Representative Kirkpatrick Introduces Legislation to Expand Casa Grande Ruins National Monument

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

Representative Kirkpatrick Introduces Legislation to Protect the Adamsville Ruin and Expand Casa Grande Ruins National Monument
It might have been an upscale residential neighborhood back in its day - 700 years ago.Now the massive mound of earth - topped with faint remains of ancient walls and pieces of prehistoric pottery - is poised for a possible new heyday as part of Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. The site east of Coolidge, known as the Adamsville Ruin, is part of a proposed 415-acre expansion of the monument. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz., last month introduced a bill that would add ancient canals, ball courts, platform mounds and fields to the preserve, which is centered on a four-story casa grande, or great house.
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/article_ae99ef90-0f87-59c1-97fb-0314a010c595.html

All State Parks and Historic Sites Listed as Part of the National Trust's 11 Most Endangered Sites
Past decades have dealt several windfalls to historic preservation. Thanks to the broadening of the movement to include places with social historical relevance, as opposed to a focus on mansions and political-history sites, “We’re seeing more diverse faces,” says Valecia Crisafulli, acting vice president of programs at the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP), “and certainly the Modernist thread is bringing in younger people.” More recently, the Great Recession has provided another jumpstart, as frugal Americans are visiting nearby historic state parks and other sites more frequently. Yet the economic downturn has put those very travel destinations in jeopardy. Budget cuts are forcing closure of myriad state-owned properties, particularly in Arizona, California, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. For that reason, this year NTHP listed all state parks and state-owned historic sites as one of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.
http://tinyurl.com/25x68jx - The Architectural Record

National Science Foundation to Require Data Management Plans for All Future Research
(From Digging Digitally) On or around October, 2010, NSF is planning to require that all proposals include a data management plan in the form of a two-page supplementary document. The change reflects a move to the Digital Age, where scientific breakthroughs will be powered by advanced computing techniques that help researchers explore and mine datasets.
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=116928&org=NSF&from=news

Special Guided Tour of the TJ Site near Gila Cliff Dwellings Announced
Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument will offer a ranger-guided tour of the TJ Site on Saturday, June 12, 2010. Visitors to Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument have the unique opportunity to explore the TJ Site, an unexcavated surface pueblo that is usually closed to the public. This free tour of the TJ site will be offered on Saturday, June 12th at 11:00 a.m. and will last approximately 1 ½ hours. The tour is limited to 20 people and reservations should be made in advance by calling the Gila Visitor Center at (575) 536-9461.

Dam Construction Results in Several Archaeological Excavations in Southern Utah
A site once occupied by prehistoric Puebloan people, which includes multiple American Indian remains, is being excavated before the place is scraped away to make room for a dam and reservoir. The ruins will eventually be flooded by the Jackson Flat Reservoir, being built by the Kane County Water Conservancy District to hold water normally lost in the summer months. It will be piped from Kanab Creek and used by farmers and possibly leased by the city and Kane County.
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_15153724?source=rss

Did the Clovis People Cause the Earth's Climate to Cool through Megafauna Extinction?
The rapid decline of mammoths and other megafauna after humans spread across the New World may explain a bone-chilling plunge in global temperatures some 12,800 years ago, researchers reported Sunday. The 100-odd species of grass-eating giants that once crowded the North American landscape released huge quantities of methane -- from both ends of their digestive tracks.
http://news.discovery.com/animals/mammoths-megafauna-global-freeze.html

Arizona Governor Recognizes 10 for Preserving State’s Heritage
n Friday, May 14, recipients of the 28th Annual Governor’s Heritage Preservation Honors Awards were recognized -- and the Grand Award winner announced -- to 250 attendees of the 8th Annual Arizona Statewide Historic Preservation Partnership Conference at the du Bois Center on the campus of Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. Presenting the awards on behalf of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer were Renée Bahl, Arizona State Parks Executive Director; James Garrison, Arizona State Historic Preservation Officer; and Lisa Henderson, Arizona Preservation Foundation Board President.
http://tinyurl.com/269x28d - Arizona Preservation Foundation

California SHPO Nominated to Chair Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
Milford Wayne Donaldson currently serves as the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) for the state of California. Mr. Donaldson is affiliated with several historical and preservation organizations and is a past president of the California Preservation Foundation and past chair of the State Historical Building Safety Board, the State Historical Resources Commission, and the Historic State Capitol Commission.
http://tinyurl.com/2dgghpf - The Whitehouse

Sheep is Life Celebration Scheduled for June (Update)
Call for Artists for the Juried Navajo Rug and Contemporary Fiber Arts Shows
at the 14th Annual Sheep is Life Celebration, Diné College, Tsailé Campus, Navajo Nation. Diné be’ iiná, Inc. presents two fiber arts sale shows on Friday, June 18, and Saturday, June 19, during the 14th Annual Sheep is Life Celebration at Diné College in Tsailé, the Navajo Nation. Contact TahNibaa Naataanii, Project Director, at 505.406.7428 for information about submitting work, e-mail info@navajolifeway.org, or go to www.navajolifeway.org. No commission is charged to the artists. Public admission is free.

Travelogue - Pueblo Grande
The Hohokam people mysteriously disappeared in the 15th century, but glimpses into their quiet, farming-based lives can be still be seen in the middle of metropolitan Phoenix, at the Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park. Occupying 3.24 acres just off of Washington Street and east of Sky Harbor Airport, the museum and village ruins illustrate how the Hohokam were pioneers of desert irrigation and flash food farming. In the museum theater, visitors can watch a 10 minute video that gives a quick history.
http://tinyurl.com/2ut2f4m - Phoenix New Times

Radiocarbon Dating Featured on the Archaeology Channel
The concept of radiocarbon dating is fairly simple, but the process that a radiocarbon laboratory goes through is quite detailed, careful and complex. You can follow a submitted sample through the laboratory process (in this case using accelerator mass spectrometry, or AMS) in Dating: The Radiocarbon Way, the latest video feature on our nonprofit streaming-media Web site, The Archaeology Channel.
http://www.archaeologychannel.org

Employment Opportunity (Monticello Ranger District)
The Manti-La Sal National Forest, located in southeastern Utah, intends to fill one GS-0193-09 Archaeologist position in the near future. This position that will serve the Moab-Monticello Ranger District and assist the Heritage Program as needed. This is a permanent full time position with a duty station of Monticello, Utah. The position will be filled only at the GS-09 level and has no promotion potential.
http://www,cdarc.org/sat/gs9_monticello.doc

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