Southwest Archaeology Today for Aug. 29, 2006

Archaeology making the news – a service of the Center for Desert Archaeology.

– SAA Abstracts for rock art session: Call for papers – There are spots for papers in the following proposed session in the Symposium for SAA 2007, sponsored by the Rock Art Interest Group. “The Sacred and the Secular: Recent Advances in Rock Art Research in Texas and the High Plains.” The proposed abstract is: “Recent research continues to expand our understanding of rock art in Texas, the surrounding regions, and the High Plains. Advances in chronometric dating, iconographic analysis and interpretations, inter-regional relationships, conservation and education each contribute to our evolving views of the significance of rock art and its relationship to the traditional archeological record. Papers in this session address these aspects at the local, regional and continental perspectives.” If you would like to submit a paper please e-mail a subject and title and/or a 100 word abstract by August 28th to: Elton R. Prewitt, RPA, erprewitt@earthlink.net.

– 3 photo journals capture diversity in the Southwest:
“CLASSIC HOPI AND ZUNI KACHINA FIGURES,” photographs by Andrea Portago, text by Barton Wright, Museum of New Mexico Press
“FINE INDIAN JEWELRY OF THE SOUTHWEST: THE MILLICENT ROGERS MUSEUM COLLECTION,” Shelby Tisdale, Museum of New Mexico Press
“MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK: THE FIRST 100 YEARS,” Rose Houk, Faith Marcovecchio, Duane A. Smith, Mesa Verde Museum Association and Fulcrum Publishing
While these three books discuss the arts and crafts, attitudes and history of Southwestern populations, the diversity of their origins and the remarkable similarity and continuity of their art makes for fascinating reading.
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,645195905,00.html

– Chimney Rock’s lunar drama awe-inspiring: The major lunar standstill occurs once every 18.6 years. But if you’re on top of things you can milk it for a year or more in either direction. That’s what they’ve been doing at Chimney Rock Archaeological Area since last year, and will continue to do through part of next year. How to describe “major lunar standstill”? Without going into excruciating detail, one only needs to know that the moon rises at different points along the horizon each day. Each month the moon wobbles north to south and back again on the horizon. (It takes the sun a year to do this.) During most years the wobble is not so significant. But that wobble is at its greatest right now, so great that the moon is rising farther north than the sun does at summer solstice. The inhabitants of Chaco Canyon understood this 18.6-year cycle. They used this astronomical fact, and others, some archaeologists believe, to exert influence over their fellow man.
http://tinyurl.com/ke49s

– Utah treasures need home: Recently, the Utah Museum of Natural History gave the Deseret Morning News editorial board a glimpse of its varied collections. Among the items was a cast of the head of Utah’s state dinosaur, the Allosaurus. Then there were ancient Anasazi pots and a well-worn Anasazi sandal woven from yucca plants. There was a huge chunk of pyrite from a Park City mine. They were treasures, one and all. The Utah Museum of Natural History holds some 1.2 million objects in trust, which are housed in several locations besides the museum headquarters on the University of Utah campus.
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,645196189,00.html

– Thieves and Vandals Put a National Gem at Risk: There are no signs or trails that lead visitors here, to Woods Canyon Pueblo, a site containing the remnants of 50 stone kivas, 220 rooms and 16 towers. But isolation offered scant protection when thieves swept through it a few months ago, leaving behind crude excavations, discarded pot shards and their own trash – crumpled water bottles and wrappers from banana LifeSavers.
http://tinyurl.com/f2mt7