Saturday, June 28, 2008

Threats to El Presidio de San Francisco, Mexico Recovers Pre-Hispanic Artifacts

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

- Stanford Professor Warns that New Management Plan for San Francisco's Presidio Will Put Archaeological Resources at Serious Risk: You may have heard that the Presidio Trust has proposed a major revision to the Management Plan for the Presidio Main Post, the area of the park that contains the archaeological site of the Spanish-colonial Presidio de San Francisco. I am writing to alert you that this revised Presidio Trust Management Plan (PTMP), if adopted, could pose serious threats to the integrity, research potential, and public interpretation of the Spanish colonial archaeological site of El Presidio de San Francisco, and to the Presidio of San Francisco National Historic Landmark District. Between now and July 31st, we are in a critical window when members of the public can provide input on the revised Presidio Trust Management Plan (PTMP) through comments to a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS). If you share my concerns about preserving the historical and archaeological resources of the Presidio of San Francisco for generations to come, I hope you will join me in expressing those concerns to the Presidio Trust.
http://www.cdarc.org/sat/presidio_trust.doc - MS Word Document.

- "Visit With Respect" Debuts at Anasazi Heritage Center: ''Visit with Respect,'' an affecting nine-minute film, attempts to protect fragile ancestral sites found throughout the Four Corners region by giving Native people a voice in describing them. The film's producers are Victoria Atkins of Anasazi Heritage Center, a Bureau of Land Management site that is the gateway to Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, and Margie Connolly and Shirley Powell of Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, an educational and research organization with a campus in Cortez.
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096417542

- Mexico Recovers 929 Looted Ancient Artifacts: Mexico recovered more than 900 pre-Columbian artifacts seized from smugglers in the U.S. and Canada, including 800-year-old fiber sandals, spears and hunting bows looted from nomadic caves, officials said Friday. The artifacts were seized over seven years by customs agents in Texas, Arizona and Toronto, said Alfonso de Maria y Campos, the director of Mexico's National Anthropology Institute. It took several years to recover the objects because of the bureaucracy involved in identifying them and proving they came from Mexico, he said.
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/health/story/393455.html
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/06/080623-artifacts-video-ap.html

- New Issue of Pottery Southwest: The Spring issue of Pottery Southwest is now live at our website. The current issue honors Richard Bice, one of the founders of the quarterly journal.
http://www.unm.edu~psw

- Dallas Archaeologist Honored for Breaking Though Archaeological Glass Ceiling: While the pros were making jokes about high heels ruining ancient artifacts, Kathleen Gilmore, a Dallas archaeologist, was discovering some of the state's most important historical sites – such as explorer La Salle's Fort St. Louis near the Gulf – and blazing a trail for women in a field considered too dirty to be feminine.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/2jth

- Travelogue - Mesa Verde: The story of Mesa Verde so intrigues visitors that few walk away without having pondered its mysteries: Why did the people who lived here build their homes in the cliff alcoves, and why did they suddenly disappear?
http://www.kansascity.com/270/story/671337.html

- New Tour in Tombstone Highlights Industrial Archaeology: The Tombstone Consolidated Mining Co.'s Good Enough Mine Tour, owned by Andre and Shirley DeJournett, has been open to tourists and curious locals for the past 14 months. It took years of work to remove the debris, rock, equipment and dirt that had collected in the tunnels from a hundred years of monsoons and 30 years of mining. The miners used some of the old vertical tunnels as dumps for waste rock, lunch cans and a variety of equipment, Granger said. "We really want to bring mining history back to life," Shirley said. "I'm an archeologist, and I had a dream to restore this mine and to preserve it. That's all we want to do. We will not mine in the Good Enough."
http://www.cdarc.org/page/hj5o - Tucson Citizen

- Call for Papers, Society for Applied Anthroplogy 2009 Conference in Santa Fe: The Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) invites abstracts (papers and posters) for the Program of the 69th Annual Meeting in Santa Fe, NM, March 17-21, 2009. The theme of the Program is ³Global Challenge, Local Action: Ethical Engagement, Partnerships and Practice². The Society is a multi-disciplinary association that focuses on problem definition and resolution. We welcome papers from all disciplines. The deadline for abstract submission is October 15, 2008. For additional information on the theme, abstract size/format, and the meeting, please visit our web page.
http://www.sfaa.net Follow "Annual Meeting" link.

