AAHS Application Deadline Approaches, Modern Wolves and Prehistoric Dogs, New Mammoth Find

Southwest Archaeology Today – A Service of the Center for Desert Archaeology

- Research, Scholarship, and Travel Grant Opportunities, Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society: Awards are offered to students and researchers who are members of AAHS and involved in the study of archaeology, anthropology, American Indian studies, ethnohistory, and history of the Greater Southwest. Applications must be postmarked no later than February 15, 2009. Awards will be made by the AAHS Board of Directors and announced during Arizona Archaeology Month. All of the details, including instructions and application forms, are available at the following link.
http://www.cdarc.org/sat/aahs_grants_2009.doc - MS Word Document

- Mammoth Remains in Downtown San Diego: The discovery of the remains of a mammoth from the Ice Age yielded more treasure yesterday, as the massive animal's left tusk was found as excavation continued. The mammoth's right tusk, skull, foot and leg bones were identified Wednesday at the construction site of the Thomas Jefferson School of Law near Park Boulevard and Island Avenue.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/dvit - San Diego Union-Tribune

- Director Woosley on Arizona Historical Society, New Book: And then there is the Peanut Man. Wearing a fake beard and wig and garbed from shoulders to ankles in peanuts, he posed for noted Tucson photographer Henry Buehman in 1910. "Who was this man and why was he covered in peanuts?" asks the caption beneath the photo in Anne Woosley's "Early Tucson," a pictorial of Tucson history from the 1870s to the early 1940s, with maps going back to the 1700s.
http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/279403

- Wolves’ Dark Coats Evince Prehistoric Interbreeding: Genetic tests indicate the mutation was introduced into wolves by dogs sometime in the last 10,000 to 15,000 years, Anderson said. That’s about the same time the first people crossed the Bering land bridge, probably accompanied by dogs. “We usually think of domestication as something that is carried out to benefit humans,” Barsh said. “So we were really surprised to find that domestic animals can serve as a genetic reservoir that can benefit the natural populations from which they were derived.”
http://www.cdarc.org/page/dmzf - Journal Gazette-Times Courier

- Review of Endangered Sacred Sites: A 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling emblematized the disregard for indigenous religion held by some in the dominant society. In August, the court overturned a previous ruling that prevented an Arizona ski resort from using recycled sewage water to make artificial snow on the San Francisco Peaks, a mountain held sacred by 13 American Indian nations.
http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/national/southwest/39219172.html

- Internship Opportunities, Anasazi Heritage Center: Applications for Anasazi Heritage Center (AHC) summer 2009 internships are now being accepted. AHC offers student internships in Collections Management, Exhibits and Interpretive Media, and Visitor Services. Interviews will be conducted in April, with start dates in late May to early June. Please follow the link below for further information.
http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/ahc/interships.html

- Incan Site Featured in Latest Archaeology Channel Release: Machu Picchu is not the only spectacular Peruvian site on a high Andean ridge. Another remarkable Incan site, this one with special historical significance, is described in “Choquequirao: The Cradle of Gold.” The Incan ceremonial and administration site and fortress of Choquequirao was built in the mid-1400s and became the focal point of Inca resistance to the Spanish Conquest from 1536 to 1572. This video feature can be found on The Archaeology Channel’s nonprofit streaming-media Web site at the following link:
http://www.archaeologychannel.org

Thanks to Cherie Freeman for her contribution to today’s newsletter.