Utah Family Helps to Excavate Ancestral Home

Archaeology Making the News, a Service of the Center for Desert Archaeology

Utah Family Helps to Excavate Ancestral Home
On Saturday, many descendants of the Benjamin F Johnson and Joel H. Johnson families gathered to assist the Uinta National Forest Archaeologist, Charmaine Thompson, and the local residents of Spring Lake with the excavation of the foundation of the B. F. Johnson home. Because The home was so large and made of adobe's, it was dubbed the "Mud Castle," and is located between Payson and Santaquin, Utah, on the East side of highway 6.
http://tinyurl.com/2f4tswm - Daily Herald

NBC News Covers Arizona State Parks Crisis
"It would make it very easy for illegal collectors to come in here and dig up the sites and do irreperable damage." - Karen Berggren, former Homolovi Ruins State Park Manager.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/ns/nightly_news#37541223

BLM’s El Malpais National Conservation Area Presents the Next Chapter of "Walking with the Ancestors" Hikes
Celebrate Summer Solstice and beat the heat with a sunrise hike to possible solstice-marking petroglyphs and the mesa top site, Citadel. Discover El Malpais secret cool weather and the active time for its wildlife. The hike will be held on Saturday, June 19th.
http://www.cdarc.org/sat/el_malpais_solstice.doc

New Issue of Preserve America Newsletter Available
This issue focuses upon the selection of Wayne Donaldson as the new chairman of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and the termination of Preserve America Funding.
http://www.preserveamerica.gov/newsletter/june10/june10.htm

Avocational Archaeologist Rex Owens Donates Research Materials to Thatcher Museum
The personal notes and books of amateur archaeologist Rex Owens of Eden are at the Graham County Historical Society Museum in Thatcher. Though not on display yet, the donated items are being cataloged by museum volunteers and will soon be a welcome addition to reference and research materials housed in the museum, said Hal Herbert, museum historian.
http://www.eacourier.com/articles/2010/06/04/news/doc4c059c7a02d5a394961150.txt

X-Rays Fail to Find Clovis Tool Remnants in Controversial Ancient Bison Remains
Architect (sic) Steve Kenady examined the bones of an ancient, extinct giant bison by x-ray today at Orcas Family Health Center, unarguably the clinic's oldest "patient". Kenady was checking for remnants of stone tools that could have been used to slaughter the animal, but the scans revealed nothing but bison bone. The discovery roughly three years ago piqued curiosity in the global scientific community, inspiring new theories of human migration to the Pacific coast because some of the bones bear the marks of human butchery using stone tools. Earlier theories had maintained that the Clovis people were the earliest inhabitants of the region, but the bones, estimated by radiocarbon dating in an Irvine lab to be roughly 14,000 years old, pre-date the Clovis era by 800 years.
http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/sanjuans/isj/news/95810309.html

Newly Hired Director of Arizona State Parks Vandalized Historic Structure, Homol'ovi Ruins State Park Threatened Again

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

- Newly Hired Director of Arizona State Parks Vandalized Historic Arizona Structure in 1999: The woman chosen to be the next director of Arizona's state parks once carved her name into a historic park property in southeastern Arizona. She also helped recover thousands of acres of burned parkland in San Diego County and launched an innovative system for making campground reservations online. The Arizona State Parks Board's unanimous selection of Renée Bahl to take over the parks system next month has polarized state leaders.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/fcmt - Arizona Republic
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/breakingnews/115719.php

- Homol'ovi Ruins State Park On the Arizona Fiscal Chopping Block, Again: As the Legislature grapples with a $3 billion budget shortfall for fiscal 2010, Homolovi Ruins, the only state park dedicated to Native American culture, is among facilities that could face closure as Arizona State Parks anticipates budget cuts.That's no small worry to Lomaomuaya (sic) and others in the Hopi Tribe, whose reservation lies 60 miles north of Homolovi Ruins but whose history is embedded in this auburn expanse that means "place of the little hills" in Hopi.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/05/03/20090503homolovi0504.html
http://cronkite.asu.edu/newsroom/video/042909-homolovi.html

