Mogollon Conference Begins October 4th

Mogollon Conference Begins October 4th
Western New Mexico University Museum is hosting the 17th Biennial Mogollon Archaeology Conference on the WNMU campus October 4-6. Over 100 archaeologists conducting research in and individuals interested in the Mogollon culture area of the American Southwest are expected to attend the conference. “WNMU Museum has hosted the conference several times since I became the director in 1991,” said Dr. Cynthia Bettison, WNMU Museum Director. “Archaeologists love being in Silver City – the archaeology, the environment, the University Museum, the people and the restaurants all being a draw.” http://www.demingheadlight.com/deming-news/ci_21629428/mogollon-conference-feature-over-100-archeologists

Interior Secretary Salazar Expresses High Praise for Mesa Verde
Mesa Verde National Park’s new Visitor Center and Research Facility is not quite completed, but it already is drawing praise for its innovation while keeping down costs. “You live in one of the most beautiful places,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told a small group of local dignitaries and federal lands employees Saturday morning in front of the new building. “This park is the crown jewel of history” among the nation’s parks, he added. The Visitor Center and Research Facility can be seen from the highway and will help boost tourism to the United States, Salazar said. http://durangoherald.com/article/20120922/NEWS01/120929820/-1/news01&source=RSS

On the Menu for Tucson’s Next Archaeology Café – Tucson,  A Drear, Bleak, Desolate Place
Historical archaeologist Homer Thiel (Desert Archaeology, Inc.) tells the story of Tucson’s historic abandoned cemeteries. We will gather October 2nd, after 5:00 p.m., and the presentation will begin by 6:15 p.m. Outdoor seating is open and unreserved, but limited. Share tables and make new friends! The event is free. Please support our hosts at Casa Vicente by ordering refreshments from the menu.  https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/event/archaeology-cafe-tucson-a-drear-bleak-desolate-place/

Working at the Intersection of Atomic and Archaeology
The DRI was involved in archeological research, so I basically take crews out before any projects started by the U.S. Department of Energy. One of the surveys that needed to be done by law is an archeological survey. … Archeologists have to be given time before that to find out if there are artifacts that need to be mapped out and collected. So my first eight or nine years of my career were mostly spent on archeology digs out on the Nevada Test Site (Now known as the National Security Site). http://www.lvrj.com/business/nevadan-at-work-scientist-works-to-share-the-stories-in-nevada-s-archaeology-171980841.html

Scholar’s Efforts in the Preservation of Hispanic Culture a Gift to New Mexico
For the past 30-plus years García has devoted his life to the preservation of New Mexico’s Hispanic language, culture and folklore. His formative years provided the foundation for many of the 25 books he has written and co-written. “I still remember all of the riddles that my maternal grandmother, Lucinda Atencio, who lived in Bernalillo, taught me when I would spend summers with her as a small boy,” García said.  http://www.santafenewmexican.com/local%20news/093012anpacheco#.UGjwZ01UWHc

National Archaeology Day Celebrated with Special Tours in Tubac on October 7
In celebration of National Archaeology Month, Tubac Presidio State Historic Park and Tumacácori National Historical Park will collaborate to provide special tours of two unique archaeological sites on Sunday, Oct. 7. From 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., historians Philip Halpenny and Gwen Griffin will offer a guided tour of the Barrio de Tubac archaeological site that preserves the remains of the original 1752 Spanish colonial Tubac town site. http://www.nogalesinternational.com/community/unique-tours-on-tap-for-archaeology-month/article_1263f838-0985-11e2-8109-0019bb2963f4.html

Lecture Opportunity – Baboquivari
Friends of Buenos  Aires NWR will present Some History of the Altar Valley and The Buenos Aires NWR in the refuge Education Center in beautiful Brown Canyon at the base of Baboquivari Peak on Saturday, October 27, 2012, 9:30 AM – 5:00 PM. The presenter will be Mary Kasulaitis, historian, author, manager of the Pima County Caviglia-Arivaca Branch Library, and life-long resident of the Arivaca area. The program includes a gourmet catered lunch and afternoon tour of the refuge. Attendance fees are $35 for FOBANWR residents and $50 for non-members. More information and online registration are availabe here: http://friendsofbanwr.intuitwebsites.com/Brown-Canyon-Schedule.html

From the Armchair Marcaeologist Blog – Village of the Great Kivas, Part I
For years I had heard tell of an amazing Chaco outlier site on the Zuni Reservation, excavated by Frank H.H. Roberts, a legend of early southwestern archaeology, in the 1930s. It was called The Village of the Great Kivas because there were two of the huge subterranean rooms at  what was otherwise a relatively minor site. The implications for archaeologists were that it served as a regional center for all the local Chacoan villages, a materials redistribution point and political symbol of Chaco Canyon’s long reach. I wanted to go there.  http://tucsoncitizen.com/armchair-marcaeologist/2012/09/25/the-village-of-the-great-kivas-part-1/

Lecture Opportunity – Phoenix 
On Saturday, October 6, from 3  to 4pm, Melissa Kruse-Peeples will present The Agricultural Landscape of Baby Canyon Pueblo at the Deer Valley Rock Art Center.  The standing walls, ceramics, and rock art panels at Baby Canyon Pueblo, in the Agua Fria National Monument, serve as impressive representations of village life 700 years ago. However, the landscape surrounding the main ruin reveals an equally remarkable picture of prehistoric life at the Pueblo. Hundreds of terraces used to control water and soil for agricultural production have been found among the ruins of small farmsteads and concentrations of agave rock piles. Melissa Kruse-Peeples will present an overview of archaeological research at Baby Canyon, focusing on what the study of agricultural features and dietary evidence reveals about prehistoric people’s use of the changing landscape.

Tour Opportunity – Canyon de Chelly
Tucson’s Old Pueblo Archaeology Center is offering a “Canyon de Chelly Archaeology and Cultures” educational tour with archaeologist Ronald H. Towner, Ph.D., of the University of Arizona’s Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research. Tour participants will drive their own vehicles and meet in Chinle, Arizona, on Thursday October 11, 2012, visit sites Friday and Saturday, and return home Sunday October 14. Northeastern Arizona‘s Canyon de Chelly is one of the most beautiful and unique places on the planet, featuring towering sandstone cliffs, abundant streamside vegetation, ancient cliff dwellings, and Navajo families who have lived in the canyon for generations. Dr. Towner has 30+ years experience in southwestern archaeology and history and in guiding tours to archaeological sites. The $225 fee ($210 for Old Pueblo Archaeology Center and Pueblo Grande Museum Auxiliary members) includes an all-day canyon-bottom tour in a six-wheel-drive vehicle on Saturday. Except for that excursion, participants are responsible for their own transportation, meals, and lodging. 520-798-1201 or info@oldpueblo.org

News from the Archaeology Channel
The latest installment of the Video News from TAC features the following stories: 1)  A Maya pyramid at El Zotz, Guatemala, with images done in dramatic painted stucco and a royal tomb full of artifacts and human remains, may have linked the deceased lord to the eternal sun.  2) Technicians using ancient building techniques work to save crumbling walls at  “The Mithraeum of the Painted Walls” in Ostia Antica, the harbor of classical Rome. 3) Workers restore Paschoal Hall, the central structure of Kalaupapa on Molokai Island, Hawaii, where lepers have sought refuge and treatment since the 1860s. See these stories in theSeptember 2012 edition of this monthly half-hour show, available now on our nonprofit streaming-media Web site, The Archaeology Channel (http://www.archaeologychannel.org) as well as on cable TV in cities across the US.