Southwest Archaeology Today for Dec 24, 2007.

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

– Rock Art vs. Urban Sprawl in Utah: An ancient 40-ton jungle gym of sorts, the massive burnt umber boulder anchors a neighborhood park and beckons suburban kids to clamber over its mysterious Anasazi etchings. And climb aboard they do, sometimes even attempting to scratch their own marks before the adults run them off, neighbors say. Archaeologists typically warn against even smudging natural skin oils on the chiseled drawings or the rock’s natural mineral glaze so they won’t slowly melt away.
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_7791111

– Settlement Against G. Johnson Seen as a Wake Up Call to Developers: Developers don’t get to ignore the rules that protect Arizona’s resources and heritage. That should be the bottom-line message from a $12 million state settlement with developer George H. Johnson, several of his companies and three contractors. The Wild West, no-holds-barred, rip-out-the-vegetation, throw-up-the-houses style of development has no place in modern Arizona.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/1221fri1-21.html

– Travelogue – Visiting Betatikin: Located in a side canyon to the magnificent Tsegi Canyon, a deep gorge cut through this part of northern Arizona. The village is nestled in the blind end of the canyon perched above a grove of oak, juniper and aspen that fill its floor with brilliant foliage in the fall. Just beyond the grove, at the canyon’s deep bottom, a small spring gurgles as it cascades down the rock-filled slot that it has cut through the layers of rock that make up the floor.
http://www.paysonroundup.com/section/localnews/story/32084

– Call for Papers – 16th General Assembly of the International Council on Monuments and Sites: Quebec, Canada, September 29 – October 4, 2008. This years theme focuses upon the spirit of place – between the intangible and the tangible. Participants are invited to submit papers for the symposium. All papers must fall under one of the four sub-themes mentioned below. Selected papers that cannot be presented orally can be presented in the form of posters (poster session). The Sub-themes include “Re-thinking the Spirit of Place,” “The Threats to the Spirit of Place,” “Safeguarding the Spirit of Place,” and “Transmitting the Spirit of Place.”
http://www.conferium.com/Clients/icomos/en/05_appelconferences.htm