Southwestern Archaeology Today - A Service of the Center for Desert Archaeology
- The "Mystery" of the Tucson Artifacts: Jones is the museum collections manager at the Arizona Historical Society. We are on the second floor of the building in a room with no pomp or circumstance, unlike other archive rooms on the same floor containing rows and rows of valuable remnants of history that are painstakingly organized and proudly displayed. Jones had laughed a bit when I asked her over the phone to see the artifacts. For years, there was heated debate between the finders of the lead pieces and experts in the archeology field. "What was their origin?" they asked. The theories ranged from claims that they were evidence of the Lost Tribe of Israel's presence in Tucson or that they were the creation of a young Mexican boy to claims even that they must have been planted in the ground by their discoverers.
http://www.thezmag.com/article-141-a-cold-trail.html
- Join the Center For Desert Archaeology and Local Scholar Don Burgess for a Livley Discussion of the Tucson Artifacts at the Next Archaeology Cafe (Tucson): The next Archaeology Café will convene on Tuesday, December 1, 2009, 6:00 pm, at Casa Vicente, 375 S. Stone Avenue, Tucson, AZ. This month, we will be joined by Don Burgess, former General Manager of KUAT TV. Thirty-one Latin-inscribed lead crosses and a caliche plaque collectively known as the Silverbell Artifacts confounded scholars at the time of their appearance over the years between 1924 and 1930. The items appeared to attest to Roman presence in southern Arizona between A.D. 775 and 940. Don will tell the story behind the story, and dispel the myths surrounding this deliberate hoax. The legacy of this incident continues to this day, as Arizona State Museum and Arizona History Museum curators can attest from the yearly inquiries they receive. The Café Program is Free and open to the community—all are welcome.
http://www.cdarc.org/2009/11/16/archaeology-cafe-romans-in-tucson/
- Congratulations to Archaeologist James Heidke: The membership of the Arizona Archaeological Council selected James Heidke as the 2009 recipient of the Contributions to Arizona Archaeology Award. Jim was nominated for his achievements in ceramic petrography. He has helped to develop methods of ceramic sourcing that have enriched our understanding of prehistoric ceramic production, distribution, and specialization. Jim’s diligent research efforts have contributed to our knowledge of the past as our profession continues to grow and evolve. The Arizona Archaeological Council is pleased to recognize these important contributions to Arizona archaeology.
- A Different Sort of Archaeological Dating at BYU Museum: Most people think of musty corners and old relics when they think of museums, but with an upcoming activity, one BYU museum will be a hot spot of romantic activity. This Friday, the Museum of Peoples and Cultures is hosting a date night in conjunction with International Education Week to liven up the atmosphere. The date night will be full of activities such as viewing Anasazi pottery from Fourmile Ruin in the “New Lives” exhibition, “Cultural Trivia” scavenger hunts and pottery making with prizes.
http://universe.byu.edu/node/4303
- After Mastodons and Mammoths, a Transformed Landscape:
When the population of mastodons, mammoth, camel, horse, ground sloths, and giant beavers crashed, emptying a land whose diversity of large animals equaled or surpassed Africa's wildlife-rich Serengeti plains then or now, an entirely novel ecosystem emerged as broadleaved trees once kept in check by huge numbers of big herbivores claimed the landscape. Soon after, the accumulation of woody debris sparked a dramatic increase in the prevalence of wildfire, another key shaper of landscapes. This new picture of the ecological upheaval of the North American landscape just after the retreat of the ice sheets is detailed in a study published November 19 in the journal Science.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091119141029.htm
- Slide Show of Threatened Places of the Americas: In an effort to preserve cultural sites around the world, the World Monuments Fund releases a list of endangered sites every two years. This year's list includes 93 sites drawn from 47 countries, from well-known attractions to obscure ruins. Here are the spots from the list that sparked our interest, including some that you may want to visit.
http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-worldmonuments-pictures,0,4072902.photogallery
- New York Times Science Editorial Argues In Favor of "Partage:" Zahi Hawass regards the Rosetta Stone, like so much else, as stolen property languishing in exile. “We own that stone,” he told Al Jazeera, speaking as the secretary general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities. The British Museum does not agree — at least not yet. But never underestimate Dr. Hawass when it comes to this sort of custody dispute. He has prevailed so often in getting pieces returned to what he calls their “motherland” that museum curators are scrambling to appease him.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/science/17tier.html?_r=1
- O'odham Basketry: Native Americans in the United States have been weaving baskets for centuries. Archeologists have discovered baskets that are thousands of years old. They were used to hold food and other supplies, and for sacred rituals. But many baskets made today are for decoration. The Tohono O'odham in (the southwest state of) Arizona live on the second largest reservation in the U.S. Rose Martin has inherited a family tradition. "My mother's the one who taught me how to do basketry when I was about 10 years old and gave me that gift to weave," she said.
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/a-13-2009-11-16-voa14-70422872.html
- Cultural Resources Diversity Internship Program Seeks Internship Program Proposals for the Summer of 2010: The CRDIP provides career exploration opportunities to undergraduate and graduate students from diverse communities in historic preservation and cultural resources management. The cost is shared on a 50/50 basis between the CRDIP and the intern sponsor. Please submit intern project proposals on the linked form below by November 30, 2009 to Turkiya Lowe at Turkiya_lowe@contractor.nps.gov;
http://tinyurl.com/yd3yg64 - Application Form, MS Word Document.
http://www.cr.nps.gov/crdi/internships/intrnCRDIP.htm - Program Description
- Lecture Opportunity (Tubac): Marana dig reveals pre-Hohokam agricultural settlement. Archaeologist James Vint will present the findings from the just-completed excavation of one of the earliest irrigation-based villages in the American Southwest yet documented. The Santa Cruz Valley Chapter of the Arizona Archaeological Society will host his talk on December 10, 2009, 7 PM, at the North County Facility at 50 Bridge Road in Tubac. The presentation is free and open to the public.
- The October/November 2009 Alliance of National Heritage Areas Alliance
Update Newsletter:
http://www.nps.gov/history/heritageareas/rep/octnov09.pdf
Thanks to Gerald Kelso and Adrianne Rankin for contributions to today's newsletter.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Gomphothere Remains Found at Northern Mexican Clovis Site
Southwestern Archaeology Making the News - A Service of the Center for Desert Archaeology
- Ancient Gomphotheres Remains Found With Clovis Tools in Northern Mexico: Scientists have found evidence that cavemen (sic) near the U.S.-Mexican border were butchering gomphotheres, elephant-like beasts from the Ice Age that had been believed to be nearly extinct in North America by the time humans appeared there. Researchers from the University of Arizona and Mexico's anthropology institute say they found the bones of two young gomphotheres — along with blades, a scraping tool and stone chips from making spear tips — at an 11,000-year-old site in Mexico's Sonora state.
http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/317723.php
- Satellite Imagery Used to Document Hohokam Canals in Phoenix Basin: Anthropologists, with the assistance of satellite imagery, have discovered the remains of a series of ancient canals, located just south of the Salt River, near the very heart of downtown Mesa, Arizona. The existence of the canal system, built in the Salt River valley centuries ago by the Hohokam, has long been known, but the extent of this most recent discovery has caught some experts by surprise.