- More on Mt. Taylor Preservation: For many Native people in the Southwest, New Mexico's Mount Taylor, within the Cibola National Forest west of Albuquerque, N.M., holds a great deal of sacred significance. One of these tribes who hold Mount Taylor sacred is the Pueblo of Acoma. Its people call this mountain K'aweshtima, which means ''being a place of snow'' in their Keres language.
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096417595

- Looting of the National Museum of Iraq is the Topic of the Latest Video on the Archaeology Channel: The tragic 2003 looting of the Iraq Museum in Baghdad should remind us all of the importance of cultural patrimony and the need to deter the plunder of institutions and sites everywhere. No better spokesman for this message can be found than Dr. Donny George, who relates his first-hand experience in The Looting of the Iraq Museum: An Interview with Donny George, the latest video feature on our nonprofit streaming-media Web site, The Archaeology Channel.
http://www.archaeologychannel.org

- Employment Opportunity (Flagstaff): Museum of Northern Arizona, Easton Collection Center Move Coordinator Department: Collections Status: Exempt, Temporary, Regular Full-Time, 2 Years. Supervisor: Museum Collection Manager Position Description: Two year grant funded position to assist with the planning and implementation of the move of museum objects into the new Easton Collection Center in mid-2009. The Move Coordinator will be responsible for scheduling, determining storage requirements, overseeing packing, transport and unpacking activities, tracking objects, and ensuring the safe and orderly move of collection objects. The candidate will consult with MNA's consultant conservator, negotiate contracts with vendors, and collaborate with museum collection and facilities staff, interns, students, and volunteers.
http://www.musnaz.org/jobs/movecoord.html

Thanks to Brian Kenny and Bunny Fontana for contributions to today's Newsletter.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Mt. Taylor Once Again a TCP, New Book on Orayvi Split

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

- Mt. Taylor Designated Traditional Cultural Property: A state committee has approved a proposal from five American Indian tribes to give central New Mexico's Mount Taylor temporary protection as a cultural property at a contentious meeting. The state Cultural Properties Review Committee voted 4-2 Saturday in Grants for an emergency listing of more than 422,000 acres surrounding the mountain's summit on the state Register of Cultural Properties.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/b0qg - LA Times (Site may require user registration.)

- (Related Post) First Hand Accounts of Mt Taylor Meeting: New Mexico’s Mount Taylor, sacred to several tribes and under threat of uranium mining, has been designated (again) as a Traditional Cultural Property (TCP). Uranium mining historically wreaked havoc in the area and left a legacy of environmental destruction and cancer and among miners and residents, including many Native Americans. The Acoma, Hopi, Laguna, Navajo and Zuni tribes requested the designation after a recent flurry of uranium permits and exploration on the 11,301-foot mountain that disturbed some shrines and grave sites.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/le9e - The Goat, A High Country News Blog

- New Publication Explores Orayvi Split: Historians may record 1906 as the year of the Great San Francisco Earthquake, but, for anthropologists, it is the year that split the Hopi community of Orayvi, the longest continually occupied settlement in North America. The break-up—which came two mornings after the last complete Snake Dance ever performed in that pueblo and in which half of the pueblo's residents were forced to leave—has been the subject of anthropological debate for the century that followed. Hoping to resolve the debate at last, Peter Whiteley, Curator of Anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History, offers a compelling new analysis in his book "The Orayvi Split: A Hopi Transformation."
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/amon-tso061908.php

- Audio Podcast Report on Joint Efforts on Preserving Southwestern Villages and Rock Art: Graffiti is plaguing many of our nation’s national parks and monuments, including some ancient Native American cliff dwellings. At Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico, conservators from a government program are taking advice from Natives, whose ancestors built these ancient sites, to make sure the restoration is done appropriately. KUNM’s Jim Williams reports.
http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm?programID=08-P13-00024&segmentID=7

- Three University of Arizona Anthropology Students Earn NSF Dissertation Awards: Three University of Arizona graduate students have earned National Science Foundation fellowships. José Manuel Álvarez and Joshua Holst, both anthropology students, along with linguistics student, Kara Hawthorne, have received the prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship, which provides $90,000 over a three-year period.
http://uanews.org/node/20159

