Biography

National Geo. Ira Block MVNP 1994 sliver

Clint Swink received a classic science education from Colorado State University, graduating with a BS in Wildlife Biology in 1967. His science/art abilities have made him a sought-after artist, instructor and archaeological collaborator. He has taught over eighty Anasazi pottery workshops of various intensities from second grade to graduate college level and presented ten scientific papers of which three have been published.

Some important achievements include:

  • Invited by the National Park Service to conduct the first Anasazi pottery firing on Mesa Verde since ca. 1300 AD as a demonstration at the 69th annual Pecos Conference (8/94).
  • Created permanent Anasazi pottery-making display for the Chapin Museum, Mesa Verde National Park (4/95).
  • Collaborated with the Bureau of Land Management and conducted the first pottery firing of an actual Anasazi trench kiln (“Camp Kiln” 5/97).
  • Selected as one of thirty-nine worldwide presenters (the only potter) at the Ceramic Technology and Production Conference at the British Museum, London (11/97).
  • Pot #1309A displayed in the White House as part of Hillary Clinton’s “Save America’s Treasures” and included in the permanent White Huse collection (1999-2000).
  • Corrugated pot featured in PBS documentary Cannibals in the Canyons (5/00)
  • In conjunction with the University of Texas, began and conducted six Maya pottery research workshops in Belize, Central America (2001-06)
  • Corrugated pot #1458 featured in History Channel documentary Cannibal Instinct. (2/2005)
  • Published Messages From the High Desert (2004)
  • Presented “Maya Pottery Replication in Belize–Solving the Mystery of the Missing Maya Kilns” at the 72nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Austin, Texas, April 27, 2007.
  • Presented “The Renaissance of Mesa Verde Pottery” at the University of Colorado Museum’s exhibit Ancient Southwest: Peoples, Pottery and Place, March 7, 2013.

Important featured articles:

  • National Geographic, March, 1996
  • Ceramics Monthly, April, 1999
  • American Archaeology, Summer, 2000