http://tinyurl.com/yl6j2cf - Examiner.com
- Mesa Grande Tours will Begin Soon: ...Decades of groundwork are paying off as the city is rushing to lay a path through the ruins in the final weeks of this year. Some time next year, Mesa Grande will be ready for the first regular tours to the site pioneers discovered in the 1800s.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/147157
- Etymology of "Arizona:" The most logical and accurate interpretation traces the name to about 1734-1736 in a community some 50 miles southwest of Nogales on today's Arizona/Mexico border. According to historian Jay Wagoner, a Yaqui Indian named Antonio Siraumea, in October of 1736, discovered chunks of silver (planchas de plata) lying on the ground in a canyon located near the rancheria of "Arissona," a visita of the nearby mission.
http://www.dcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&subsectionID=1&articleID=74600
- Lecture Opportunity & Book signing (Albuquerque): Stephen Lekson presents "A History of the Ancient Southwest" at Page One Bookstore (SW corner of Montgomery and Juan Tabo), Friday, November 20 at 7 PM. According to Dr. Lekson, much of what we think we know about the Southwest has been compressed into conventions and classifications and orthodoxies. A History of the Ancient Southwest challenges and reconfigures these accepted notions by telling two parallel stories, one about the development, personalities, and institutions of Southwestern archaeology and the other about interpretations of what actually happened in the ancient past.
http://page1book.com/html/events.shtml
- Kiva Mural and Ancient Pigment Expert Paul T. Kay Passes: Paul Tarsus Kay, 70, passed peacefully following a lengthy illness while at Denver Health, Oct. 29, 2009. He was a self-made Anthropologist, Scientist, Researcher, Philosopher, Producer/ Promoter, Advocate of the Fine Arts, House Painter extraordinaire, Good Samaritan and Avid conversationalist.
http://tinyurl.com/yjzao3y - Denver Post
- Lecture Opportunity (Tucson) Randy McGuire will present " Cerros de Trinceras & Warfare in Sonora, Mexico" as part of the monthly meeting of the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society. Tonight, 7:30 PM at the Duval Auditorium, University Medical Center.
- Travelogue - Mesa Verde: The ancient tribes who wandered into southwestern Colorado more than a thousand years ago were no dummies. They looked at the area's big, rugged mesas and decided to live inside them. They built south-facing homes, shielded from the winter's north wind. In the summer, the flat cliff overhangs kept them cool.
http://tinyurl.com/yhrrzku - The Statesman
- Travelouge - Walnut Canyon National Moument: A strong wind blows out of Walnut Canyon, but the day is warm, the clouds are scattered and sunlight burns the mesa tops. A group of students has just crowded into the visitor center and makes its way out the back door and down a trail that leads past an ancient Sinagua Indian village, the main feature of the park.
http://tinyurl.com/y8egnht - Arizona Republic
- Incan Pottery Replication at Stanford: The Spanish invaders told the Inca that the diseases were payback for idolatry. But the Incan priests of the Taki Unquy opposition had their own take: Their people had taken European names, clothes and religion; they had abandoned the native languages for Spanish. The Inca hadn't kept to the old ways – and the ancestors were displeased. So, to propitiate them, indigenous potters began to make small vessels again, just like their ancestors had 40 years earlier, before the 1530s conquest. Half a millennium later and thousands of miles away, Incan vessels were pulled from an alpaca-dung open-air kiln at Stanford this month – as close to the "real thing" as one could reasonably expect to get.
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2009/november9/inca-pottery-replication-111209.html
- Ancient Gomphotheres Remains Found With Clovis Tools in Northern Mexico: Scientists have found evidence that cavemen (sic) near the U.S.-Mexican border were butchering gomphotheres, elephant-like beasts from the Ice Age that had been believed to be nearly extinct in North America by the time humans appeared there. Researchers from the University of Arizona and Mexico's anthropology institute say they found the bones of two young gomphotheres — along with blades, a scraping tool and stone chips from making spear tips — at an 11,000-year-old site in Mexico's Sonora state.
http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/317723.php
- Satellite Imagery Used to Document Hohokam Canals in Phoenix Basin: Anthropologists, with the assistance of satellite imagery, have discovered the remains of a series of ancient canals, located just south of the Salt River, near the very heart of downtown Mesa, Arizona. The existence of the canal system, built in the Salt River valley centuries ago by the Hohokam, has long been known, but the extent of this most recent discovery has caught some experts by surprise.
http://tinyurl.com/yl6j2cf - Examiner.com
- Mesa Grande Tours will Begin Soon: ...Decades of groundwork are paying off as the city is rushing to lay a path through the ruins in the final weeks of this year. Some time next year, Mesa Grande will be ready for the first regular tours to the site pioneers discovered in the 1800s.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/147157
- Etymology of "Arizona:" The most logical and accurate interpretation traces the name to about 1734-1736 in a community some 50 miles southwest of Nogales on today's Arizona/Mexico border. According to historian Jay Wagoner, a Yaqui Indian named Antonio Siraumea, in October of 1736, discovered chunks of silver (planchas de plata) lying on the ground in a canyon located near the rancheria of "Arissona," a visita of the nearby mission.
http://www.dcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&subsectionID=1&articleID=74600
- Lecture Opportunity & Book signing (Albuquerque): Stephen Lekson presents "A History of the Ancient Southwest" at Page One Bookstore (SW corner of Montgomery and Juan Tabo), Friday, November 20 at 7 PM. According to Dr. Lekson, much of what we think we know about the Southwest has been compressed into conventions and classifications and orthodoxies. A History of the Ancient Southwest challenges and reconfigures these accepted notions by telling two parallel stories, one about the development, personalities, and institutions of Southwestern archaeology and the other about interpretations of what actually happened in the ancient past.
http://page1book.com/html/events.shtml
- Kiva Mural and Ancient Pigment Expert Paul T. Kay Passes: Paul Tarsus Kay, 70, passed peacefully following a lengthy illness while at Denver Health, Oct. 29, 2009. He was a self-made Anthropologist, Scientist, Researcher, Philosopher, Producer/ Promoter, Advocate of the Fine Arts, House Painter extraordinaire, Good Samaritan and Avid conversationalist.
http://tinyurl.com/yjzao3y - Denver Post
- Lecture Opportunity (Tucson) Randy McGuire will present " Cerros de Trinceras & Warfare in Sonora, Mexico" as part of the monthly meeting of the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society. Tonight, 7:30 PM at the Duval Auditorium, University Medical Center.
- Travelogue - Mesa Verde: The ancient tribes who wandered into southwestern Colorado more than a thousand years ago were no dummies. They looked at the area's big, rugged mesas and decided to live inside them. They built south-facing homes, shielded from the winter's north wind. In the summer, the flat cliff overhangs kept them cool.
http://tinyurl.com/yhrrzku - The Statesman
- Travelouge - Walnut Canyon National Moument: A strong wind blows out of Walnut Canyon, but the day is warm, the clouds are scattered and sunlight burns the mesa tops. A group of students has just crowded into the visitor center and makes its way out the back door and down a trail that leads past an ancient Sinagua Indian village, the main feature of the park.
http://tinyurl.com/y8egnht - Arizona Republic
- Incan Pottery Replication at Stanford: The Spanish invaders told the Inca that the diseases were payback for idolatry. But the Incan priests of the Taki Unquy opposition had their own take: Their people had taken European names, clothes and religion; they had abandoned the native languages for Spanish. The Inca hadn't kept to the old ways – and the ancestors were displeased. So, to propitiate them, indigenous potters began to make small vessels again, just like their ancestors had 40 years earlier, before the 1530s conquest. Half a millennium later and thousands of miles away, Incan vessels were pulled from an alpaca-dung open-air kiln at Stanford this month – as close to the "real thing" as one could reasonably expect to get.