- Tucsonans Grudgingly Reminded of City's Historic Role in Camp Grant Massacre: It was the bloodiest day in Arizona history, and it is seldom discussed. Three recent books and a campaign to mark the site of the Camp Grant Massacre attempt to cure what one historian calls our "amnesia" about the slaughter of more than 100 Apaches, mostly women and children, who were clubbed to death or shot as they fled Aravaipa Canyon about 60 miles northeast of Tucson.
http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/291314

- Reminder, This Month's Archaeology Cafe Will Present Amazing Evidence About the Early Agricultural Period from the Site of Las Capas: Tuesday, May 5th at 6:00 PM, at Casa Vicente, 375 S. Stone Avenue, Tucson, AZ The Center for Desert Archaeology invites you to the eighth meeting of Archaeology Café, a casual, happy hour-style discussion forum dedicated to promoting community engagement with cultural and scientific research. This month, a panel led by archaeologist Jim Vint and geoarchaeologist Fred Nials will share up-to-the-minute information from ongoing excavations at the site of Las Capas along the Santa Cruz River. Investigations by Tucson-based Desert Archaeology, Inc. are revealing complex agricultural irrigation systems that date back 3,000 years! The remarkably well-preserved fields even retain evidence of planting holes for maize and other crops. The project was recently featured in a segment on KUAT's nightly newsmagazine, Arizona Illustrated. Free and open to the community-all are welcome. Participants are encouraged to support our hosts at Casa Vicente by purchasing their own food and drinks.
http://www.cdarc.org/pages/articles.php?req=read&article_id=763

- Historic Preservation in Las Vegas Seen as Something of a Challenge: To celebrate Archaeology Awareness and Historic Preservation Month, the Nevada State Historic Preservation Office encourages residents to take historic walking tours and visit archaeological sites throughout the state. Getting Southern Nevadans, particularly newcomers, to care about area history, be it prehistoric or mid-century modern, is no easy task, even though we have the Neon Boneyard, Heritage Street at the Clark County Museum, the Las Vegas High School Historic District, the Morelli House and the St. Thomas Historic ruins. Some preservationists attribute the problem to the disconnect between new residents and history, a history often diminished because it isn’t really history. It’s just stuff that happened a few years ago — the buildings are 50 years old, not 300.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/may/01/las-vegas-past-tends-disappear-fast/

- Public Asked for Comment on New Mesa Verde Entrance Station: Mesa Verde National Park has prepared the Environmental Assessment for Entrance Station Improvements at Mesa Verde National Park. The document, which describes and examines the impacts of the proposed project, will be on public review through May 26.
http://www.cortezjournal.com/Main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=5877

- The Mystery Disappearance of Everett Russ Solved by Find In Comb Ridge: A skeleton found in Utah's redrock country was that of a talented artist, poet and wanderer of the 1930s whose disappearance became the stuff of Western lore and Navajo legend, scientists confirmed Thursday.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/7nyu - San Diego Union Tribune

- Hohokam Homes Excavated in Green Valley AZ: Just steps away from a Green Valley storage center lies a hidden treasure — an 800-year-old archaeological site once occupied by the prehistoric Hohokam people. Archeologists hired by the Pima County Department of Transportation have been excavating the site along Whitehouse Canyon road since late March and ended the dig April 21 after collecting more than 500 artifacts. The research team was called out to excavate the area before it is paved as part of a county road-widening project, set to begin later this year.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/eu08 - Green Valley News

- Financial Crisis Threatening Mesa Museums: Grim budgets have Mesa officials looking at new ways to hold on to the arts and cultural resources of the city. Finances are so bad at the Mesa Historical Museum, a nonprofit entity, and the city-run Arizona Museum for Youth that voluntary groups supporting each have told the city they won’t be able to continue raising money to sustain day-to-day operations.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/138712

- New Book Explores Links Between Rock Art, Shamanism, and Science. David S Whitley is clearly a man who has moved at the centre of prehistoric archaeology for decades. In Cave Paintings and the Human Spirit he takes us into that world: roughly half of the book is an account of the archaeological debates, quarrels and missteps that have marked the exploration and attempts at explanation of the cave art of prehistoric Europe and associated genres. On that he’s entertaining, anecdotal, and so far as I can tell a faithful guide.
ttp://blogcritics.org/books/article/book-review-cave-paintings-and-the/

