Little Colorado Heritage Area Progress, Archaeological Preservation in New Mexico, Archaeology Cafe in Tucson

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

- Progress on the Little Colorado River Valley National Heritage Area: The Hopi, Zuni, and Navajo tribes aren’t officially onboard yet, but Gallup and the Arizona cities of Flagstaff, Holbrook, and Winslow have offered their support. The project in question is the creation of the proposed Little Colorado River Valley National Heritage Area that includes much of northern Arizona and a corner of northwest New Mexico. The Center for Desert Archaeology, located in Tucson, has been working with communities in the area to develop a proposal for the area, which generally encompasses the watershed of the Little Colorado River. Official designation comes from Congress.
http://www.gallupindependent.com/2009/02February/022309heritagearea.html

- Independent Reporter Questions Archaeological Preservation in New Mexico: Signs of ancient life are everywhere in New Mexico. Consider the Galisteo Basin, just outside the city of Santa Fe, where hundreds of archaeological sites blanket the ground. These range from drawings etched hundreds of years ago onto boulders and scatters of flaked stone—where someone sat and chipped a tool, leaving behind bits and pieces of rock—to entire villages and sacred ceremonial structures.
http://sfreporter.com/stories/disturbing_the_pieces/4464/

- Archaeology Cafe in Tucson, March 3 to Explore the Clovis Comet Hypothesis: The Center for Desert Archaeology and Casa Vicente invite you to the sixth meeting of Archaeology Café, a casual, happy hour-style discussion forum dedicated to promoting community engagement with cultural and scientific research. Visit www.sciencecafes.org for more information on this exciting grassroots movement. This month, geophysicist Allen West discusses the internationally-debated theory that an enormous space object—probably a fragmented comet—exploded over the northern hemisphere 12,900 years ago.
http://www.cdarc.org/sat/ac6.doc - MS Word Document

- Large Clovis Cache Found in Boulder: Landscapers were digging a hole for a fish pond in the front yard of a Boulder home last May when they heard a "chink" that didn't sound right. Just some lost tools. Some 13,000-year-old lost tools. They had stumbled onto a cache of more than 83 ancient tools buried by the Clovis people - ice age hunter-gatherers who remain a puzzle to anthropologists. The home's owner, Patrick Mahaffy, thought they were only a century or two old before contacting researchers at the University of Colorado-Boulder.
http://www.sacbee.com/827/story/1655900.html?mi_rss=Latest%20News

- Ancient Ceramic Collection Donated to the Forest Service: Lester Sharp, 92, and his son, Henry Sharp, 60, are two carpenters from Ruidoso who have donated their family collection of prehistoric pottery to the United States Forest Service in Alamogordo. A selection from their collection is on exhibit at the new USFS building and other pieces from the Sharp collection will be installed at the Smokey Bear Ranger District Office in Ruidoso.
http://www.alamogordonews.com/ci_11770831?source=most_emailed

- Collector Returns Ancient Artifact Collection to Mexico: Mexican authorities on Tuesday unveiled a stunning collection of 8,000 pre-Hispanic antiquities, some dating back 3,000 years, donated to the state by a private collector. "It literally took my breath away as I opened case after case to discover these objects in tortoiseshell, jade, serpentine and gold," Xochicalco archeology director Marco Antonio Santos told a press conference.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/3pkl - Google Hosted News

- Nominations Now Being Accepted for The Arizona Governor's Archaeology Advisory Commission's 2009 Award: The Awards are presented to individuals, organizations, and/or programs that have significantly contributed to the protection and preservation of, and education about, Arizona's non-renewable archaeological resources. These awards can include the following categories of individuals or organizations that are worthy of recognition for their public service/education endeavors: 1) professional archaeologists, 2) avocational archaeologists, 3) Site Stewards, 4) Tribes, 5) private, non-profit entities, 6) government agencies, and 7) private or industrial development entities. In addition, the Commission would like to make an award to an individual for special or lifetime achievement. (Specific criteria must be met in order for a nominee to qualify for a given award category -- these criteria are spelled out on the Call for Nominations.) The deadline is April 14, 2009, so we hope to get your nomination soon!
http://www.cdarc.org/sat/09_gaac_award.pdf