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2009/november9/inca-pottery-replication-111209.html
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Former Museum Director Wants New Laws To Stop Pothunting
Southwestern Archaeology Today, A Service of the Center for Desert Archaeology
- Former Museum Director Calls for New Laws to Thwart Southwestern Looting: Across the Southwest, the illegal excavation of artifacts on public and tribal lands has been hobby, occupation, guilty pleasure and even family tradition. At the turn of the 20th century, metropolitan museums around the world competed to establish collections. Some museums paid locals to dig pots, primarily from ancient Indian burials. Southwest Colorado, southeast Utah and New Mexico — home to the Ancestral Puebloan and Mogollon/Mimbres cultures — are epicenters for pothunting in the Southwest.
http://tinyurl.com/ycy8apr - Grand Junction Sentinel
- New Fee Structure from the Laboratory of Tree Ring Research: On November 1, 2004, the Dendroarchaeology section of the Laboratory of Tree-ring Research implemented its first rate change in more than a decade. This structure allowed principal investigators and project directors to more precisely plan for the costs of dendrochronological analysis. Unfortunately, due to severe university budget cuts and substantially increased health care and university administrative costs, we now find it necessary to revise our rate structure again five years later. We do not take this step lightly, but must increase our rates if we are to survive and remain the only source of archaeological tree-ring dates in the Southwest.
http://www.cdarc.org/sat/trl-fees.doc - MS Word Document.
- Casa Grande National Monument Boundary Expansion Unanimously Supported by Coolidge City Council: After much waiting and anticipation, the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument has seen a step in the right direction concerning a boundary expansion project to further protect the ancient site in its entirety. The Ruins staff and other archaeological site preservationists have been involved in discussions for several years, but have just acquired one imperative step in the right direction — the support of both local councils.
http://tinyurl.com/ybl2kch - Coolidge Examiner
- New Blog at the Center for Desert Archaeology - Rural Heritage Preservation: The rural West is changing. Urban sprawl, recreational development, and economic changes are all contributing to the loss of our rural cultural heritage. This blog is dedicated to increasing awareness of the rural historic heritage of Arizona and New Mexico, and to promoting preservation action that can save these special places of our shared past.
http://www.cdarc.org/what-we-do/current-projects/rural-heritage-preservation/
- Navajo Archaeologist Makes Case for Ancestral Connections to the Ancient Southwest: If Hollywood ever makes a movie about an odd pair of archaeologists investigating the ruins that haunt the Four Corners area of the Southwest, Taft Blackhorse and John Stein could be the real life inspiration. Imagine Blues Brothers crossed with The X-Files. I spent a whirlwind three days with the two Navajo Nation archaeologists in early August, touring Chaco Canyon and other famous archaeological sites in the Four Corners, such as New Mexico's Salmon Ruins and Aztec. Virtually alone among their peers, Blackhorse and Stein argue that the Navajo are connected to these famous sites, and have a deep history in the Four Corners region that stretches back thousands of years.
http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/anasazi_navajo/
- Pecos National Historic Park Renovating Historic Trading Post: Brown and crew will restore the multi-room adobe and pine building to its look from the 1940s and ’50s, when E.E. “Buddy” Fogelson and his actress wife, Greer Garson, used the trading post as headquarters for their Forked Lightning Ranch. The historic character of the building and any usable original materials will be preserved, but it will be upgraded to house administrative offices and a place to greet visitors. “A lot of people see the trading post first, before the visitors center,” said Christine Beekman, chief of interpretation at the park.
http://tinyurl.com/ycw6byl - Santa Fe New Mexican
- Zuni Anthropology Student Using 3D Modeling Technologies in Researching the Ancient Southwest: Daniel Pedro knew when he was a sophomore at Santa Fe Indian School that he wanted to be an anthropologist. He also knew that as a Zuni, he would not be able to touch human remains – a common task for physical anthropologists. “It was kind of a barrier,” said Pedro, a 20-year-old freshman at the University of New Mexico-Gallup. “I had to find a way to work around it.”
http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/national/southwest/65808277.html
- Travelogue - Wupatki National Monument: In the long run maybe it’s good fortune that the Wupatki National Monument northeast of Flagstaff, Arizona resides in relative obscurity, never given a second thought by the millions who race north on 89 to crowd shoulder-to-shoulder and stare into the Grand Canyon. Their loss is our gain because infrequent visitors means peace and quiet out on the wide open desert expanses and allows you to stroll unhurried through the splendidly preserved 800 year-old ruins that once marked a cultural hub, a melting pot of ancient Sinagua and Kayenta Anasazi, and to a lesser extent Cohonina and Hohokam peoples.
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/articles-travel/16609
- Nominations Open for "America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places: America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places has identified more than 200 threatened one-of-a-kind historic treasures since 1988. Whether these sites are urban districts or rural landscapes, Native American landmarks or 20th-century sports arenas, entire communities or single buildings, the list spotlights historic places across America that are threatened by neglect, insufficient funds, inappropriate development or insensitive public policy. The designation has been a powerful tool for raising awareness and rallying resources to save endangered sites from every region of the country. At times, that attention has garnered public support to quickly rescue a treasured landmark; while in other instances, it has been the impetus of a long battle to save an important piece of our history.
http://www.preservationnation.org/issues/11-most-endangered/
- Economic Downturn & Border Conflicts Causing Severe Hardships in Mata Ortiz: (From an SAT subscriber who wishes to stay anonymous) Mata Ortiz is going through some tough times. A family member of Juan Quezada's was murdered recently. People have been abducted. It's terrible. Of course, people are staying away from there in droves, so the artists are not selling much in the village. Ana asked if she could come up here and sell and I'm trying to help her. On Nov 21st from 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM there will be a demonstration and sale in Tucson at Details, Art and Design Gallery at 3001 E. Skyline Drive. Funds from this event will directly benefit the potters of Mata Ortiz.
Thanks to Adrianne Rankin for contributing to today's newsletter.
- Former Museum Director Calls for New Laws to Thwart Southwestern Looting: Across the Southwest, the illegal excavation of artifacts on public and tribal lands has been hobby, occupation, guilty pleasure and even family tradition. At the turn of the 20th century, metropolitan museums around the world competed to establish collections. Some museums paid locals to dig pots, primarily from ancient Indian burials. Southwest Colorado, southeast Utah and New Mexico — home to the Ancestral Puebloan and Mogollon/Mimbres cultures — are epicenters for pothunting in the Southwest.
http://tinyurl.com/ycy8apr - Grand Junction Sentinel
- New Fee Structure from the Laboratory of Tree Ring Research: On November 1, 2004, the Dendroarchaeology section of the Laboratory of Tree-ring Research implemented its first rate change in more than a decade. This structure allowed principal investigators and project directors to more precisely plan for the costs of dendrochronological analysis. Unfortunately, due to severe university budget cuts and substantially increased health care and university administrative costs, we now find it necessary to revise our rate structure again five years later. We do not take this step lightly, but must increase our rates if we are to survive and remain the only source of archaeological tree-ring dates in the Southwest.
http://www.cdarc.org/sat/trl-fees.doc - MS Word Document.