Homolovi Ruins Closure Looms, New Perspectives on the Hohokam, Chaco Chocolate

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

- Homolovi Ruins on List of Recommended Closures: Arizona officials are recommending closures of five state parks immediately and three more in coming months because of midyear budget cuts made to eliminate a revenue shortfall. The parks recommended for closure include the Homolovi Ruins State Park in Winslow.
http://www.gallupindependent.com/2009/02February/020409hopiruins.html

- Cacao at Chaco: For years Patricia Crown puzzled over the cylindrical clay jars found in the ruins at Chaco Canyon, the great complex of multistory masonry dwellings set amid the arid mesas of northwestern New Mexico. They were utterly unlike other pots and pitchers she had seen.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/04/us/04cocoa.html?_r=1&emc=eta1
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2009/202/3

- Salazar Cancels Drilling Leases: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Wednesday canceled leases to drill for gas and oil on 77 parcels of public land in Utah. The leases, which cover more than 100,000 acres, including lands near Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, were auctioned in the last weeks of the Bush administration. They were among 11th-hour actions taken by the Bush Interior Department that have been criticized by environmental groups and are being reviewed by Obama officials.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/05/us/05leases.html?scp=6&sq=salazar&st=cse

- Historic Home in Downtown Tucson to Close: The Sosa-Carrillo-Frémont House, one of Tucson's oldest structures, will be shuttered by the Arizona Historical Society because of state budget cuts. The territorial-era home that sits next to the Tucson Convention Center Music Hall on South Granada Avenue will be closed within "the next couple of weeks," said Deborah Shelton, director for the society's Southern Arizona district.
http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/278360

- Exhibit Opening, “Pieces of the Puzzle: New Perspectives on the Hohokam.” A collaboration between the Center for Desert Archaeology and Pueblo Grande Museum, this dynamic exhibition explores the Center’s long-term research on the Hohokam and population decline in late prehistory. The exhibition runs from February 13 through October 4, 2009, at Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park. For more information on location and hours, follow the link below.
http://phoenix.gov/PARKS/pueblo.html

- Exhibit Opening, “Circles of Life: Katsina Imagery in Hopi Basketry.” February 7–July 3, 2009 at the Arizona State Museum. The importance and impact of the katsina [kachina] religion is pervasive in Hopi culture. Many people are familiar with carved representations of katsinas, but images of the beneficent supernatural messengers also appear on Hopi pottery, paintings, and basketry. Historic pieces and the work of eight contemporary weavers demonstrate the continuing vitality of this art form. Enjoy a historic overview of the Hopi basket-making traditions, techniques and types, and learn how to "read" and identify distinguishing katsina iconography.
http://www.statemuseum.arizona.edu/exhibits/index.shtml

- Disturbing Vandalism near Canyon of the Ancients: The Bureau of Land Management is looking for whoever is responsible for destroying signs and dumping hundreds of pounds of rotting carcasses on national land near the Canyon of the Ancients. The BLM says in mid January, officers found 700 pounds of processed body parts of elk and cattle were dumped near the mouth of Rock Creek Canyon in Montezuma County.
http://www.9news.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=109037&catid=346

- 2008 NAGPRA Developments: 2008 may be viewed as one of the most momentous years for the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act since the federal law was passed in 1990. The first big fireworks occurred in April when Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff announced that NAGPRA was one of several federal laws that would be waived to speed construction of a border fence between the U.S. and Mexico.
http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/politics/39208267.html

- Internship Opportunity: The Robert L. Akerley Anthropology Collections and Archaeological Research Intern at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science will participate in all aspects of anthropological collections management activities related to managing a world-class and extensive material culture collection. The intern may also participate in archaeological fieldwork and laboratory work. For more information, refer to the following link.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/1nxx - Denver Museum of Nature & Science

- Lecture Opportunity, "Environmental and Biotic Consequences of Major Extraterrestrial Impact over North America 12,900 Years Ago.” On February 12, 2009, Dr. James P. Kennett will speak at a meeting of the Pacific Coast Archaeological Society. The presentation, which is free and open to the public, will take place at 7:30 pm at the Irvine Ranch Water District, 15600 Sand Canyon Ave., Irvine, CA. For information, follow the link below.
http://www.pcas.org