- "Pueblo Clay, America's First Pottery" Opens at the American Museum of Ceramic Art: The American Museum of Ceramic Art presents Pueblo Clay, America’s First Pottery, on view through July 12th, 2008. This eye-catching exhibition tracks the historic development of Native American Pueblo pottery from its inception as ceremonial and utilitarian vessels to the marketable commodity it is today. The advent of the Transcontinental Railroad system and Route 66 Highway played a key role in this transition. The works in this show will be on loan from the Pomona College Art Museum collection, which is particularly rich in Pre-Columbian and Historic Southwestern ceramics, and from a number of private collectors. Highlights will also include examples of innovative pottery made by up-and-coming Native ceramic artists. This is a rare opportunity to see works that would be otherwise unavailable to the public.
http://www.artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=24742

- Ancient Ceramic Found in Chop Shop Raid: A raid on a chop shop turned up more than stolen auto parts; officers found an artifact that is believed to be 1,000-years-old. Police say during a raid last month, 28-year-old Thomas Fenzl was arrested and charged with stealing a motorcycle, altering the VIN number, as well as having a lot drugs on the property. UNM archeology officials say the piece of pottery came from somewhere in the Four Corners area.
http://kob.com/article/stories/S479775.shtml?cat=504

- Excavations Continue at Albuquerque Schoolyard: Archaeologists are getting closer to finding some answers from a dig at Alameda Elementary School. For about a month, archaeologists have been chipping away at what used to be the Alameda Pueblo underneath Alameda Elementary School and sifting through the dirt to find remnants of ancient civilization. Archaeologists are mostly finding pieces of pottery and animal bones, but they hope these small artifacts will lead to some big answers.Archaeologists will analyze these remnants, one piece dates from between 1450 and 1515 -- to see if people lived here when the Spanish conquered the area.
http://www.koat.com/news/16624042/detail.html

- CRM Firm Sues City of Waco: A firm hired to excavate human bones near the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum is suing the City of Waco. The American Archaeology Group said Waco ended its contract without explanation, so it is suing the city for breech of contract. Archeologists said the city mismanaged the project, moving bones without marking them and putting utility lines over areas not yet cleared for construction. The Texas Historical Commission and an Austin firm are also named in the suit. The land being cleared to allow the museum to expand, is also believed to be a cemetery dating back to the 1850s. News 8, Austin

- Tour Opportunity: SHUMLA will bring Australian rock-art researcher Dr. Jo McDonald to act as one of the co-leaders during this fall's Pecos Experience: The Art and Archeology of the Lower Pecos. This week-long program (October 5–10, 2008) offers participants the opportunity to visit spectacular rock-art sites in the Lower Pecos River region of Texas in a small group lead by Dr. Carolyn Boyd, Executive Director of SHUMLA. Each year during this program she is accompanied by a different visiting scholar and by Elton Prewitt, a respected Texas archeologist with many years of research experience in the region. In past years visiting scholars have included Dr. David S. Whitley, Dr. Jean Clottes, and Dr. James D. Keyser. Space is limited to fifteen people. Check the SHUMLA Web site for details.
http://www.shumla.org/

- Employment Opportunity (NPS Flagstaff): Experience your America and build a fulfilling career by joining the National Park Service. Become a part of our mission to unite our past, our cultures and our special places, to establish important connections to the present and build a rich and lasting legacy for future generations. This American Indian Tribal Program Manager, is located within the Division of Science and Resource Management in Grand Canyon National Park. Duty station will be Flagstaff, Arizona. Applications will be accepted from current and former competitive service Federal employees, and people eligible under special hiring authorities.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/2exl - USA Jobs

- Career Opportunity: The Fort Apache Heritage Foundation (FAHF) seeks a
Development Director to lead fundraising, revenue-generating efforts, promotion, and budgets in implementing the new master plan for the Fort Apache and TR School Historic District. This leadership position is the pivotal basis for growing an organization to share the rich heritage of the region with others and preserve it for future generations. The position reports to the Fort Apache Coordinator and FAHF Board of Directors. Candidates must demonstrate a successful track-record, as well as capacity for professional growth in fundraising, organization development, diplomacy, project management, budgets, and supervising junior colleagues. FAHF was chartered in Arizona in 1998 by the White Mountain Apache Tribe (WMAT). It assists the Apache people and Tribe in preservation and interpretation of Apache culture and history, principally through implementation of the master plan to revitalize the Fort Apache and Theodore Roosevelt Boarding School National Register Historic District. These landmarks encompass 400 acres, including 27 buildings dating from the founding of Fort Apache in 1870 to continued use today. More information is available at www.fortapachearizona.org. For more on the Tribe, see http://www.wmat.us

