Dr. Bonnie Pitblado, Director, Museum of Anthropology at Utah State University-Logan, will be the guest speaker Saturday at the Jennifer Leavitt Student Center regarding the missing Pilling Figurine that was returnedВ mysteriously last year. Pitblado is expected to verify the recovery of the missing figurine from the museum’s collection.
She has been working with a team of scientists to compare the figurine with the existing collection upon its return from an anonymous source a year ago.
USU Eastern Professor Pam Miller, the Prehistoric Museum’s former curator of paleontology, was asked by Pitblado early in the investigation to verify the figurine. Miller said she was “sure of it as soon as I saw the kilt.” She had studied the figurines closely when she became curator and even lectured on them once. Miller oversaw the transfer of ownership of the collection to the BLM and then to the museum.
There is still confusion over where and when the figurine went missing. At the time, the collection belonged to Clarence Pilling who found the figurines in 1950 while ranching near Range Creek.
The Prehistoric Museum is preparing a new display for the figurines on their return.
Pitblado will speak at 1 p.m. The lecture is free and the public is invited to attend.