- Casa Grande National Monument Boundary Expansion Unanimously Supported by Coolidge City Council: After much waiting and anticipation, the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument has seen a step in the right direction concerning a boundary expansion project to further protect the ancient site in its entirety. The Ruins staff and other archaeological site preservationists have been involved in discussions for several years, but have just acquired one imperative step in the right direction — the support of both local councils.
http://tinyurl.com/ybl2kch - Coolidge Examiner
- New Blog at the Center for Desert Archaeology - Rural Heritage Preservation: The rural West is changing. Urban sprawl, recreational development, and economic changes are all contributing to the loss of our rural cultural heritage. This blog is dedicated to increasing awareness of the rural historic heritage of Arizona and New Mexico, and to promoting preservation action that can save these special places of our shared past.
http://www.cdarc.org/what-we-do/current-projects/rural-heritage-preservation/
- Navajo Archaeologist Makes Case for Ancestral Connections to the Ancient Southwest: If Hollywood ever makes a movie about an odd pair of archaeologists investigating the ruins that haunt the Four Corners area of the Southwest, Taft Blackhorse and John Stein could be the real life inspiration. Imagine Blues Brothers crossed with The X-Files. I spent a whirlwind three days with the two Navajo Nation archaeologists in early August, touring Chaco Canyon and other famous archaeological sites in the Four Corners, such as New Mexico's Salmon Ruins and Aztec. Virtually alone among their peers, Blackhorse and Stein argue that the Navajo are connected to these famous sites, and have a deep history in the Four Corners region that stretches back thousands of years.
http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/anasazi_navajo/
- Pecos National Historic Park Renovating Historic Trading Post: Brown and crew will restore the multi-room adobe and pine building to its look from the 1940s and ’50s, when E.E. “Buddy” Fogelson and his actress wife, Greer Garson, used the trading post as headquarters for their Forked Lightning Ranch. The historic character of the building and any usable original materials will be preserved, but it will be upgraded to house administrative offices and a place to greet visitors. “A lot of people see the trading post first, before the visitors center,” said Christine Beekman, chief of interpretation at the park.
http://tinyurl.com/ycw6byl - Santa Fe New Mexican
- Zuni Anthropology Student Using 3D Modeling Technologies in Researching the Ancient Southwest: Daniel Pedro knew when he was a sophomore at Santa Fe Indian School that he wanted to be an anthropologist. He also knew that as a Zuni, he would not be able to touch human remains – a common task for physical anthropologists. “It was kind of a barrier,” said Pedro, a 20-year-old freshman at the University of New Mexico-Gallup. “I had to find a way to work around it.”
http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/national/southwest/65808277.html
- Travelogue - Wupatki National Monument: In the long run maybe it’s good fortune that the Wupatki National Monument northeast of Flagstaff, Arizona resides in relative obscurity, never given a second thought by the millions who race north on 89 to crowd shoulder-to-shoulder and stare into the Grand Canyon. Their loss is our gain because infrequent visitors means peace and quiet out on the wide open desert expanses and allows you to stroll unhurried through the splendidly preserved 800 year-old ruins that once marked a cultural hub, a melting pot of ancient Sinagua and Kayenta Anasazi, and to a lesser extent Cohonina and Hohokam peoples.
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/articles-travel/16609
- Nominations Open for "America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places: America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places has identified more than 200 threatened one-of-a-kind historic treasures since 1988. Whether these sites are urban districts or rural landscapes, Native American landmarks or 20th-century sports arenas, entire communities or single buildings, the list spotlights historic places across America that are threatened by neglect, insufficient funds, inappropriate development or insensitive public policy. The designation has been a powerful tool for raising awareness and rallying resources to save endangered sites from every region of the country. At times, that attention has garnered public support to quickly rescue a treasured landmark; while in other instances, it has been the impetus of a long battle to save an important piece of our history.
http://www.preservationnation.org/issues/11-most-endangered/
- Economic Downturn & Border Conflicts Causing Severe Hardships in Mata Ortiz: (From an SAT subscriber who wishes to stay anonymous) Mata Ortiz is going through some tough times. A family member of Juan Quezada's was murdered recently. People have been abducted. It's terrible. Of course, people are staying away from there in droves, so the artists are not selling much in the village. Ana asked if she could come up here and sell and I'm trying to help her. On Nov 21st from 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM there will be a demonstration and sale in Tucson at Details, Art and Design Gallery at 3001 E. Skyline Drive. Funds from this event will directly benefit the potters of Mata Ortiz.
Thanks to Adrianne Rankin for contributing to today's newsletter.
Friday, November 6, 2009
November Declared National Native American Heritage Month
Southwestern Archaeology Making the News - A Service of the Center for Desert Archaeology
- November Declared National Native American Heritage Month: The indigenous peoples of North America -- the First Americans -- have woven rich and diverse threads into the tapestry of our Nation's heritage. Throughout their long history on this great land, they have faced moments of profound triumph and tragedy alike. During National Native American Heritage Month, we recognize their many accomplishments, contributions, and sacrifices, and we pay tribute to their participation in all aspects of American society.
http://tinyurl.com/yj8no45 - The White House
- Inaugural Don D. and Catherine S. Fowler Book Prize Announced October 28, 2009: Congratulations to Phil R. Geib for having his forthcoming monograph An Archaeological Transect Across the Northern Kayenta Region: Excavations Along the Navajo Mountain Road selected as the inaugural winner of the Don D. and Catherine S. Fowler Prize. Described as a “tour de force” by Don Fowler, Geib’s work uses the excavation of thirty-three archaeological sites as an informative cross-section of prehistory from which Navajo Nation archaeologists have retrieved a wealth of information about subsistence, settlement, architecture, and other aspects of past lifeways. Phil R. Geib is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of New Mexico. He has worked for the NAU Anthropology Laboratory, the Navajo Nation Archaeology Department, and directed a sample survey of the Kaiparowits Plateau. The Don D. and Catherine S. Fowler Book Prize, a $3,000 cash award, will be awarded annually to one book-length monograph in anthropology submitted for publication to the University of Utah Press.
http://tinyurl.com/yf85o8n - U of U Press.
- Call for Papers - Museum Anthropology: Looking Back, Looking Forward: NAGPRA after Two Decades - A special issue of Museum Anthropology. In 1990, the United States Congress passed the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), thereby forever altering museum collections and exhibits, and the relationship between museums and Native American communities. In this special thematic issue of Museum Anthropology, we are seeking innovative studies of NAGPRA's impacts, brief reflections and commentaries, and analyses that investigate the trends of the last two decades and anticipate what is still to come. Particularly welcomed are papers that evaluate whether NAGPRA has led to the kind of spiritual healing that it was intended to facilitate, or whether it has opened old wounds (or made new ones). Viewpoints are encouraged from Native Americans, tribal representatives, museum professionals, federal employees, lawyers, archaeologists, physical anthropologists, and other academic scholars. New deadline: february 1, 2010. The top peer-reviewed comments and articles will be published in the fall of 2010 (vol. 33, n. 2). Initial submissions should not exceed 8,000 words including notes, tables, and references. Inquiries and manuscripts should be sent via email to muaeditor@gmail.com.