Thanks to Bruce Wahle for contributing to today's newsletter.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Noel Stowe Receives Governor's Preservation Award, Mary Jane Colter, Solstice Celebrations

- ASU Professor Noel Stowe Receives Arizona Preservation Award: Professor Noel Stowe is being honored for his outstanding achievements in preserving Arizona’s historic resources through the public history program he guides at Arizona State University. He received the 2008 Governor's Heritage Preservation Honor Award and was recognized June 13 at the Arizona Statewide Historic Preservation Partnership Conference.
http://asunews.asu.edu/20080613_noelstowe

- The Architectural Legacy of Mary Jane Colter: Called “the best-known unknown architect in the national parks,” Mary Jane Colter has long been an almost invisible figure in national park history. Each year, as many as 5 million visitors pass through the collection of buildings she designed or decorated in Grand Canyon National Park, most without a hint of the brilliant, stubborn, chain-smoking visionary behind their creation.
http://www.npca.org/magazine/2008/spring/mary-jane-colter-architect.html

- Homolovi Ruins State Park Near Winslow Arizona Celebrates Suvoyuki Day: "Suvoyuki" translated in the Hopi language means to accomplish work through at "joint effort." "Suvoyuki Day"(July 12, 2008) is an open house day at Homolovi Ruins State Park that celebrates the partners who have helped to protect and save Homolovi area archaeological and cultural sites from destruction.
http://www.gatewaytosedona.com/article/id/1838/page/1

- FBI Returns Stolen Art to Indio Museum: A collection of rare American Indian artifacts worth up to $160,000 was returned to its owners Friday after an investigation that began three years ago when thieves broke into an Indio museum and spirited the treasures away in garbage bags.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/5ptv - LA Times, site may require free user registration.

- Park Service Employees Question the Value of a Million Dollar Utah Gathering: Leaders of the National Park Service will gather next month at a private resort in the Utah mountains for a summit meeting that some career officials say feels more like a $1 million exercise in political promotion.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/3fya - Yahoo News

- New Publication Examines the Comanche, as the "Spartans of the Plains:" At the beginning of the eighteenth century the Comanche were a small tribe of hunter-gatherers in New Mexico. Once they acquired the use of horses, in three generations they evolved into the 'Spartans of the plains' and provided the fiercest of all Native American resistance to the Anglo-Hispanic conquest of the American West. For a hundred years from 1750, the Comanche dominated New Mexico, Texas and even parts of Louisiana and northern Mexico. As Amerindians, the Comanche were even more impressive than the Aztecs or the Iroquois, for until the American Civil War they largely forced Europeans to bend the knee, and did so moreover when the European imperialist impulse was at its height. Although the word 'empire' may be author's hyperbole, the Comanche ruled an extensive domain that worked on a mélange of kinship ties, trade, diplomacy, extortion and violence.
http://www.literaryreview.co.uk/mclynn_06_08.html

Summer Solstice Celebration at Chaco Canyon: Most people living in northwestern New Mexico know about Chaco Culture National Historic Park and its huge kivas. But how often do local residents take advantage of the park’s camping, tours, lectures and trails? With the price of gas this year limiting travel by car, Chaco Canyon is a fine destination for those looking for a break but who find New York too far to travel.
http://www.gallupindependent.com/2008/06June/061108chaco.html

Arizona State Museum Offers Solstice Celebration in Tucson: Marking the Soltice: A Multicultural Celebration. Come early for a 2:30pm screening of “The Mystery of Chaco Canyon.” Narrated by Robert Redford, this film explores the astronomical brilliance of the Anasazi people as revealed by the architecture at the famous New Mexico site. After the screening, discuss the issues and questions raised in the film with ASM archaeologist Rich Lange. Starting at 4:30pm, you’ll enjoy hands-on activities, songs, stories, dances, and presentations relating to the sun and moon, stars and rain, planting and harvesting from a variety of cultures. Discover desert resources and solar energy, look to the stars, enjoy cultural traditions, eat, play and celebrate. A new collaborative performance by Flam Chen and the Seven Pipers Scottish Society caps off the event. It's a full evening of FREE family fun! See the complete list of performances, demonstrations, and hands-on activities at http://www.statemuseum.arizona.edu/events/solstice/index.shtml

