Archeology from childhood to adulthood
Not many people can say they have spent their lives following a dream they discovered in National Geographic magazines as a child. But Pam Miller has followed her dream of archeology from child fantasies to adulthood. After around 26 years at USU Eastern, she is retiring to follow more dreams.
Not many people can say they have spent their lives following a dream they discovered in National Geographic magazines as a child. But Pam Miller has followed her dream of archeology from child fantasies to adulthood. After around 26 years at USU Eastern, she is retiring to follow more dreams.
Miller first became interested in archaeology after reading about the construction of the Aswan Dam in her grandmother’s National Geographic magazines. “I just wanted to be an archeologist,” she says. “I was always fascinated by Ramses’ temple. I saw them move that and put it back together and I just wanted to be an archeologist…I just followed that all through college.”
Most of her archeology career has been spent working in 9 Mile Canyon. Even her courtship with her husband was spent in 9 Mile Canyon. “Most of my work has been field work,” Miller says. “Our idea is that the BLM can’t protect the sites if they don’t know where they are.” She has been the leading force in protecting the Canyon’s rock art and archeology resources from the oil drilling and industrial traffic.
Both Miller and her husband are archeologists and would rather live in rural areas instead of cities. “It’s a good location for us,” she comments. “We just really liked Price.”
She has a difficult time picking a favorite class. “I love every chapter and every subject.” Of all her classes though, cultural anthropology has been most satisfying. “It studies living peoples, but mostly un-industrialized societies. It opens a whole new world for my students,” says Miller, “I can see the lights go on in their brains…It opens a whole new world for my students.”
Above all, Miller will miss the faculty camaraderie at USU Eastern. “I treasure those memories and associations,” she says.
In the next few years, Miller looks forward to gardening, surveying archaeological significant sites and perhaps serving an LDS mission.
But Miller will never be bored. “My goal is to bless the lives of my family. I just imagine that I’m going to be busy…There’s still some more trips that I want to take.”
