New Exhibit at Arizona State Museum Highlights Clovis Era Naco Kill Site

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

New Exhibit at Arizona State Museum Highlights Clovis Era Naco Kill Site
"The Naco site is arguably the best evidence for human killing of a mammoth in the world, in all of human prehistory," said Jesse Ballenger, a doctoral student in the University of Arizona School of Anthropology, whose thesis is on the topic.
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/44ad1162-9f23-58fe-92e9-3bc18a6f0996.html


Charges Upheld In Four Corners Looting Case
A federal judge has denied a request to dismiss 14 felony counts against a Utah man charged after a two-year federal investigation into illegal trafficking of American Indian artifacts.
http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20100412/NEWS/100419903/1058/rss


Hopi Ruins Threatened by Closure of State Park
As states across the country scramble to close budget gaps, many are targeting state parks. Arizona is the first to go through with it. In February, the state closed five of its 30 parks, and a number of them contain fragile archaeological sites.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125672892&ft=1&f=1003


Utah Prehistory Week to be Celebrated May 1-8
During Utah Prehistory Week you can learn about Utah's long-ago past and have fun while doing it. Statewide events will give you insight into groups who made their lives here for thousands of years...
http://history.utah.gov/archaeology/i_love_archaeology/prehistory_week/index.html


Cultural Resource Management in the Tularosa Basin
A diverse crew of archaeologists and interns are about to finish excavation of a large pre-Columbian site in a narrow strip of land on U.S. Highway 54 just south of Carrizozo. In a grid barely 100-feet wide and 200-feet long, three Navajos, a Pueblo-Comanche, two women of German and Jewish heritage, and two Mexican Americans have worked side by side since last October, despite roaring semi-tractor trailers, cars and recreational vehicles on the two-lane highway.
http://www.alamogordonews.com/ci_14879083


Recent Earthquake Damages Yuma Territorial Prison
Sunday's 7.2-magnitude earthquake has lent new urgency for the need to repair the sally port at Yuma Territorial Prison. "It was cracked already," said Charles Flynn, executive director of Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area, which took over operation of the state park on March 30. "There are now additional cracks," he said. "There has been further degradation of the sally port. The earthquake just added deterioration on the structure where we already saw deterioration."
http://www.yumasun.com/news/prison-57537-sallyport-need.html


Heritage Sites in Northern Baja California Not Damaged by Earthquake
The National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) reports that Baja California cultural heritage presents no damage provoked by the earthquake of April 4th 2010. Baja California INAH Center informed that after several inspections conducted at main cultural centers and archaeological sites guarded by INAH, no affectations were reported.
http://www.artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=37368


National Endowment for the Humanities offering Small Preservation Grants
Preservation Assistance Grants help small and mid-sized institutions—such as libraries, museums, historical societies, archival repositories, cultural organizations, town and county records offices, and colleges and universities—improve their ability to preserve and care for their humanities collections.
http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/pag.html


Publication Announcement: Archaeology and Cultural Resource Management: A Vision for the Future. Edited by Lynne Sebastian and William D. Lipe.
By most estimates, as much as 90 percent of the archaeology done in the United States today is carried out in the field of cultural resource management. The effects of this work on the archaeological record, the archaeological profession, and the heritage of the American people would be difficult to overemphasize.
http://tinyurl.com/y3vzrt2 - SAR Press


Lecture Opportunity (Albuquerque)
Eric Blinman, Ph.D. will present "The Rear View Mirror: 2000 Years of People and Climate Change in the Southwest" on Tuesday, April 27, 2010 at 7:00 PM in the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science DynaTheater. Debates about climate change tend to lack a historical context. As we look back on the archaeological record of human and climate history in the Southwest, two conclusions are obvious: climate change will happen, and it will have consequences for our way of life. Admission will cost $5 public, $4 members, and $3 for students.


Lecture Opportunity (Tucson)
Monday, April 19th, 7:30 pm. The monthly Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society lecture will be given by Will Tsoise. Will's talk is entitled “Y á d i i l a, H á d i i l i ł ? !: Perspective from a practicing Native American archaeologist”. The lecture which is free and open to the public will be held at DuVal Auditorium, UMC, 1501 N. Campbell Ave, Tucson.
Thanks to Carrie Gregory, Gerald Kelso, Doug Kupel, and Paul Yoder for contributing to today's newsletter.