- DeSoto Campsite Located in Georgia: An archaeologist says excavations in southern Georgia have turned up beads, metal tools and other artifacts that may pinpoint part of the elusive trail of the 16th-century Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto. Dennis Blanton of the Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta was scheduled to present his findings Thursday to the Southeastern Archaeological Conference in Mobile, Ala.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=9005055
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091105084838.htm
- Archaeology of Santa Fe is the Topic of Special Symposium: Beginning about 1,500 years ago, small groups started staying long enough to plant, cultivate and harvest corn. And 700 years ago, during a period of hard times, they began to build fortified villages, including one on the north side of the Santa Fe River and another to the south along the Arroyo Hondo. These are some of the things archaeologists have learned about the history of the area from excavations in recent decades in downtown Santa Fe and other parts of the region. On Saturday from 1 to 5:30 p.m., these findings will be the subject of a symposium titled "Beneath the City Different: The Archaeology of Santa Fe," sponsored by the School for Advanced Research and Friends of Archaeology with support by the Old Santa Fe Association.
http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/Sifting-through-Santa-Fe-s-past
- Richard Moe Retires from National Trust for Historic Preservation, Intends to Continue Fight to Preserve Ancient Southwestern Sites: Richard Moe — the national force who brought the Valley Floor crusade to the country’s attention — retired on Tuesday from his post as president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington, D.C. Moe said he plans to continue to serve that board in his retirement, in addition to continuing his efforts to defend the Canyons of the Ancients, an Anasazi heritage site about 26 miles west of Cortez near the Utah border.
http://www.telluridenews.com/articles/2009/11/03/news/doc4af10aa2e48f4964870778.txt
- Lecture Opportunity (Albuquerque): Dr Stephen Plog will present " Chaco in 1896: The Golden Gate to Eldorado" at the Tuesday, November 17, 2009 meeting of the Albuquerque Archaeological Society. The meeting will be held at 7:30 PM at the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History, 2000 Mountain Road NW.
- Free Day for Veterans in National Parks: Veterans get Fee Free Day at National Parks, Refuges, and Other Interior Lands: To honor America’s service men and women, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced that areas managed by the department will not charge entrance fees on Wednesday, November 11, 2009. Visitors to public recreation lands managed by the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Reclamation are invited to take a day to honor and reflect on what our service men and women have done to maintain our freedom and keep peace around the world, Salazar said. The Department of Agriculture also is waiving entrance fees at its national forests.
- Cultural Resource Management and Archaeological Practice in Brazil is the Next Feature on the Archaeology Channel: Many countries around the world now take seriously the need to manage and protect their cultural heritage. An infrastructure project in Brazil shows how that country is discovering, investigating and protecting its archaeological sites, as seen in Archaeology in Taguatinga Valley, the latest video feature on our nonprofit streaming-media Web site, The Archaeology Channel.
http://www.archaeologychannel.org
Thanks to Carrie Gregory and Larry Kim for contributing to today's newsletter
- November Declared National Native American Heritage Month: The indigenous peoples of North America -- the First Americans -- have woven rich and diverse threads into the tapestry of our Nation's heritage. Throughout their long history on this great land, they have faced moments of profound triumph and tragedy alike. During National Native American Heritage Month, we recognize their many accomplishments, contributions, and sacrifices, and we pay tribute to their participation in all aspects of American society.
http://tinyurl.com/yj8no45 - The White House
- Inaugural Don D. and Catherine S. Fowler Book Prize Announced October 28, 2009: Congratulations to Phil R. Geib for having his forthcoming monograph An Archaeological Transect Across the Northern Kayenta Region: Excavations Along the Navajo Mountain Road selected as the inaugural winner of the Don D. and Catherine S. Fowler Prize. Described as a “tour de force” by Don Fowler, Geib’s work uses the excavation of thirty-three archaeological sites as an informative cross-section of prehistory from which Navajo Nation archaeologists have retrieved a wealth of information about subsistence, settlement, architecture, and other aspects of past lifeways. Phil R. Geib is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of New Mexico. He has worked for the NAU Anthropology Laboratory, the Navajo Nation Archaeology Department, and directed a sample survey of the Kaiparowits Plateau. The Don D. and Catherine S. Fowler Book Prize, a $3,000 cash award, will be awarded annually to one book-length monograph in anthropology submitted for publication to the University of Utah Press.
http://tinyurl.com/yf85o8n - U of U Press.
- Call for Papers - Museum Anthropology: Looking Back, Looking Forward: NAGPRA after Two Decades - A special issue of Museum Anthropology. In 1990, the United States Congress passed the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), thereby forever altering museum collections and exhibits, and the relationship between museums and Native American communities. In this special thematic issue of Museum Anthropology, we are seeking innovative studies of NAGPRA's impacts, brief reflections and commentaries, and analyses that investigate the trends of the last two decades and anticipate what is still to come. Particularly welcomed are papers that evaluate whether NAGPRA has led to the kind of spiritual healing that it was intended to facilitate, or whether it has opened old wounds (or made new ones). Viewpoints are encouraged from Native Americans, tribal representatives, museum professionals, federal employees, lawyers, archaeologists, physical anthropologists, and other academic scholars. New deadline: february 1, 2010. The top peer-reviewed comments and articles will be published in the fall of 2010 (vol. 33, n. 2). Initial submissions should not exceed 8,000 words including notes, tables, and references. Inquiries and manuscripts should be sent via email to muaeditor@gmail.com.
- DeSoto Campsite Located in Georgia: An archaeologist says excavations in southern Georgia have turned up beads, metal tools and other artifacts that may pinpoint part of the elusive trail of the 16th-century Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto. Dennis Blanton of the Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta was scheduled to present his findings Thursday to the Southeastern Archaeological Conference in Mobile, Ala.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=9005055
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091105084838.htm
- Archaeology of Santa Fe is the Topic of Special Symposium: Beginning about 1,500 years ago, small groups started staying long enough to plant, cultivate and harvest corn. And 700 years ago, during a period of hard times, they began to build fortified villages, including one on the north side of the Santa Fe River and another to the south along the Arroyo Hondo. These are some of the things archaeologists have learned about the history of the area from excavations in recent decades in downtown Santa Fe and other parts of the region. On Saturday from 1 to 5:30 p.m., these findings will be the subject of a symposium titled "Beneath the City Different: The Archaeology of Santa Fe," sponsored by the School for Advanced Research and Friends of Archaeology with support by the Old Santa Fe Association.
http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/Sifting-through-Santa-Fe-s-past
- Richard Moe Retires from National Trust for Historic Preservation, Intends to Continue Fight to Preserve Ancient Southwestern Sites: Richard Moe — the national force who brought the Valley Floor crusade to the country’s attention — retired on Tuesday from his post as president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington, D.C. Moe said he plans to continue to serve that board in his retirement, in addition to continuing his efforts to defend the Canyons of the Ancients, an Anasazi heritage site about 26 miles west of Cortez near the Utah border.
http://www.telluridenews.com/articles/2009/11/03/news/doc4af10aa2e48f4964870778.txt
- Lecture Opportunity (Albuquerque): Dr Stephen Plog will present " Chaco in 1896: The Golden Gate to Eldorado" at the Tuesday, November 17, 2009 meeting of the Albuquerque Archaeological Society. The meeting will be held at 7:30 PM at the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History, 2000 Mountain Road NW.
- Free Day for Veterans in National Parks: Veterans get Fee Free Day at National Parks, Refuges, and Other Interior Lands: To honor America’s service men and women, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced that areas managed by the department will not charge entrance fees on Wednesday, November 11, 2009. Visitors to public recreation lands managed by the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Reclamation are invited to take a day to honor and reflect on what our service men and women have done to maintain our freedom and keep peace around the world, Salazar said. The Department of Agriculture also is waiving entrance fees at its national forests.