- Lecture Opportunity, Tucson: "Landscapes of Fraud, the Tohono O'odham and the Baca Float:: Monday, June 16th, 2008. Dr Thomas Sheridan of the University of Arizona's Southwest Center will speak at the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society's monthly meeting. 7:30 pm at the Duval auditorium, University Medical Center, 1501 N. Campbell, Tucson

- Lecture Opportunity, Tucson: "What Do We Do with Our Ancestors?" Wednesday June 18, 2008. Free presentation at Arizona Senior Academy, 13701 E. Old Spanish Trail, Tucson, Arizona. 2:30-4:30 p.m. Ever since archaeology became an intellectual pursuit many archaeologists have held that all materials left behind by ancient peoples - including human remains - are proper subjects for scientific study and that these materials should be preserved in museums to keep them accessible for future studies. However, many Native Americans and others believe human remains and grave objects should not be subjected to scientific studies, and that these remains should be respectfully reburied once disturbed. No reservations needed. For meeting details contact Kathie Van Brunt at
Tucson telephone 520-647-0980 or info@arizonasenioracademy.org; for information about the presentation subject matter contact Allen Dart at Tucson telephone 520-798-1201 or adart@oldpueblo.org.

- Lecture Opportunity, Tucson: "Artifacts of Ancient Americans: An Arrowhead Making and Flintknapping Demonstration." Thursday June 19, 2008 Old Pueblo Archaeology Center's "Third Thursdays" free presentation. Flintknapper Sam Greenleaf at Old Pueblo Archaeology Center, 5100 W. Ina Road Bldg. 8 (northwestern Tucson metro area).
7:30 to 9 p.m. All known ancient cultures of the Americas created projectile points
(arrowheads or spearpoints) and other objects from stone by flintknapping, which is the process of intentionally chipping stone materials to produce artifacts. In this program modern flintknapper Sam Greenleaf gives a direct demonstration of how arrowheads and spearpoints are made from stone to better understand how ancient people made and used
stone artifacts. No reservations needed. 520-798-1201 or adart@oldpueblo.org.

- Chavín de Huántar is the Topic of the Latest Video on the Archaeology Channel: The rise of the Chavin Culture, far predating the Inca, was a milestone in the long development of Andean Civilization. Intensive research and conservation work at the urban center of Chavin is the subject of Treasure in the Andes: Chavin de Huantar, Peru, the latest video feature on our nonprofit streaming-media Web site, The Archaeology Channel
http://www.archaeologychannel.org

- Internship Opportunity: The American Rock Art Research Association’s (ARARA) archive collection is housed at the Deer Valley Rock Art Center (DVRAC). This extensive collection includes photographic prints, slides and printed materials.
We are currently seeking an energetic intern that will help us to ensure the long-term preservation of the collection and make it an accessible and useful resource for the researchers. Duties: Assess, organize, catalog, and digitize the ARARA archive collection and determine the most effective way to input data and make it accessible and useful for users—both on-site and on the Internet. Qualifications: Background in Library and Archives. Technologically savvy. Commitment: Hours are flexible but we prefer that the intern work at least 20 hours per week for a minimum of fifteen weeks. Benefits: An $800 stipend for this internship will be granted. In addition, interns will receive 10% off on merchandise in the Glyph Shop and free passes to special events and programs at the Center. How to Apply The application deadline for this internship is August 1, 2008. To apply, please send a resume, a one-page personal statement describing your reasons for seeking the internship and contact information for two references to Kim Arth at Kimberly.Arth@asu.edu or to Deer Valley Rock Art Center, 3711 W. Deer Valley Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85308 Tel: (623) 582 8007, Fax: (623) 582 8831.

Thanks to Vince Murray and Brian Kenny for Contributions to Today's Newsletter.

I'd also like to extend a special thanks to the Arizona Preservation Foundation and the Town of Nogales for a fantastic preservation conference. The event was well attended, the presentations were excellent, and the gathering was well worth the time and money spent on the event. The Arizona Preservation Foundation deserves your membership and your support.

