Excavations at Antler House Village, Arizona's King Cotton has an Ancient Southwestern History

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

- Archeologists Uncover Ancient Civilization: Where wide concrete ribbons of Interstate 17 and State Route 69 intersect is the community of Cordes Junction, Ariz. Little else of significance marks the area, other than the presence of the ADOT maintenance office, a DPS outpost, and a motel. A McDonald’s restaurant and a Subway sandwich shop offer an oasis of sorts in an otherwise rural setting where long ago, there once was a thriving community. These devoted sleuths are archaeologists, piecing together the tapestry of history, much like they piece together the shards of found pottery. They are attempting to assemble from artifacts, a picture of the people who lived centuries ago in the Antler House Village.
http://www.azdot.gov/CCPartnerships/TRANsend/PDF/December_2008.pdf

- Ancient Southwestern Roots of a Modern Commodity - The History and Marketing of Superior Pima Cotton: On the dusty fringes of Phoenix where Arizona still looks like itself - a little rough and tumble with barbed wire 'round the edges - lies a cotton field gone fallow. It's sprinkled with tumbleweeds, beer bottles and a cast-off couch cushion, cotton upholstery peeling in the sun. This little plot of nothing is where one of the world's finest cottons began, where Supima was born in 1910. Later it would get all gussied up to travel the globe, tucked into the briefcases of the Supima cotton posse, two men strong, with something to tell the world.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/8nmt - Arizona Republic

- Mesa Museum to Host Holiday Themed "Nights at the Museum:" Enjoy holiday themes from around the world at the next “Nights at the Museum” at the Arizona Museum of Natural History, 53 N. Macdonald, Friday, Dec. 12 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
http://www.evliving.com/2008/12/06/1874/nights-at-the-museum/

- Book Collection Helps Debunk Pesudohistory: In the expertly researched and nicely sardonic "Fantastic Archaeology," Stephen Williams -- a former professor of archaeology at Harvard -- explores "the wild side of North American prehistory." The pages brim with cranks, mystics and peddlers of dubious historical claims who were determined to prove that America was discovered by -- well, take your pick: Phoenicians, Africans, Irish monks, Lost Tribes of Israel.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122853070522984883.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

- New Navajo Hotel Shares Monument Valley with a Fascinated Public: The hotel clings to the cliff face, its long, angular lines and rust-red stucco mirroring the vibrant contours of the rock. Far below, a Jeep labors across the desert floor: a silver speck against a vast canvas of earth and sky. It disappears into the folds of the land like an ant exploring an eiderdown, emerging now and then in a cloud of dust. Before it, the earth rises in tortured peaks and spires, sculpted by wind and time – or perhaps the hands of some diabolical god.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/6nqz - Daily Telegraph

- Website Helps Explorers Explore Modern Episodes of Abandonment: WebUrbanist has covered everything from abandoned wonders of the world to the illicit art of exploring deserted places. These thirty-three core articles cover hundreds of abandoned buildings, vehicles, towns and cities from around the world - highly organized, summarized and collected for the very first time. Consider this our must-bookmark essential guide to the world of haunting abandoned places and daring urban exploration.
http://weburbanist.com/2008/12/05/abandoned-deserted-building-town-city/

- Editor's Note to Comcast Internet Subscribers: Despite numerous attempts to reassure Comcast that the Southwestern Archaeology Today Newsletter is not "spam," the delivery of this newsletter is being blocked on a regular basis. Should you be missing past issues of Southwestern Archaeology Today, you can find all of our newsletters stored at the web links provided below. Given the degree to which Comcast is blocking legitimate internet traffic, I would now advise Comcast customers to find a more reliable Internet service provider.
http://www.cdarc.org/pages/articles.php?req=category&cat_id=28
http://www.southwesternarchaeology.blogspot.com/

Thanks to Dan Garcia and Brian Kenny for contributions to today's newsletter.