- Cultural Resource Management and Archaeological Practice in Brazil is the Next Feature on the Archaeology Channel: Many countries around the world now take seriously the need to manage and protect their cultural heritage. An infrastructure project in Brazil shows how that country is discovering, investigating and protecting its archaeological sites, as seen in Archaeology in Taguatinga Valley, the latest video feature on our nonprofit streaming-media Web site, The Archaeology Channel.
http://www.archaeologychannel.org
Thanks to Carrie Gregory and Larry Kim for contributing to today's newsletter
Monday, November 2, 2009
Archaeoastronomy and Kivas
Southwestern Archaeology Making the News - A Service of the Center for Desert Archaeology
- Ohio Art Professor Studies Achaeoastronomy Links to Ancient Kivas in Southeastern Utah: Jim Krehbiel was up past midnight making a piece of art by layering maps and field notes onto photos he had taken of an ancient ritual site high on a cliff ledge in the desert Southwest. He looked at the image of the kiva and remembered how the ruins were nearly inaccessible. Krehbiel had to lower himself on a rope to reach them. Why, he wondered that night in the fall of 2007, would anyone build something so important in such a remote spot among the canyons and mesas?
http://tinyurl.com/yl4xeaz - Ohio Dispatch
- Retiring Mesa Verde Superintendent Highlights the Past and Future of the National Park: The local impacts of the new Mesa Verde visitors center topped the Mesa Verde National Park superintendent's final speech. The retiring Larry Wiese told the Cortez Chamber of Commerce he had come full circle since he delivered his first presentation as Mesa Verde's superintendent 16 years ago. "It really does feel right to come full circle. The timing is right to hand things off," he said, adding the visitor center is a go as soon as the president signs this year's national budget bill. Wiese said besides housing 3 million objects that have not had room to be displayed, the center will provide information designed to point tourists to Cortez, Dolores, Mancos and Montezuma County archeological attractions.
http://tinyurl.com/yfxezlv - Durango Herald
- Apache Nations Requests Review of National Park Service Practice in Regards to NAGPRA: A group of Apache historic preservation officers is alleging that the National Park Service is improperly implementing the Native American Graves and Repatriation Act. In a letter sent to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar in September, the Western NAGPRA working group said the NPS is allowing improper cataloguing of sacred and holy tribal items. The working group is composed of NAGPRA representatives from the San Carlos Apache Tribe, the White Mountain Apache Tribe, the Tonto Apache Tribe, and the Yavapai-Apache Nation.
http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/home/content/67566957.html
- Social Inequality Found to Have Ancient Origins: he so-called “silver spoon” effect -- in which wealth is passed down from one generation to another -- is well established in some of the world’s most ancient economies, according to an international study coordinated by a UC Davis anthropologist. The study, to be reported in the Oct. 30 issue of Science, expands economists’ conventional focus on material riches, and looks at various kinds of wealth, such as hunting success, food-sharing partners and kinship networks. The team found that some kinds of wealth, like material possessions, are much more easily passed on than social networks or foraging abilities. Societies where material wealth is most valued are therefore the most unequal, said Monique Borgerhoff Mulder, the UC Davis anthropology professor who coordinated the study with economist Samuel Bowles of the Santa Fe Institute.
http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=9291
Thanks to Terry Colvin and Adrianne Rankin for contributing to today's newsletter.
- Ohio Art Professor Studies Achaeoastronomy Links to Ancient Kivas in Southeastern Utah: Jim Krehbiel was up past midnight making a piece of art by layering maps and field notes onto photos he had taken of an ancient ritual site high on a cliff ledge in the desert Southwest. He looked at the image of the kiva and remembered how the ruins were nearly inaccessible. Krehbiel had to lower himself on a rope to reach them. Why, he wondered that night in the fall of 2007, would anyone build something so important in such a remote spot among the canyons and mesas?
http://tinyurl.com/yl4xeaz - Ohio Dispatch
- Retiring Mesa Verde Superintendent Highlights the Past and Future of the National Park: The local impacts of the new Mesa Verde visitors center topped the Mesa Verde National Park superintendent's final speech. The retiring Larry Wiese told the Cortez Chamber of Commerce he had come full circle since he delivered his first presentation as Mesa Verde's superintendent 16 years ago. "It really does feel right to come full circle. The timing is right to hand things off," he said, adding the visitor center is a go as soon as the president signs this year's national budget bill. Wiese said besides housing 3 million objects that have not had room to be displayed, the center will provide information designed to point tourists to Cortez, Dolores, Mancos and Montezuma County archeological attractions.
http://tinyurl.com/yfxezlv - Durango Herald
- Apache Nations Requests Review of National Park Service Practice in Regards to NAGPRA: A group of Apache historic preservation officers is alleging that the National Park Service is improperly implementing the Native American Graves and Repatriation Act. In a letter sent to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar in September, the Western NAGPRA working group said the NPS is allowing improper cataloguing of sacred and holy tribal items. The working group is composed of NAGPRA representatives from the San Carlos Apache Tribe, the White Mountain Apache Tribe, the Tonto Apache Tribe, and the Yavapai-Apache Nation.
http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/home/content/67566957.html
- Social Inequality Found to Have Ancient Origins: he so-called “silver spoon” effect -- in which wealth is passed down from one generation to another -- is well established in some of the world’s most ancient economies, according to an international study coordinated by a UC Davis anthropologist. The study, to be reported in the Oct. 30 issue of Science, expands economists’ conventional focus on material riches, and looks at various kinds of wealth, such as hunting success, food-sharing partners and kinship networks. The team found that some kinds of wealth, like material possessions, are much more easily passed on than social networks or foraging abilities. Societies where material wealth is most valued are therefore the most unequal, said Monique Borgerhoff Mulder, the UC Davis anthropology professor who coordinated the study with economist Samuel Bowles of the Santa Fe Institute.
http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=9291
Thanks to Terry Colvin and Adrianne Rankin for contributing to today's newsletter.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Theory on Possible Clovis-Era Comet Impact Discounted
Southwestern Archaeology Making the News - A Service of the Center for Desert Archaeology
- Archaeologists Discount Possibility of Clovis-Era Comet Impact: A comet impact didn't set off a 1,300-year cold snap that wiped out most life in North America about 12,900 years ago, scientists say. Though no one disputes the occurrence of the frigid period, known as the Younger Dryas, more and more researchers have been unable to confirm a 2007 finding that says a collision triggered the change. Nicholas Pinter, a geologist at Southern Illinois University, argued that black mats described as charcoal in the 2007 research weren't actually charcoal. Instead they were from ancient, dark soil formed in a long-ago wetland, Pinter said.
http://tinyurl.com/yzk7zk4 - National Geographic
- University of Vermont Studies at Fourmile Ruin: If you thought digging in the dirt stopped being a suitable summer activity in sixth grade, think again. For four weeks this July, seven UVM undergrads and two teaching assistants joined Scott Van Keuren, assistant professor of anthropology, on an excavation at Fourmile Ruin, the largest Ancestral Pueblo, or Anasazi village, in Eastern Arizona.
http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/?Page=News&storyID=15310
- Arizona Book Sale Offering Some Very Special Items to Benefit the Arizona State Museum Anthropology Library: "You can't read this book without thinking of people" wrote one reviewer of Anna Sherpard's "Ceramics for the Archaeologist." A first edition of that book, once owned by Emil Haury, sold this past weekend at the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society's used book sale. The sale continues! We have books once owned by Emil Haury and other Southwest legends for sale and silent auction. Here's a small sample: Reeve Ruin, Kiva Murals, Medallion Papers, Old Orabi, Swartz Ruin, Amerind Series, Pendleton Ruin, Excavation of Hawikuh, Red-on-buff Culture of the Gila Basin, Roosevelt:9:6, and many, many more. Missing an issue of Kiva or American Antiquity? We have some. The sale also includes other individually priced items with an emphasis on the archaeology and anthropology of the Southwest, Mexico, and South America. Sale will be held Saturday, Oct 31 at the Arizona State Museum, 9am - 12 pm.