Monday, June 9, 2008

New Book on Historic O'odham, Pueblo Grande, Az Site Steward Position Open

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

- A Pictorial History of the Tohono O'odham Published: For those who think the Tohono O'odham are all about casinos and fry bread, this book should be a real eye-opener. Authored by archaeologist Allan J. McIntyre, "The Tohono O'odham and Pimeria Alta" is the first photographic history book written about the people formerly known as the Papago.
http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/242574

- Take a Peak at the Past at Pueblo Grande: Stare into a pit house at Pueblo Grande Museum, and you'll get a taste of the Hohokam people and their hardscrabble lives. Look around the ruins and you can almost see it one millennia earlier: Women grinding corn under wood arbors; men scratching canals from the banks of the rolling Salt River - then a Southwest 727 lumbers across your sightline and you remember you're in east Phoenix.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/117963

- Efforts Underway to Reform Arizona State Land Trust for Preservation: The current initiative, filed in April, proposes to permanently conserve about 570,000 acres of the most sensitive Trust land—about 5 percent of the total—and provides a mechanism through which cities, towns, counties and state agencies can purchase Trust land for conservation purposes without going to auction. The West Desert Preserve is on the current list of the most sensitive land. While it doesn't exactly appear out of place on that list, this little plot of desert, with its skinny trails and thick stands of ocotillo and scrub, its 250-year-old, multi-armed saguaro and its rare and endangered Pima Pineapple cactus, lacks the flash of some of the other acres up for conservation. Many of the other lands on the list are adjacent to famous national and state parks, federal monuments and well-known mountain ranges and recreation areas—places with names like Kartchner, Homolovi, Ironwood, Dragoon, Saguaro, San Pedro, and Grand Canyon.
http://www.gvnews.com/articles/2008/06/08/news/news04.txt

- Plan Now for the 2008 Pecos Conference: Please submit your conference registration as soon as possible. http://www.swanet.org/2008_pecos_conference/early.html. We need to order meals, conference t-shirts, and other sale items. No Refunds After July 1, 2008. Register Before July 2, 2008 & Save $10.00. All Clothing & Mug Orders Must Be Received By July 11, 2008. Field Trips are filling-up quickly and attendees may want to register early to get their preferred trip selection. Presentation slots are filling-up quickly. You may opt to present a field report, a poster session, or chat at our Speaker's Corner. Research teams should consider all three conference presentation venues to diversify their information sharing techniques.
http://snipurl.com/1t5aa - 2008 Pecos Website

- Help Honor Dave Breternitz at the 2008 Pecos Conference: One of the significant events of the Flagstaff Pecos Conference will be to highlight the contributions of Dave Breternitz to the research programs and development of the Museum of Northern Arizona. We are in the process of putting together a photo gallery and a scrapbook complete with photographs and space to record your thoughts and memories of working with Dave. In order to begin assembling the scrapbook and the gallery we are requesting submission of any photographs or memorabilia that you'd like to have included. Please have your submissions to Todd Metzger by no later than Friday, July 18, 2008. Please send whatever you have to Todd either electronically or via snail-mail. For most photographic material we can scan the original material and send the items back to you. If you have any questions on what is appropriate to send please don't hesitate to get in touch with Todd. He can be reached at the following: Phone: Work: 928-526-1157, x222; Cell: 928-853-1938; Mailing Address: 6400 N. Highway 89, Flagstaff, Arizona 86001; Email: Todd_Metzger@nps.gov

- Employment Opportunity (Phoenix): Arizona State Parks is looking for a new Director for the Arizona Site Steward Program. Ann Howard reports that the Arizona State Historic Preservation Office is pleased to announce that the position for Arizona Site Steward Program Coordinator has been opened. Please see the information below if you are interested in applying.
http://www.cdarc.org/sat/az_site_steward_director.doc - MS Word Document

Thanks to Brian Kenny for Contributions to Today's Newsletter and his work on the 2008 Pecos Conference!

Friday, June 6, 2008

Looted Mimbres Pottery Recovered, Crow Canyon Looks at Ancient Agriculture

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

- Mimbres Pottery Recovered from Possible Looters: Taos, Chama and Silver City homes were searched last month in an ongoing probe into illegal excavation of Mimbres pottery. The investigation began in late April when someone witnessed what they believed was an illegal dig in the Gila National Forest and called the Catron County sheriff. "They responded, and they found items in the car, interviewed the individuals and then forwarded it on to the Forest Service for additional investigation," said Kathy DeLucas of the Carson National Forest in Taos.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/jpjj - Santa Fe New Mexican