- Arizona State Museum Hosts Lecture Series on Early Hominids: Walking In Her Footsteps: Evolutionary Milestones of our Early Upright Ancestors. In honor of Charles Darwin's 200th birthday and in recognition of ASM's connection to the blockbuster exhibit Lucy's Legacy: The Hidden Treasures of Ethiopia currently touring the United States, Arizona State Museum presents an overview of 6 million years of human history in this month-long series of lectures and presentations. Featuring and focusing on "Lucy," the 3.2 million-year-old, world-famous bipedal hominid, ASM and UA experts will discuss a range of topics relevant to the evolution of our species. See and compare replicas of Lucy's skeleton, a chimpanzee's, and a modern human's during these discussions. 6:30 – 8:00 pm in the pottery gallery. Refreshments served Individual Lectures: $15 non members, $10 ASM members. Entire Series: $50 non members, $30 ASM members.
http://www.statemuseum.arizona.edu/public/

- Field School Opportunity: The Milford Archaeological Research Institute (MARI) is hosting a field school through Pasadena City College (California) near Milford, Utah, from June 22 to July 3. The field school focuses on a Fremont Village site on privately-owned property in Beaver County. Trips to the Fremont Museum, Pavant Butte, Southern Utah University, Cedar Breaks, Parowan Gap Petroglyphs, Lehman Caves, Baker Village, and a flint knapping session will be included in the field session. For additional information, please contact mari_utah@hotmail.com.

- Volunteer Opportunity (El Paso): Those interested in becoming volunteer tour guides for the El Paso Museum of Archaeology are encouraged to participate in an upcoming training course, according to a spokeswoman for the city's Museums and Cultural Affairs Department. Classes are scheduled to begin March 2 at the museum, 4301 Trans Mountain Road, said spokeswoman Noelle Nevarez. The training course is free. According to the museum's Web site, its collection of archaeological and anthropological artifacts focus on the prehistory and culture of the El Paso area and the Southwest. For more information contact Marilyn Guida at 755-4332 or guidamr@elpasotexas.gov. - El Paso Times

- Employment Opportunity (Silver City): The Gila National Forest Supervisor's Office in Silver City, New Mexico, is seeking applicants for its GS-9/11 Assistant Forest Archeologist Position. Attached are documents summarizing position duties, and a description of the Silver City community & area. This announcement will be in USAJobs from March 9 - April 6, 2009, under individual announcement # ADS09-R3-GIL-0601. We'll be advertising both government-wide (status candidates) and demo project (i.e. public). Please remember, the announcement won't show up until Monday, March 9. Thanks! We're seeking as wide an applicant pool as possible, so please pass along to anyone who might be interest ed, including folks with other agencies and institutions. This is a beautiful place to work, with fantastic archeological resources, and opportunities to engage in an exciting and complex heritage program where you'll be sure to contribute and learn.

- Employment Opportunity: (Tempe/Albuquerque): Archaeologist/laboratory manager. TRC has an immediate opening for a full-time benefited archaeology Laboratory Manager that will be responsible for preparing archaeological collections for curation according to the Arizona State Museum, New Mexico Laboratory of Anthropology, University of New Mexico Maxwell Museum, and other southwestern state and university standards. Responsibilities will include overseeing and supervising the work of lower level laboratory technicians, and interacting and coordinating with clients and government agencies. Primary responsibilities will be supervising laboratory technicians in the Tempe, Arizona office with secondary responsibility in supervising laboratory operations in the Albuquerque, New Mexico office. Please mail, fax or email a letter or interest, and a current resume with at least three references to: Ken Brown, TRC. 4221-A Balloon Park Road NE Albuquerque, NM 87109 Fax: 505 761-0208. klbrown@trcsolutions.com

- Employment Opportunity (Washington): The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) is now accepting applications for the General Services Administration (GSA) Liaison position in its Office of Federal Agency Programs. The GSA Liaison serves on the ACHP staff as the principal point of contact for all GSA program and project review activities undertaken pursuant to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). The GSA, through its Center for Historic Buildings (CHB), provides technical and strategic expertise to promote the viability, reuse, and care of historic buildings owned, leased, or acquired by GSA. The duty station for this position will be located at the ACHP, Old Post Office Building, 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Room 809, Washington, DC 20004-2501. The complete position description and vacancy announcement can be found at www.achp.gov. The position is a temporary GG-13 position that is eligible for annual reauthorization contingent upon program need and the availability of funds. Please feel free to forward this announcement to anyone who may be interested, or direct interested individuals to www.achp.gov for further information.

Thanks to Gerald Kelso for contributing to today's newsletter.