- Anza Days Riders in Nogales Honor Historic Spanish Expedition to Found San Francisco: Horses clopped down Morley Avenue on Saturday, carrying riders dressed to recall the journey of Juan Bautista de Anza and his soldiers and settlers from Sonora to San Francisco in 1775-1776. It was the first Anza Day parade in Nogales and the number of riders fell short of what organizers had anticipated. But they traveled a paved stretch of the national historic trail that was dedicated only a year ago on Oct. 11, 2008.
http://tinyurl.com/yjnruvy - Nogales International
- Archaeologists Discount Possibility of Clovis-Era Comet Impact: A comet impact didn't set off a 1,300-year cold snap that wiped out most life in North America about 12,900 years ago, scientists say. Though no one disputes the occurrence of the frigid period, known as the Younger Dryas, more and more researchers have been unable to confirm a 2007 finding that says a collision triggered the change. Nicholas Pinter, a geologist at Southern Illinois University, argued that black mats described as charcoal in the 2007 research weren't actually charcoal. Instead they were from ancient, dark soil formed in a long-ago wetland, Pinter said.
http://tinyurl.com/yzk7zk4 - National Geographic
- University of Vermont Studies at Fourmile Ruin: If you thought digging in the dirt stopped being a suitable summer activity in sixth grade, think again. For four weeks this July, seven UVM undergrads and two teaching assistants joined Scott Van Keuren, assistant professor of anthropology, on an excavation at Fourmile Ruin, the largest Ancestral Pueblo, or Anasazi village, in Eastern Arizona.
http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/?Page=News&storyID=15310
- Arizona Book Sale Offering Some Very Special Items to Benefit the Arizona State Museum Anthropology Library: "You can't read this book without thinking of people" wrote one reviewer of Anna Sherpard's "Ceramics for the Archaeologist." A first edition of that book, once owned by Emil Haury, sold this past weekend at the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society's used book sale. The sale continues! We have books once owned by Emil Haury and other Southwest legends for sale and silent auction. Here's a small sample: Reeve Ruin, Kiva Murals, Medallion Papers, Old Orabi, Swartz Ruin, Amerind Series, Pendleton Ruin, Excavation of Hawikuh, Red-on-buff Culture of the Gila Basin, Roosevelt:9:6, and many, many more. Missing an issue of Kiva or American Antiquity? We have some. The sale also includes other individually priced items with an emphasis on the archaeology and anthropology of the Southwest, Mexico, and South America. Sale will be held Saturday, Oct 31 at the Arizona State Museum, 9am - 12 pm.
- Anza Days Riders in Nogales Honor Historic Spanish Expedition to Found San Francisco: Horses clopped down Morley Avenue on Saturday, carrying riders dressed to recall the journey of Juan Bautista de Anza and his soldiers and settlers from Sonora to San Francisco in 1775-1776. It was the first Anza Day parade in Nogales and the number of riders fell short of what organizers had anticipated. But they traveled a paved stretch of the national historic trail that was dedicated only a year ago on Oct. 11, 2008.
http://tinyurl.com/yjnruvy - Nogales International
Monday, October 26, 2009
Hopi Artists Michael Kabotie Passes
Southwestern Archaeology Making the News - A Service of the Center for Desert Archaeology
- Michael Kabotie Passes: A famous northeastern Arizona artist from the Hopi tribe has died in Flagstaff from complications of the H1N1 flu. Michael Kabotie passed away on Friday at the Flagstaff Medical Center. The 67-year-old was a renowned painter silversmith and poet. Among his many artist creations is a a gate that looks like a piece of overlay jewelry at the Heard Museum in Phoenix.
http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/33044/michael-kabotie-hopi-painter-has-died/
- Historic Ranch in McElmo Canyon Divided, Subdivided, and then Auctioned Away: How did this happen? Seven thousand acres of ground — the desert part replete with pristine Anasazi ruins, the mountain land set deep in the National Forest — on the auction block, in an absolute sale. Twenty-one weathered patches in this quilt begun in the 1880s, one faded piece at a time. Sometimes a brighter patch would replace a worn one, but the quilt was never diminished in either size or quality.
http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_13621750
- Tucson Suburb Seeks to Preserve Heritage Sites: Now 35 years old, Oro Valley wants residents to help the town explore its historical roots. The town is in the early phases of doing an inventory of its cultural resources with an eye toward protecting significant landmarks. "There's history that goes back decades and decades and we're just beginning to recognize that," said Paul Popelka, the town's Planning and Zoning acting director.
http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/314044
- Navajo Nation Examines Prospect of Purchasing Snowbowl: The Navajo Nation may try to buy a popular Arizona ski resort to stop snowmaking on one of the tribe’s most sacred mountains, the San Francisco Peaks. The Navajo Nation Council voted Wednesday to consider legislation that would allow the tribe to secure an appraisal and negotiate with the partners who own the Arizona Snowbowl outside Flagstaff.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/c0ua - Durango Herald
- BLM "Walking With Ancestors" Tour Of El Malpais Examines Chacoan Connections: How Chacoan was this valley? Downtown Chaco is today only 90 miles away by car… on a mud-free day. Were Chaco refugees and Mogollon influences closer? Alfred Dittert excavated and believed earlier construction happened during Chaco heydays. Dittert Site tree ring dates cluster from 1221 to 1279 with very few later. Is a great drought like then about to hammer us now? How did the ancients cope? How do we? BLM’s El Malpais National Conservation Area presents part 3 of its Fall 2009 Series, “Walking with the Ancestors”. Walk to the 37 room plus 1 round room, 2 story Dittert Site on Saturday, November 14th, 2009. Search for the elusive great kiva. Meet at the BLM ranger station on State Road 117 at 10:00 AM. Drive 28 miles (4X4 recommended) to the wilderness boundary. Hike 3 miles round trip. Rise 100 feet. See the beauty. Feel the mystery. Enjoy the company. 505.280.2918
- Lecture Opportunity (Blanding): "We Shall Remain - The Utah Voices" Today, the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah is engaged in the long, slow climb back from near destruction by the invasion of European settlers and Mormon Pioneers. By the early 1900s, their numbers, once in the thousands, dwindled to less than 800. On Thursday evening, October 29th at 6:30 pm, the Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum will present, “The Paiute,” the second part in the “ We Shall Remain: Utah Voices” series. The free program is funded by the Utah Humanities Council. The evening will begin with the viewing of the half-hour long documentary, The Paiute. Following the documentary, Shanan Martineau, who is the Cultural Resource Manager for the Shivwits Paiute Band, will lead the discussion about critical events in Utah Paiute history. The audience is encouraged to participate in the discussion and to ask questions.
http://www.utah.com/stateparks/edge_of_cedars.htm
- Lecture Opportunity (Albuquerque): Thursday, Nov. 12, 7:00 pm, in room Hibben 105, Eric Blinman will present “Archaeological Myths: New/Old Perspectives on Puebloan Migrations.” Archaeological perspectives on the history of the Northern Southwest have been shaped by two interrelated beliefs that may not be true. The first is the archaeological belief that modern Pueblo peoples, as a whole, are descendant from the ancient population known as the Four Corners Anasazi. The second is the anthropological belief that the variety expressed in modern Pueblo culture (when we bother to think about it) is a consequence of the past 400 years of acculturation piled onto another 400 years of response to the climate crises of the 13th century. These two perspectives have had strong but almost subliminal roles in shaping our reconstructions of Southwestern culture history, and they may have led us astray. The "real" story of Puebloan history may be simpler than we think. Museum stays open until 6:45.
