Southwest Archaeology Today for March 15, 2006

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

– Raiding the Tomb Raiders – Archaeological Law Enforcement: A pitted and rusty Civil War bayonet and an 800-year-old stone ax head with a fine haft lay on Martin McAllister’s coffee table near a small pile of stone arrowheads. The array of objects had been seized from grave robbers and looters.
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_3596570?source=rss

– Deadline for the Joe Ben Wheat Scholarship is Fast Approaching: The scholarship was established to honor the memory of Joe Ben Wheat, a leading scholar of the American Southwest. Dr. Wheat was a curator at the University of Colorado Museum for over 40 years. He was a consummate scholar of the anthropology of the American Southwest and Colorado Plains. His work in Southwestern Indian jewelry, textiles, and pottery significantly expanded the scope and quality of the Museum’s collections. His archaeological research in Paleoindian and Puebloan archaeology was original and challenging. The scholarship supports graduate studies in Dr. Wheat’s areas of research.
http://www.cdarc.org/sat/jbw_fund_flyer.doc

– Mesa Verde Centennial Symposium Registration now Online: From Linda A Towle, The on-line registration is now live. Information on the Symposium, the registration form, the draft agenda, and list of field trips can be found at:
http://www.mesaverde2006.org

– 100th Anniversary of the Antiquites Act Featured on National Park Service Website:
National Park Service has added a “feature” called “Antiquities Act 1906-2006” to its already extensive archaeology program website. Far more than a feature, this is a mini-gateway to the Antiquities Act and the National Monuments that presidents have created using it.
http://www.archaeology.org/online/reviews/act1906.html
http://www.cr.nps.gov/archeology/sites/antiquities/

– Water and the Future of the Hopi and Navajo: A new spin on an old topic – the ability of Native Americans to create self-sufficient economies – is resonating across the high desert and table-top mesas of ancient Navajo and Hopi lands. A grass-roots coalition is promoting new ideas about economic development on reservations where more than half the adults are unemployed. The coalition urges not reopening a coal mine that provided a few high-paying jobs but creating a bigger job base in wind and solar energy. At the heart of the dispute is water, the arid region’s scarcest resource. Water’s role is particularly contentious because to Hopis and Navajos, it’s more than a necessity. It’s sacred – Earth’s first living spirit.
http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/0314Arizona-Utility-ON.html
Also See http://tinyurl.com/mqdo3 – USA Today

– Border Politics and the Impacts upon Cultural Resources: An independent advisory panel today is calling for both the U.S. and Mexican governments to step up spending at the border to clear up smog-producing congestion and prevent damage to archaeological sites, Indian burial grounds and important ecosystems.
http://tinyurl.com/rkhea – Albuquerque Tribune

– Arizona History Competition Needs Judges: There is an urgent need for judges at the state finals of National History Day in Arizona, April 8, 2006, in Phoenix. NHD is short 22 category judges and four special awards judges. NHD had 270 students last year and there are 375 eligible this year. It’s a little disconcerting for those planning the event. If you can help judge (it is easy and fun) please contact Laurie Devine as noted below. Thank you! Laurie Devine. 602-542-4159 ldevine@lib.az.us

– Travelogue – Canyon De Chelly: First occupied by humans thousands of years ago, Canyon de Chelly is one of the longest continuously inhabited landscapes in North America, Mary Kirk-Anderson writes. Canyons are funny things. They sneak up on you – no warning, no build- up, no distant view of craggy peaks slowly growing from the horizon. Suddenly you are just there, at the edge, looking down, sometimes way, way down. Nowhere is this truer than with the great canyons in the south-west of the United States, particularly in Arizona, the Canyon State. In a landscape that is often barely undulating, these sudden chasms, sometimes like nothing so much as inverted mountains, split open the desert to reveal a hidden world.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3603748a2180,00.html

– Archaeology Month Lectures in Tucson Sponsored by the Arizona State Museum: All Lectures from 7-9 PM and are free to the public.
* March 21 Tumamoc Hill: Tucson’s First Public Architecture, Drs. Paul and Suzanne Fish, ASM north, room 309.
* March 23 What We Know and What We Need to Find Out About Mission San Agust