Replanting Stolen Petroglyphs, Utah Protects Sites from ATV's, Western Symposium at Sharlot Hall

Southwestern Archaeology Making the News - A Service of the Center for Desert Archaeology

- "Replanting" Stolen Petroglyphs: U.S. Forest Service officials never believed John Ligon’s claim that he dug up three boulders etched with American Indian petroglyphs four years ago to put them in his front yard for safekeeping. Now, after initially thinking it was best to place them in a state museum, the agency — in consultation with local tribal leaders — has decided to return them to the mountainside where they were for perhaps as long as 1,000 years before they were disturbed.
http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/68207.html

- Utah Canyon Closed to ATV's in Order to Protect Ancient Sites: All-terrain vehicle riders have done so much damage to a canyon near Bluff that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management has closed it indefinitely to motorized travel to protect 800-year-old Anasazi ruins. Nick Sandberg, acting BLM Monticello field office manager, said Wednesday that as of today, motorized vehicles would be banned from 1,871 acres of Recapture Canyon just below the Recapture Dam near Blanding.
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_6879463

- Western History Symposium in Prescott: You are invited to a full day of fascinating talks about the history of Prescott, Yavapai County, and Arizona. This symposium is free of charge, cosponsored by the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Prescott Corral of Westerners Intl., with cooperation from the Skull Valley and Prescott Valley Historical Societies and the Arizona Rough Riders Historical Association. This fascinating day starts at 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on October 13, 2007. Programs will be held in the Museum Center Blue Rose Theater and the Granite Creek Center. An example of the topice to be covered would be "Shady Women and Respectability" presented by Ann Hibner Koblitz, "Filming the West of Zane Grey" by Ed Hulse, "Arizona in the Civil War" by Al Bates.

- National Public Lands Day Provides Free Admission to National Parks: All National Park Service sites, including Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, will offer free visitor admission on September 29 for National Public Lands Day. In addition to waiving entrance fees, many national parks and other public lands will host special programs and volunteer work parties to commemorate the 14th annual event. Anyone who volunteers on National Public Lands Day will receive a free one day pass valid for future use at any National Park Service site.
http://www.publiclandsday.org

- Archaeology as Necessary Science: Cal Day brings over 35,000 community members to the Berkeley campus every April. On Cal Day, the Archaeological Research Facility building echoes with the sounds of students learning how to chip volcanic glass into tools, and their delighted laughter as they create their own cave paintings. These enthusiastic visitors, and more than 1,000 students in local schools who every year visit the campus archaeology center or are visited by graduate students committed to serving the public, would be surprised to learn, as Corbin Collins' asserted ("Who owns the past?" Open Forum, Sept. 5) that archaeology is "luxury endeavor for a limited audience."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/09/13/ED1OS4OSS.DTL

- Class in Archaeological Stewardship Offered in Laughlin: Residents in and around Laughlin who have an interest in prehistoric and historic cultural history and archaeology, and have a love of the desert, are being sought by the Cultural Site Stewardship Program (CSSP) of the Public Lands Institute to help preserve and conserve the area's cultural sites.
http://www.mohavedailynews.com/articles/2007/09/13/news/local/local13.txt

- Upcoming Lecture to Discuss Future of the Arizona State Musuem (Tucson): Old Pueblo Archaeology Center's monthly "Third Thursdays" guest speaker program presents "The Past, Present and Future of the Arizona State Museum" with Steven M. Harvath, Jr., Ph.D. The Arizona State Museum's reputation for excellence rests on broad shoulders. The work of pioneering southwestern archaeologists Emil Haury and Byron Cummings among others is responsible for the collections that are now secure in the museum. Ongoing archaeological projects continue to enrich the collection and our knowledge of the people who made Arizona home. The ASM's collections include the world's largest collection of southwestern Indian pottery. These and other treasures are made available to the public and archaeological community through exhibitions, programs, publications and the ASM library. As part of a land grant university, ASM has an obligation to preserve and share its collections and research with the citizens of the State of Arizona. The addition of the Rio Nuevo facility in downtown Tucson will be a major step in realizing that goal. Thursday September 20, 2007, 7:30 to 9 p.m. in the Old Pueblo Archaeology Center Auditorium, 5100 W. Ina Road Bldg. 8

Thanks to Brian Kenny, Lynn Rubel, and Sonya Berger for contributions to today's newsletter.