News

2026 Wyoming Archaeology Awareness Posters and Merchandise Available; Temporary Exhibit Opens

Details: Category: News; Published: Tuesday, 28 April 2026 15:18

LARAMIE, Wyo. – April 28, 2026 – In anticipation of Wyoming Archaeology Awareness Month (WAAM), held each September, the 2026 WAAM poster and new Wyoming Archaeology merchandise are now available through the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO).

Each year, the centerpiece of WAAM programming is an award-winning poster and accompanying brochure, produced annually and free and available to the public. The 2026 poster celebrates the long and complex relationship between people and horses, as reflected in Wyoming’s archaeological record, as part of our Nation’s Semiquincentennial celebrations. The featured artwork was created specifically for the poster by well-known, award-winning Wyoming native Robert Martinez of Riverton.

Dr. William Taylor of the University of Colorado Boulder, and a noted expert on horses in the archaeological record, states, “As we celebrate our nation’s 250-year anniversary in the American West, it’s hard to imagine a more powerful and enduring symbol of our culture and history than horses.”

The poster is available free of charge and may be picked up at the State Historic Preservation Office or Wyoming State Museum, Barrett Building, 2301 Central Avenue in Cheyenne, or at the University of Wyoming Anthropology Building in Laramie (12th and Lewis, Room 312). To request a poster by mail, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for details.

In addition to the release of the 2026 WAAM poster and brochure, new Wyoming Archaeology merchandise is now available for purchase through the WAAM Wear website. Artwork featured on t-shirts, sun shirts, and hats was created by Cheyenne artist Howard Clayton and reflects a well-known archaeological discovery in Wyoming’s Green River valley – a young horse that was intentionally buried. Research conducted at this site dates the horse to several decades prior to the arrival of Europeans in Wyoming, suggesting horses arrived in Wyoming much earlier than researchers previously thought. Proceeds from WAAM Wear support the development of WAAM activities, such as printing posters and brochures.

Several state agencies have also collaborated to create a temporary museum exhibit celebrating the archaeology and history of horses in Wyoming. The Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office, the University of Wyoming’s Archaeological Repository, and the Wyoming State Museum developed the temporary exhibit “Hoofbeats as Heartbeats.” The exhibit features a variety of artifacts highlighting the role of horses in both Indigenous and European immigrant cultures in Wyoming. From the evolution of objects like saddles and parfleche bags to depictions in Wyoming’s rock art, the horse has played a central role in Wyoming over the last 400 years. The exhibit is on display in the lobby at the Wyoming State Museum in Cheyenne for one year.

For more information about the Wyoming Archaeology Awareness Month program, contact Gwendolyn Kristy, chief of SHPO's Planning & Historic Contexts Development Program, at (307) 766-5366 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or wyoshpo.wyo.gov.

For more information about the temporary museum exhibit, contact Elisabeth DeGrenier, supervisor of exhibits and programs at the Wyoming State Museum at (307) 275-4018 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Figure 1: 2026 Wyoming Archaeology Awareness Month Poster featuring artwork “Hoofbeats as Heartbeats” by Wyoming artist Robert Martinez. Figure 2: Photograph of temporary museum exhibit at the entrance to the Wyoming State Museum in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Contact: Gwendolyn Kristy, (307) 766-5366; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.