- Lecture Opportunity, “Historic Landscape Preservation through Geographic Information System.” Paul Dolinsky, chief of the National Park Service's Historic American Landscape Survey (HALS) and John Knoerl, chief of NPS Cultural Resources GIS, will speak on Monday, February 9, as part of the University of Arizona College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture’s Spring 2009 Lecture Series. The lecture will begin at 5pm at AME Room 202. This lecture is sponsored in part by the Preservation Studies program and the National Park Service's Desert Southwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit. More information is available at the first link. A map is accessible at the second link.
http://www.cdarc.org./sat/crgis_lecture.pdf
http://iiewww.ccit.arizona.edu//uamap/staticLarge/119.html

Thanks to Gerald Kelso for his contribution to today’s newsletter.

Nevada Archaeological Crime Prosecuted, New Home for Arizona Archives, Lecture on Hohokam Rituals Tonight

Southwest Archaeology Making the News – A Service of the Center for Desert Archaeology

- Father and Son Plead ‘Not Guilty’ to Looting Charges: A father and son from Northern California have pleaded not guilty to charges alleging they illegally collected Indian artifacts in Nevada. Donald Parker, who is 69, and his 42-year-old son, Steven Parker, were arraigned Thursday in U.S. District Court in Sacramento.
http://www.fresnobee.com/384/story/1013798.html

- Arizona Archives Move to New Facility: As constitutions go, it doesn’t exactly evoke a sense of history. It’s typewritten. Typewriters, after all, were the latest thing in 1910, when the state Constitution was drafted. Still, the document is a part of history. It’s an archive. And it will soon have a new home, one more modern than a typewriter.
http://azcapitoltimes.com/story.cfm?id=9857
http://www.azcapitoltimes.com/story.cfm?ID=9858

- Homolovi Hosts Hopi Artists: The history of northern Arizona is rooted in the movement of Pueblo clans. The descendents of these people produce art that depicts their stories and traditions, and you can see the artists at work from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday at Homolovi Ruins State Park. Hopi artist demonstrations will be featured every Saturday through December 20.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/7ndx - The Arizona Republic

- Non-Native, But Still Heirloom: The Kino Heritage Fruit Trees Project involves finding the oldest heirloom trees, taking cuttings and planting them. The project's goal is to replant the heirloom trees at the mission gardens in Tumacácori National Historic Park, south of Tucson. Heirloom trees will also be planted in Tucson in the Rio Nuevo gardens of Origins Heritage Park on the west bank of the Santa Cruz, near the nursery.
http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/267480

- Accomplished Prescott Craftsman Entrusted with Katsina Restorations: Hopi and Zuni carvers entrust Neely with their personal doll repairs, and he in turn promises that he would never carve his own katsina doll. "The Hopi have a very complex religion and culture. I respect that and treat the dolls that way," he said.
http://www.dcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&subsectionID=1&articleID=61326

- Lecture Opportunity Tonight, “Hohokam Rituals: The Meso-American Connection.” Dr. Stephanie Whittlesey of SWCA Environmental Services will speak at 7:30 pm at the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society’s free monthly lecture. The event, which is open to the public, will be held tonight, November 17, at the DuVal Auditorium of the University Medical Center, 1501 N. Campbell Avenue, Tucson. For more information, refer to the following link.
http://www.statemuseum.arizona.edu/aahs/lectures.shtml

- Lecture Opportunity, “In the Aftermath of Ancestral Puebloan Migrations to Southern Arizona.” Dr. Anna Neuzil of EcoPlan Associates will speak on Thursday, November 20, at 7:30 pm at Old Pueblo Archaeology Center, 5100 W. Ina Road, Bldg. 8, Tucson. Old Pueblo’s lecture program, which occurs on the third Thursday of every month, is free and open to the public. For more information on the lecture series and other exciting activities happening this week, visit Old Pueblo’s website below.
http://www.oldpueblo.org/

