Arizona Archaeology Expo This Weekend, Development Vs Archaeology in Utah, Dating Rock Art

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

- Arizona Archaeology Expo This Weekend at Pueblo Grande: Saturday, March 14, 2009, 10am to 3pm and Sunday, March 15, 2009, 10am to 3pm. Pueblo Grande Museum will be hosting the 2009 Arizona Archaeology Expo as part of the 26th Annual Arizona Archaeology and Heritage Awareness Month put on by Arizona State Park’s State and Historic Preservation Office. This event is an excellent opportunity for professionals, archaeology and history enthusiasts and the general public to discover what resources Arizona has to offer regarding archaeology, history, preservation and the many rich cultures that helped shape our state. Learn why it is important to preserve archaeological and historic sites. Discover what it is archaeologists, historians, native tribes and cultural centers do to preserve, understand and present Arizona’s past. The event will feature archaeological hands-on activities, craft and ancient technology demonstrations, tours, lectures and much more for all ages and interests. Don’t forget to purchase some frybread, an Arizona favorite.
http://phoenix.gov/PUEBLO/edsummry.html

- Critical Habitation Site in Utah Threatened by Development and Unscrupulous Politics: Archaeologists say good enough won't work in this case. The site is too critical. They've found two homes, a fire pit, 30,000 artifacts and, most importantly, corn pollen, suggesting ancient natives farmed this valley long before we thought. "Development is fine and dandy, but this is one case where the importance of the site outweighs the development need," says Jerry Spangler, director of the Colorado Plateau Archaeological Alliance. "It could literally re-write our understanding of the earliest settled people here."
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_11872762

- Kieran McCarty, 1925-2008: Beloved Priest, Renowned Historian: The modest McCarty was celebrated among historians for his diligence in locating original documents that brought to life the early history of Tucson and the rest of the Pimería Alta. One book on his beloved Franciscans, for instance, took him to parish archives in Altar and Arispe and Hermosillo and Horcasitas and Ures in Sonora, as well as to the big archives in Mexico City, Seville and Rome. He copied hundreds of documents, bringing them back in microfilm form to Tucson for his own study and for future scholars as well. Drawing on his superb Spanish, he translated many of them, making them more available to others.
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/gbase/Currents/Content?oid=123089

- New Study Points to Ways to Date Rock Art: A new dating method finally is allowing archaeologists to incorporate rock paintings — some of the most mysterious and personalized remnants of ancient cultures — into the tapestry of evidence used to study life in prehistoric times. That’s the conclusion of a new report in ACS’ Analytical Chemistry.
http://www.physorg.com/news156017586.html

- Every Thread Tells a Story: Some tell of the traditional Navajo relationship with Mother Earth. Others symbolize a woman's transformation from child to adult. Together, the threads in a Navajo rug communicate more than function, warmth or beauty. They represent culture, geography and a way of life, professional weaver Ron Garnanez said. "It's done with chants and prayers," Garnanez, 56, said while sitting at his loom on a recent Monday. "It's about things that aren't important to Western thought."
http://www.daily-times.com/ci_11866398?source=most_emailed

- Archaeology Society of New Mexico Annual Meeting Scheduled for May 1-3 in Taos, NM. "Between the Mountains, Beyond the Mountains" Contributions to the archaeology
of the Northern Rio Grande The Taos Archaeological Society is honored to be hosting the annual meeting of the Archaeological Society of New Mexico. We have an exciting weekend planned and hope you will be able to join us.
http://www.taosarch.org/Default.aspx?pageId=222817

- Society for Applied Anthropology Meetings Next Week In Santa Fe: It may have an academic-sounding name, but the Society for Applied Anthropology aspires to help solve real-life human problems around the world by applying ideas and research from the field of anthropology. The national organization will hold its annual conference March 17 through March 21 at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center. During the conference, one of Santa Fe's own will officially be recognized as a newly elected member to the society's board.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/eoto - The Santa Fe New Mexican

- Arizona State Archives Partially Reopened: (From Doug Kupel) I am happy to report some success in the campaign to re-open the State Archives building. As a result of numerous contacts and hard work behind the scenes, the Library & Archives agency has announced that the building will be open on an appointment only basis for limited hours on Tuesday and Wednesday. Here is the text of the announcement: "The State Archives will be open for research *by appointment only* every Tuesday from noon to 4:00 p.m. and every Wednesday from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., except for emergencies Please call 602-926-3720 between 10:00 a.m. and noon Monday through Friday to make an appointment. We will continue to accept research requests from patrons, but the response times will be much longer." To view the announcement on the site follow this link:
http://www.lib.az.us/archives/

