Southwestern Archaeology Today for April 16, 2009

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

– University of Arizona Press Awarded Second Grant to Further the Digital Publishing of Archaeological Research: The University of Arizona Press has received its second grant in 2009 from the distinguished Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. This $282,000 one-year planning grant has been given to the University of Arizona Press, along with five other university presses, to collaboratively develop a digital collection of New World archaeology scholarship. The University of Arizona Press, the University of Alabama Press, the University Press of Colorado, the University Press of Florida, the Texas A&M University Press, and the University of Utah Press will jointly explore ways to deliver data- and illustration-rich digital editions of cutting-edge archaeological research. The project, called the Archaeology of the Americas Digital Monograph Initiative, will give scholars and professional archaeologists the ability to review supplemental data not often contained in conventionally published volumes.
http://www.uapress.arizona.edu/news/MellonArchaeology.php

– Archaeological Deposits Indicate Site of Mexican Surrender in War for Texan Independence: Archaeologists believe they’ve found the spot where hundreds of Mexican soldiers surrendered to the Texas army after a battle that sealed Texas’ independence from Mexico 173 years ago. Unfired musket balls, bayonets and cavalry ornaments were found in rows in an area about 20 yards (meters) wide and 200 yards (meters) long near a power plant about 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of Houston.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/dhra – Earthlink News

– Ceramicist Who Shared Native Ceramic Arts With Public Passes In Scottsdale: Susan Peterson, a ceramics artist, educator and writer who revealed the lives and techniques of Native American women potters of the Southwest to a broader American audience, has died. She was 83. Peterson died March 26 at her home in Scottsdale, Ariz., after a long illness, her family said.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/i5wz – La Times

– Rock Climbers Vs. Archaeological Preservation at Hueco Tanks: For elite “boulderers”, Hueco Tanks compares only to the Fontainebleau forest south of Paris and the Cederberg Wilderness Area in the Western Cape of South Africa. Among the rock formations here, climbers have identified more than 1,600 bouldering routes, or problems, ranked on a scale of difficulty. An annual tournament known as the Hueco Rock Rodeo draws scores of competitors to scale problems called, among the less obscene names, Jiffy Pop, Screw Driver and Julio and Me. But the arrival of legions of climbers has provoked a deep reckoning on the site’s archaeological, natural and spiritual legacies. Forged from magma when this place was a seabed, the rock formations developed their distinctive huecos, or hollows, through the weathering of millennia. They formed natural retaining pools to capture the summer rains, nurturing such desert oddities as cottonwoods, willows and seasonal freshwater shrimp. Nomadic hunter-gatherers made regular stops. In the 12th century, the Jornada Mogollon people began farming the site, leaving behind pictographs that depict masked faces, animals and deities. Kiowa, Mescalero Apache and Tigua tribes also left their mark.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/14/sports/othersports/14boulder.html

– Native Arts Celebrated at Heard Museum: The 51st Annual Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market took place March 7 – 8. “The fair celebrates the rich, creative traditions of American Indian artistry and also embraces the best of their newest art. The museum’s goal to build understanding of and appreciation for the best contemporary American Indian art manifests itself throughout the market,” read the welcome message from Frank H. Goodyear Jr., director of the Heard Museum and Ann Gorton, president of the Heard Museum Guild.
http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/national/42813872.html

– There is Still Time to Register for Next Week’s Preservation Planning Workshop in Prescott: Historic property managers are often encouraged to complete a “Master Plan.” What is the purpose of such a plan? What are the issues addressed in such a plan? Who produces a plan? How much does a plan cost? These are the topics to be covered a pre-convention workshop developed by the Arizona History Convention advisors and the State Historic Preservation Office.
http://www.cdarc.org/sat/az-pres-workshop.doc

– Arizona History Convention Scheduled for April 23-26: The 50th Annual Arizona History Convention will be held at the Hassayampa Inn, Prescott, April 23-26. There will be sessions on a variety of Arizona history topics, as well as award ceremonies, and valuable (and reasonably priced) workshops. For conference information call Nancy Stonehouse or Bruce Dinges at (520) 628-5774. Or, visit our website:
http://www.arizonahistory.org

– Travelogue – Utah’s Grand Staircase & Escalante National Monument: IF the name Dry Fork Coyote Gulch doesn’t give fair warning that this is not your average hike, then the haunting drive to the trailhead will remove all doubt. The sandy Hole-in-the-Rock Road is one of the few routes that even attempt to enter the biblical expanse of desert in southern Utah called the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and when I made a pilgrimage there last summer, I didn’t pass a single car, let alone a sign of human habitation.
http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/travel/12outback.html