- Crow Canyon Studying Ancient Agricultural Techniques: Corn may seem like an impossible dryland crop for the Four Corners region. With an annual rainfall of 13 inches and soils full of clay, it's certainly not Iowa. Yet the early Ancestral Puebloans successfully grew enough corn, beans and squash without irrigation in a short growing season to support populations that equaled today's population in Montezuma County. How did they do it? That’s the answer being sought by a Pueblo Farming Project at Crow Canyon Archaeological Center northwest of Cortez.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/i4w5 - Cortez Journal

- Grand Canyon Archaeology Topic of Special Program at the Museum of Northern Arizona: Learn about the process of conducting archaeology in the Grand Canyon. Flagstaff adventure photographer Dawn Kish and archaeologists from the National Park Service and Museum of Northern Arizona will discuss images of recent archaeological research done by MNA in partnership with Grand Canyon National Park. Saturday, June 7 from 5:00 p.m.—6:30 p.m.
http://www.musnaz.org/exhibits/grandarch.html

- Preserve Petroglyphs: They look a little like ancient graffiti — the doodlings of an ancient hunter who was better with a chisel than a bow. And maybe that is why prehistoric petroglyphs don't garner the care or respect they deserve. People look at them and don't see the value. But the value is there.
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,5143,700231226,00.html

- The Southwest as a Tri-Cultural Region: From my roof I can look west and see Mount Taylor, which looms above Grants, a small New Mexico city built on the dreams of unmeterably cheap electricity, thanks to the existence there of vast seams of uranium ore. Mount Taylor is one of the four sacred mountains of the Navajo, and you can't see Mount Taylor without also thinking about San Francisco Peaks, a mountain whose three peaks rise above Flagstaff, Arizona, 400 miles west of here. It's another mountain sacred to the Navajo and is also the winter home of the Hopi rain spirits, the kachinas. When you see clouds building up over San Francisco Peaks, the Hopi say, it is the kachinas rehearsing the business of bringing rain to Hopi cornfields.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/jyph - Mother Earth News

- Rafting though Ancient Places: Our first stop was Butler Wash, where a series of petroglyphs 100 yards from the river’s northern bank stretched so far along an overhanging hunk of sandstone they resembled an elaborate frieze. About 10 feet off the ground, bighorn sheep, ducks, spirals, zigzags and human figures scratched in white and dating from 5000 B.C. covered the terra-cotta-colored rock.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/l19c - New York Times, Site may require user regsistration.

- University of Arizona Archaeology Student Wins American Anthropology Association Dissertation Fellowship: Kerry F. Thompson received the award for the dissertation " A?k'ida;a; 'da hooghanée (They used to live here): An archaeological study of 19th century Navajo households." This annual Fellowship is intended to encourage members of ethnic minorities to complete doctoral degrees in anthropology, thereby increasing diversity in the discipline and/or promoting research on issues of concern among minority populations. Dissertation topics in all areas of the discipline are welcome. Doctoral students who require financial assistance to complete the write-up phase of the dissertation are urged to apply. A nonrenewable dissertation fellowship of $10,000 will be provided annually to one anthropology graduate student.
http://anthropology.arizona.edu/news_events/news_story.php?id=153

-The Historical Growth of Phoenix will be the Topic of a Lunchtime Lecture at the Carnegie Center: Professor VanderMeer, as his students like to call him, will be the Lunchtime Speaker at the Carnegie Center on June 12. The title of his talk is Transforming Desert Visions: The Growth of Phoenix, 1860 – 2006." If you've ever wondered how Phoenix could get so big, with 100 plus degree weather like were having now, here in the desert, on a horse with no name. Well, at this lunch time chat, the illustrious Dr. Phil will explain why Phoenix grew and how it was able to surpass in size and success other cities such as Tucson, El Paso, Albuquerque, and Winkleman. So come on down to the historic Carnegie Center next Thursday (June 12) from noon to 1:00 in Downtown Phoenix at 1100 W Washington St, Phoenix, 85007. There will be light refreshments and the parking is free as is the lecture.

