Will similar events happen again? A simple yes or no answer is impossible to defend. But the middle-ground of maybe is believable. Those who populate the no side of maybe can find support and comfort from the fact that the most recent lava dam was created so long ago. And by one track of logic this ancient age might indicate, or at least suggest that the Uinkaret Volcanic Field is finished with its dam-building phase. In fact, perhaps the volcanic field is now dead, caput, finished growing, not a threat for future eruptions. Who knows?

Those who populate the yes side of maybe can bolster their opinion with the fact that the youngest eruption in the Uinkaret Volcanic Field scorched a patch of ground there only 900 years ago. That volcano is informally called Little Springs cinder cone. Native Americans lived in the area and likely watched the eruption, presumably feeling some combination of awe, fear, and perhaps reverence for Nature’s power. Pieces of their pottery became embedded in blobs of molten lava that splashed down upon them and quickly chilled to solid black basalt rock rind.