- Lecture Opportunity (Tubac): Specialized Hohokam Villages are Topic of Santa Cruz Valley AAS Program November 12th. Archaeologist Matthew Pailes will give a presentation to the Santa Cruz Valley Chapter of the Arizona Archaeological Society on November 12, 2009, 7 PM, at the North County Facility at 50 Bridge Road in Tubac. His topic will be Cerros de Trincheras (“entrenched mountains”), a specialized type of Hohokam village found in the Santa Cruz river basin starting about 1300 AD. The presentation is free and open to the public.
- Advisory Council on Historic Preservation Publishes 2010 Course Schedule: The only Section 106 course taught by the federal agency responsible for administering the National Historic Preservation Act’s Section 106 review process, this two-day course is designed for those who are new to federal historic preservation compliance or those who want a refresher on the Section 106 regulations and review process.
http://www.achp.gov/106essentials.html
http://www.achp.gov/106advanced.html
Thanks to Gerald Kelso and Rebecca Stoneman for contributing to today's newsletter.
- Michael Kabotie Passes: A famous northeastern Arizona artist from the Hopi tribe has died in Flagstaff from complications of the H1N1 flu. Michael Kabotie passed away on Friday at the Flagstaff Medical Center. The 67-year-old was a renowned painter silversmith and poet. Among his many artist creations is a a gate that looks like a piece of overlay jewelry at the Heard Museum in Phoenix.
http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/33044/michael-kabotie-hopi-painter-has-died/
- Historic Ranch in McElmo Canyon Divided, Subdivided, and then Auctioned Away: How did this happen? Seven thousand acres of ground — the desert part replete with pristine Anasazi ruins, the mountain land set deep in the National Forest — on the auction block, in an absolute sale. Twenty-one weathered patches in this quilt begun in the 1880s, one faded piece at a time. Sometimes a brighter patch would replace a worn one, but the quilt was never diminished in either size or quality.
http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_13621750
- Tucson Suburb Seeks to Preserve Heritage Sites: Now 35 years old, Oro Valley wants residents to help the town explore its historical roots. The town is in the early phases of doing an inventory of its cultural resources with an eye toward protecting significant landmarks. "There's history that goes back decades and decades and we're just beginning to recognize that," said Paul Popelka, the town's Planning and Zoning acting director.
http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/314044
- Navajo Nation Examines Prospect of Purchasing Snowbowl: The Navajo Nation may try to buy a popular Arizona ski resort to stop snowmaking on one of the tribe’s most sacred mountains, the San Francisco Peaks. The Navajo Nation Council voted Wednesday to consider legislation that would allow the tribe to secure an appraisal and negotiate with the partners who own the Arizona Snowbowl outside Flagstaff.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/c0ua - Durango Herald
- BLM "Walking With Ancestors" Tour Of El Malpais Examines Chacoan Connections: How Chacoan was this valley? Downtown Chaco is today only 90 miles away by car… on a mud-free day. Were Chaco refugees and Mogollon influences closer? Alfred Dittert excavated and believed earlier construction happened during Chaco heydays. Dittert Site tree ring dates cluster from 1221 to 1279 with very few later. Is a great drought like then about to hammer us now? How did the ancients cope? How do we? BLM’s El Malpais National Conservation Area presents part 3 of its Fall 2009 Series, “Walking with the Ancestors”. Walk to the 37 room plus 1 round room, 2 story Dittert Site on Saturday, November 14th, 2009. Search for the elusive great kiva. Meet at the BLM ranger station on State Road 117 at 10:00 AM. Drive 28 miles (4X4 recommended) to the wilderness boundary. Hike 3 miles round trip. Rise 100 feet. See the beauty. Feel the mystery. Enjoy the company. 505.280.2918
- Lecture Opportunity (Blanding): "We Shall Remain - The Utah Voices" Today, the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah is engaged in the long, slow climb back from near destruction by the invasion of European settlers and Mormon Pioneers. By the early 1900s, their numbers, once in the thousands, dwindled to less than 800. On Thursday evening, October 29th at 6:30 pm, the Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum will present, “The Paiute,” the second part in the “ We Shall Remain: Utah Voices” series. The free program is funded by the Utah Humanities Council. The evening will begin with the viewing of the half-hour long documentary, The Paiute. Following the documentary, Shanan Martineau, who is the Cultural Resource Manager for the Shivwits Paiute Band, will lead the discussion about critical events in Utah Paiute history. The audience is encouraged to participate in the discussion and to ask questions.
http://www.utah.com/stateparks/edge_of_cedars.htm
- Lecture Opportunity (Albuquerque): Thursday, Nov. 12, 7:00 pm, in room Hibben 105, Eric Blinman will present “Archaeological Myths: New/Old Perspectives on Puebloan Migrations.” Archaeological perspectives on the history of the Northern Southwest have been shaped by two interrelated beliefs that may not be true. The first is the archaeological belief that modern Pueblo peoples, as a whole, are descendant from the ancient population known as the Four Corners Anasazi. The second is the anthropological belief that the variety expressed in modern Pueblo culture (when we bother to think about it) is a consequence of the past 400 years of acculturation piled onto another 400 years of response to the climate crises of the 13th century. These two perspectives have had strong but almost subliminal roles in shaping our reconstructions of Southwestern culture history, and they may have led us astray. The "real" story of Puebloan history may be simpler than we think. Museum stays open until 6:45.
- Lecture Opportunity (Tubac): Specialized Hohokam Villages are Topic of Santa Cruz Valley AAS Program November 12th. Archaeologist Matthew Pailes will give a presentation to the Santa Cruz Valley Chapter of the Arizona Archaeological Society on November 12, 2009, 7 PM, at the North County Facility at 50 Bridge Road in Tubac. His topic will be Cerros de Trincheras (“entrenched mountains”), a specialized type of Hohokam village found in the Santa Cruz river basin starting about 1300 AD. The presentation is free and open to the public.
- Advisory Council on Historic Preservation Publishes 2010 Course Schedule: The only Section 106 course taught by the federal agency responsible for administering the National Historic Preservation Act’s Section 106 review process, this two-day course is designed for those who are new to federal historic preservation compliance or those who want a refresher on the Section 106 regulations and review process.
http://www.achp.gov/106essentials.html
http://www.achp.gov/106advanced.html
Thanks to Gerald Kelso and Rebecca Stoneman for contributing to today's newsletter.
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