- Arizona National History Day Seeks Volunteer Judges: National History Day is looking for volunteers to judge the National History Day Competition that will be held Saturday, April 4th 2009 at the Fountain Hills Middle School located at 15414 N. McDowell Mountain Road, Fountain Hills, AZ 85268. If you are available to judge the state contest, please register online. The registration link is posted below.
www.az.nhd.org/register

- Field School Announcement: 2009 UNM Southwestern Archaeology Field School at the Valles Caldera National Preserve, June 8 to July 10, 2009. This year's UNM Southwestern Archaeology Field School will investigate high altitude hunter-gatherer adaptations and land use in the Valles Caldera National Preserve in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico. Join us as we investigate the archaeological record of its prehistoric use through survey, excavation and geoarchaeological field research.
http://www.anthropologyunm.org/field_schools.html

- Field School Announcement: Field Methods in Rock Art (May 11-29, 2009) SHUMLA and Texas State University are once again offering Field Methods in Rock Art. This three-week course gives students the opportunity to earn 3-6 hours of undergraduate- or 3 hours of graduate-level credit while studying with one of the leading rock art researchers in the world. Taught at the SHUMLA campus, located 50 miles west of Del Rio, Texas, the Lower Pecos River region is the home of hundreds of rock shelters, many of which contain some of the finest examples of prehistoric rock art in the world, dating to over 4,000 years old.
http://www.shumla.org

- Planning Starts for 2009 Northern Arizona Archaeology Fair: The second annual Northern Arizona Archaeology Fair is being planned for Saturday July 11th, 2009 from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm on the Show Low campus of Northland Pioneer College. Our goal is to educate the public about cultural heritage preservation, by providing an opportunity for interaction with professionals through talks, hands-on activities and interactive educational displays. This year the fair is being sponsored by Northern Pioneer College. We are currently looking for professional archaeologists and anthropologists, native artisans, authors, educators, agencies and others who would like to participate as demonstrators and exhibitors. If you can give a talk, do a demonstration, set up a poster, or are an author who wishes to promote a book, we would like to have you as part of this special event. There will be no charge for exhibitors. We are particularly looking for those who can provide hands-on educational activities for the public.
http://www.cdarc.org/sat/naaf_2009.doc - Ms Word Document

- Owls "Move In" at Casa Grande National Monument: Visitors are always welcome at the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument and their enjoyment and experience is always the staff's No. 1 priority. But what happens when they decide they like it so much that they move in? Believe it or not, it isn't an uncommon thing for the Ruins - but it's not the kind of visitors one would expect. A family of great horned owls has taken refuge atop the west wall of the ``Great House.''
http://news.ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=1098513

- Lecture Opportunity (Santa Fe): Monday evening at 6 pm at Hotel Santa Fe, offered as a benefit for the Archaeological Conservancy, a public program graciously assisted by Hotel Santa Fe, a Picuris Pueblo Enterprise. On March 16th Ron Barber with the International Research, Analysis and Technology Development at Los Alamos National Laboratory will present "Calendars in Stone."

- Native Perspectives on Southwestern Archaeology Featured on the Archaeology Channel: Filmed at Canyon of the Ancients National Monument and the Pueblo of Acoma, this video explains how Pueblo people feel about visiting archaeological sites. The intergenerational cast from the Hopi Tribe and the pueblos of Santa Clara and Acoma emphasize the living connections between ancestral villages and the modern-day descendants of their builders. For this video, the Colorado Historical Society gave the Caroline Bancroft History Award to the Anasazi Heritage Center, which worked with the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center in its production. Plenty of reasons can be cited for visitors to take care while visiting archaeological sites, but one often overlooked is respect for living descendants. Driving this point home with compelling messages is Visit with Respect, the latest video feature on our nonprofit streaming-media Web site, The Archaeology Channel.
http://www.archaeologychannel.org

- Lecture Opportunity (Tucson): On Monday, March 16th, Dr. Paul Minnis Professor of Anthropology at the University of Oklahoma will present the monthly Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society lecture. Casas Grandes (A.D. 1200-1450) is one of the premier archaeological sites of the greater Southwest. Dr. Minnis' research concentrates on the local environment of this astonishing site and its relationship to the nearby settlements. 7:30 PM, Room 5403, University Medical Center, 1501 N Campbell Ave., Tucson. Free and open to the public.

- Employment Opportunity: Forest Archaeologist, GS-0193-12 Permanent Full Time, Taos, New Mexico, Region 3, Carson National Forest. The Carson National Forest will be filling a GS-0193 permanent full time Forest Archaeologist position through the Open and Continuous Roster (OCR) ADS08-FSJOBS(Archaeologist)-0046G. This position is located in the Supervisor's Office in Taos, New Mexico. The position has overall responsibility for implementing the forest’s archaeology program of work.
http://www.cdarc.org/sat/ gs-12_fao.doc - Ms Word Document