"After writing dozens of professional technical articles about many aspects of archaeology (including rock art), I realized that there was a dearth of good scholarly books on the subject. I began to write such books and found a very receptive public audience. My public writing is primarily a professionally sound synthesis of regional or topical data designed to illustrate the beauty and cultural values of North American Indian rock art. Currently I am working on a volume to be published in France that will, for the first time, bring this subject to foreign audiences."