- Reminder, there is still time to register for next week's 2008 Arizona Historic Preservation Conference!
http://www.azpreservation.com/

- Archaeology of the Western Mohave Desert to be Lecture Topic at the Next Meeting of the Pacific Coast Archaeology Society: Pacific Coast Archaeological Society's June 12th meeting will feature Dr. Mark Sutton speaking on "Excavations at the Koehn Lake Site, Western Mojave Desert." Excavations undertaken at the Koehn Lake site (CA-KER-875) revealed a Rose Spring Complex site situated on a lakeshore containing an extensive deposit and structures. The work at this site is important to an understanding of changing settlement and subsistence patterns across the Mojave Desert for the last several thousand years and may be related to larger-scale population movements into southern California and across the Great Basin. Meeting information: Thursday, June 12th, 2008, 7:30 pm at the Irvine Ranch Water District, 15600 Sand Canyon Ave., Irvine, CA.
Meeting is free and open to the public.
Http://www.pcas.org.

- Employment Opportunity (Las Vegas): Nevada Humanities is seeking a dynamic and visionary executive director to implement its recently adopted five-year program plan. The program plan addresses needs in the State of Nevada for community building, organizational capacity building, convening people for informed discussion and civic reflection, and new technologies for program delivery and communication. It also emphasizes expanding financial resources so that Nevada Humanities can keep pace with population growth and have a greater impact and influence. For additional information on the program plan and activities of Nevada Humanities, including the Online Nevada Encyclopedia, go to www.nevadahumanities.org.
http://www.cdarc.org/sat/nh.doc - Ms Word Document.

Monday, June 2, 2008

25 Years at Crow Canyon, U of AZ Language Studies, Homol'ovi

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

- Crow Canyon Celebrates 25 Years of Research: Over Crow Canyon Archaeological Center’s 25 years of existence, a variety of people from different places have visited, participated in a program, and had the center, and southwest Colorado, become a special place in their minds and memories. The center, founded in 1983, first attracted Lynn Romay-Khourie, of Haytime, Mo., in 1986 and 1987. She heard about their educational programs through an advertisement in an archaeology magazine.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/i0sm - Cortez Journal

- University of Arizona Working to Preserve Southwestern Languages: Research has shown that students of color who learn in their native language and are taught about their respective cultures and heritage tend to perform better academically. That is one reason why The University of Arizona’s American Indian Language Development Institute is working to preserve and revitalize indigenous languages and to also help educators figure out ways to teach languages to others.
http://uanews.org/node/19899

- Hopi History on Display at Homol'ovi Ruins State Park: The park, just off Interstate 40 north of Winslow, was created in 1993 at the urging of the Hopis, who were desperate to save their ancient villages from thieves and vandals. The ruins of villages from the 1200s to the late 1300s were filled with thousands of pots, luring unscrupulous collectors. "In the 1960s, a guy came in here with a backhoe," Berggren says. The thieves stole the pots and destroyed much of the surrounding village structures, all of which are sacred to the Hopis. It would be like tourists chipping off pieces of the Sistine Chapel ceiling when they visited. "We estimate we've lost 95 percent of the pots," Berggren says.
http://www.azcentral.com/travel/arizona/features/articles/0530homolovi0601.html

USC Conference Explores the "Underground" of the West: Historians digging up the past of California and the West have hit a rich vein of underground topics: cemeteries, coal mines, secret escape tunnels, buried treasures, earthquake faults and a little girl trapped in a well nine stories below. On the surface (no pun intended), these subjects may not have much in common other than what USC history professor William Deverell calls their "undergroundness." But "the subterranean West is a really important West," he said, noting the economic power of mining, oil gushers and water rights.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/3vve - LA Times (site may require user registration)

- Employment Opportunity (Tempe): Director of Cultural Resources – Senior Archeologist. Logan Simpson Design has a position open for a Director of Cultural Resources in our Tempe, AZ office. The ideal candidate will have the ability to achieve efficient, profitable, timely, and technically excellent performance from the cultural team through effective leadership, mentoring, training, and supervision. Individual must be able to demonstrate success in a management position while having frequent client and agency contact in a decision-making role. Minimum Requirements: Must have at least a Masters degree (Ph.D. preferred) in Anthropology or related field with twelve or more years of Southwestern archaeology consulting or agency experience or equivalent combination. Must have a minimum of 4 years of management or supervisory experience in a Cultural setting, Excellent technical writing, verbal communication, and public speaking skills. If you meet all the minimum requirements and would like to apply for this position, please email your résumé to hr@lsdaz.com. Please include a cover letter which includes your salary history. Contact Sue Tinsman, Human Resources Manager, Logan Simpson Design, Inc. 51 West Third Street, Suite 450 Tempe, AZ 85281,
Ph: 480.967.1343,Fax: 480.966.9232, stinsman@lsdaz.com