- Exhibition Opening, BLM Anasazi Heritage Center, “The Old Spanish Trail: A Conduit for Change.” On the day after Thanksgiving the Anasazi Heritage Center will open a special exhibit about the Southwest’s earliest and most important historic trade route, which ran from northern New Mexico to the Pacific coast. The exhibition traces the trail's history through artifacts, maps, and images. It was developed by the Center of Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado in conjunction with the Old Spanish Trail Association, and made possible in part by a cost share grant from the NPS National Trails System Office in Santa Fe. The exhibition continues through October 2009. For more information, call the Center at (970) 882-5600 or visit the website below.
www.blm.gov/ahc

- Travelogue – History of Natural Bridges National Monument: The monument now features a paved entrance road, a campground, a fancy visitor center, video program and modern ranger residences. But it began simply with the dream of pioneers who believed in conservation and stewardship of special places. "We owe them a great debt," said Ryan. "It is overwhelming."
http://www.sltrib.com/help/ci_10810444

Thanks to Doug Kupel for contributions to today’s newsletter.

25 Years at Crow Canyon, U of AZ Language Studies, Homol'ovi

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

- Crow Canyon Celebrates 25 Years of Research: Over Crow Canyon Archaeological Center’s 25 years of existence, a variety of people from different places have visited, participated in a program, and had the center, and southwest Colorado, become a special place in their minds and memories. The center, founded in 1983, first attracted Lynn Romay-Khourie, of Haytime, Mo., in 1986 and 1987. She heard about their educational programs through an advertisement in an archaeology magazine.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/i0sm - Cortez Journal

- University of Arizona Working to Preserve Southwestern Languages: Research has shown that students of color who learn in their native language and are taught about their respective cultures and heritage tend to perform better academically. That is one reason why The University of Arizona’s American Indian Language Development Institute is working to preserve and revitalize indigenous languages and to also help educators figure out ways to teach languages to others.
http://uanews.org/node/19899

- Hopi History on Display at Homol'ovi Ruins State Park: The park, just off Interstate 40 north of Winslow, was created in 1993 at the urging of the Hopis, who were desperate to save their ancient villages from thieves and vandals. The ruins of villages from the 1200s to the late 1300s were filled with thousands of pots, luring unscrupulous collectors. "In the 1960s, a guy came in here with a backhoe," Berggren says. The thieves stole the pots and destroyed much of the surrounding village structures, all of which are sacred to the Hopis. It would be like tourists chipping off pieces of the Sistine Chapel ceiling when they visited. "We estimate we've lost 95 percent of the pots," Berggren says.
http://www.azcentral.com/travel/arizona/features/articles/0530homolovi0601.html

USC Conference Explores the "Underground" of the West: Historians digging up the past of California and the West have hit a rich vein of underground topics: cemeteries, coal mines, secret escape tunnels, buried treasures, earthquake faults and a little girl trapped in a well nine stories below. On the surface (no pun intended), these subjects may not have much in common other than what USC history professor William Deverell calls their "undergroundness." But "the subterranean West is a really important West," he said, noting the economic power of mining, oil gushers and water rights.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/3vve - LA Times (site may require user registration)

- Employment Opportunity (Tempe): Director of Cultural Resources – Senior Archeologist. Logan Simpson Design has a position open for a Director of Cultural Resources in our Tempe, AZ office. The ideal candidate will have the ability to achieve efficient, profitable, timely, and technically excellent performance from the cultural team through effective leadership, mentoring, training, and supervision. Individual must be able to demonstrate success in a management position while having frequent client and agency contact in a decision-making role. Minimum Requirements: Must have at least a Masters degree (Ph.D. preferred) in Anthropology or related field with twelve or more years of Southwestern archaeology consulting or agency experience or equivalent combination. Must have a minimum of 4 years of management or supervisory experience in a Cultural setting, Excellent technical writing, verbal communication, and public speaking skills. If you meet all the minimum requirements and would like to apply for this position, please email your résumé to hr@lsdaz.com. Please include a cover letter which includes your salary history. Contact Sue Tinsman, Human Resources Manager, Logan Simpson Design, Inc. 51 West Third Street, Suite 450 Tempe, AZ 85281,
Ph: 480.967.1343,Fax: 480.966.9232, stinsman@lsdaz.com