– Archaeological Internship Available at Grand Canyon National Park: The Gene Polk Science Internship Program – Archeology, Summer 2009 at the Grand Canyon National Park (South Rim and North Rim). Offered by the Division of Science and Resource Management: Archeology Program The Grand Canyon Association (GCA) is currently accepting applications for an exciting internship program in support of the National Park Service (NPS) at Grand Canyon National Park. Projects will be supervised by resource managers from a variety of disciplines within the Division of Science and Resource Management. Successful applicants will have an opportunity to gain professional experience, develop working relationships with NPS resource managers, and contribute to the preservation and protection of the Grand Canyon, one of America’s iconic national treasures. Funds supporting this program were contributed to honor Gene Polk, a long time supporter of conservation.
http://www.cdarc.org/2009_gc_archeology_internship.doc – MS Word Document

– Lecture Opportunity (Tucson): Tonight (April 16th) as Part of Old Pueblo Archaeology’s Third Thursday Lecture Series, Archaeologist Matthew Pailes will present “The Role of Cerros de Trincheras Sites in the Hohokam World,” This program is free to the public, and will be held at the Old Pueblo Archaeology Center, 2201 W. 44th Street, Tucson (in Tucson Unified School District’s Ajo Service Center, just west of La Cholla Blvd., ?-mile north of John F. Kennedy Park). 7:30 to 9 p.m. Free.

– Lecture Opportunity (Tucson): Carolyn O’Bagy Davis will present “Hopi Summer: Letters from First Mesa.” Letters and photographs give insight to Hopi life before change came to the traditional, mesa-top villages. Sponsored by the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society. Free and open to the public. Monday, April 20th, 7:30 pm, DuVal Auditorium, UMC, 1501 N Campbell Ave, Tucson. For more information contact 520-721-1012.

– Lecture Opportunity (Santa Fe): As part of the 2009 lecture series, “Ancient Sites, Ancient Stories,” Southwest Seminars presents “Coalescence and Collapse in the Southern Southwest” by Dr. Jeffery J. Clark, Preservation Archaeologist, Center for Desert Archaeology. The talk will be held at 6pm on Monday, April 20th at the Hotel Santa Fe. This lecture is presented as a benefit for the Archaeological Conservancy.

– Tour Opportunity With Pima Community College and Old Pueblo Archaeology: June 2009 Southwestern New Mexico Archaeological Sites Tour, Friday June 19-Tuesday June 23, 2009. Reservation deadline Friday April 18. “Mimbres Ruins, Rock Art, and Museums of Southern New Mexico” (ST585) Pima Community College study tour (CRN 72084 Double Occupancy, CRN 72085 Single Occupancy) with archaeologist Allen Dart via passenger van departing from Pima Community College, 401 N. Bonita Ave., Tucson 3 p.m. Friday to 5 p.m. Tuesday. $759 Double Occupancy, $799 Single Occupancy. Registered Professional Archaeologist Allen Dart leads this comprehensive tour to southwestern New Mexico’s Silver City area to visit Classic Mimbres pueblo ruins, Early Mogollon village archaeological sites, the Gila Cliff Dwellings, spectacular petroglyph sites, and a museum with one of the world’s finest collections of Mimbres Puebloan pottery (the kind with those spectacular human and animal figures). Tour includes transportation, lodging and entry fees. Offered by Pima Community College in affiliation with Old Pueblo Archaeology Center. Advance reservations required: 520-206-6468 (Pima Community College, Tucson).

– Book Sale This Weekend at the Arizona State Museum: Friday and Saturday, April 17 and 18, 2009 the “Very Nearly Annual Discount Benefit Booksale”, will be held from 10 am-4 pm on both days. Save 40-70% on UA Press remainders and first-quality NEW books: visual arts, humanities, poetry, ethnology, Southwest studies, world archaeology, anthropology, cooking, lifestyle, architecture, and children’s books. ASM members admitted one hour early on Friday for best selection.

– Employment Opportunity (Washington DC): The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation’s Native American Program has a job opening for a program assistant.
http://www.achp.gov/docs/NAP%20Asst%20Apr09.pdf

Thanks to Cherie Freeman, Brian Kenny, Gerald Keslo, and Vince Murray for contributions to today’s newsletter.