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What remains of Bears ears

San Juan County • For the past 13,000 years, humans have inhabited this part of the West.

They carved arrowheads from stone and hunted giant sloths. They learned to farm corn and created communities on the mesa tops. They scratched and painted images onto rocks and reused and remixed what was left by earlier generations.

For 11 months, the rich legacy of this region was federally protected. It’s not clear who will be its steward now.

The stories of these earlier peoples are still here, told by the places and things they left behind.