Southwest Archaeology Today for Sept 28, 2005

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

– Tesuque Pueblo Leaders Demand A Halt to the Excavation of Human Remains in Santa Fe: It’s not clear whether Tesuque Pueblo leaders will win their battle to stop excavation of what they say are remains of their ancestors in downtown Santa Fe. But the tribe has succeeded in delaying work on a new civic center and underground parking garage. Tim Maxwell, director of the state Office of Archaeological Studies, said about 100 “human elements” -mostly finger and toe bones -have been identified at the site. But because the archaeologists lack a state permit to excavate burials, he said, they must leave human remains where they encounter them.
http://www.hotel-online.com/News/2005_Sep_25/k.SFC.1127838473.html

-National Heritage Area Designation Could Provide Boost to Southern Arizona: Local activists are hoping that by this time next year, Congress will designate the area from Marana south to Nogales and east to include Sonoita and Elgin, as a national heritage area. What that could mean, if all goes well, is that local businesses, environmental and other nonprofits and governments could apply for federal funds for a variety of projects that promote “historic preservation, education and conservation that connect people with the place where they live,” said Jonathan Mabry, president of the Santa Cruz Valley Heritage Alliance.
http://www.azbiz.com/articles/2005/09/26/news/news02.txt

– Historic Preservation, Homes in Santa Maria, Arizona to be Spared from Highway Development: Wearing printed stickers reading “Save Historic Santa Maria,” several dozen residents of the historic Hispanic farming community appeared at the South Mountain Citizens Advisory Team meeting Thursday to speak out against a freeway alignment threatening their homes – only to find that Santa Maria has been spared.
http://tinyurl.com/apmf6 – Arizona Republic

– Review of Dave Walker’s New Book on Kokopelli: A lighthearted, profusely illustrated investigation into just who Kokopelli might have originally been, and how he has come to represent something very different, is the subject of Dave Walker’s “Cuckoo for Kokopelli” (Northland, paper, $7.95).
http://tinyurl.com/d9t5m – Mobile Register

– More on Getty Collections & Museum Ethics(1): Getty Claims that Information Pubished by the LA Times was Stolen: J. Paul Getty Museum officials said Monday a newspaper report alleging the institution knowingly acquired illegally excavated or exported objects was based on information stolen from its files. “As much as it would like to be able to do so, the Getty cannot respond to many of the Times’ assertions because they rely on privileged and confidential information stolen from the Getty’s files,” the museum said in a statement.
http://tinyurl.com/8dnp9 – AP via Yahoo News

– More on Getty Collections & Museum Ethics(2), Los Angeles’ famed Getty Museum was tight-lipped over a report that half the masterpieces in its antiquities collection had been bought from dealers accused of selling looted artifacts. The Los Angeles Times reported Sunday that the museum’s lawyers had determined that the 82 suspect items included 54 of the 104 ancient artworks that the Getty has identified as masterpieces.
http://tinyurl.com/94ngq – AFP via Yahoo News

– El Paso Archaeology Society Holds a Unique Fair for Children: The El Paso Archaeological Society will have an archaeology fair for children from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Museum of Archaeology, 4301 Trans Mountain. The fair, which coincides with Texas Archaeology Month, will have pottery making, bead stringing, face painting and pictograph making. The program also will feature a native plant display. Information: 751-0360. (El Paso Times)

– (Mesoamerica) Site Q Identified in Guatemala: team of scientists including Marcello Canuto, professor of anthropology at Yale, has found incontrovertible proof of Site Q, a long-speculated Maya city, during a mission to the northwest Peten region of Guatemala. The proof-an in-situ panel carved with over 140 hieroglyphs that fill in a key 30 year chapter in classic Maya history-was found in a little known ancient royal center called La Corona.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-09/yu-lmc092705.php

– (Mesoamerica) Nahua Pay Tribute to the Remains of Aztec Emperor Cuauhtemoc: ecked in glittering Aztec costumes with towering feather headdresses, Mexican Indians paid tribute on Monday to what they said were the bones of the last Aztec emperor, buried in a hilltop town nearly 500 years ago.
http://tinyurl.com/79kfr – Reuters via Yahoo News