Article Examines Contested Lands and Multiple Histories at Wupatki National Monument

Contested Lands and Multiple Histories at Wupatki National Monument
On a nice day last fall, a young Navajo, Anthony (Tony) Davis, walked across his ancestral land in Wupatki National Monument, with his sights set on a two-room stone house on a bluff about a quarter mile from the modern visitor center. Although cautioned by his mother Helen and others to stay clear of the house, he was on a quest to document the history of his family, the descendants of Peshlakai Etsidi, an influential headman among his people and Davis’ great-great-grandfather. http://azdailysun.com/news/local/article_5b39e558-d963-5f6e-b495-9d679dbcfa0b.html

Chronology of Wupatki
Historic Wupatki represents a cultural crossroads, home to numerous groups of people over thousands of years, including the earliest settlers, the Sinagua, Cohonina and Kayenta Anasazi. In addition to these early hunter-gatherers, many people have called Wupatki home, such as farmers, herders, ranchers and caretakers.
http://www.azdailysun.com/news/local/351f3c24-34ce-5b1f-9d11-12e5f9274ead.html

US/ICOMOS Symposium to Celebrate and Evaluate Programs in Heritage Preservation
Over the course of the next five years, US/ICOMOS will host a series of celebrations focusing on important milestones in international preservation, such as the World Heritage Convention (2012), the anniversary of US/ICOMOS (2015), the Venice Charter (2016), the National Historic Preservation Act (2016), and the US National Park Service (2016). The 2011 Symposium will be the first in this series of events. As the United States moves to nominate more sites to the World Heritage List, the 14th US/ICOMOS International Symposium will examine the impact of the World Heritage Convention on the US capacity to designate World Heritage Sites and the need for policy changes in the Venice Charter and the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties based on the evidence of forty years. http://www.usicomos.org/SYMPOSIUM

Museum of New Mexico Archaeologists Documenting Archaic Period Occupation near Deming
“For thousands of years, our ancestors, the ancestors of this area, subsisted this way,” Steve Lentz, project director, said as he crouched next to a section of earth a few feet deep that had been painstakingly excavated, first by machine and then by hand. He described the ancient people while pointing to the corner of an earthen building with corners protruding less than a foot out of the freshly-dug soil. “These were like base camps, very rudimentary sort of camps where they built fires.”  http://www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-news/ci_17790482

Arizona State Museum’s “Woven Wonders” Nationally Recognized, Preparing for Public Debut
With the award of a $400,000 grant from the federal preservation competition Save America’s Treasures, Arizona State Museum (ASM) at the University of Arizona is embarking on a fund-raising campaign to construct a climate-controlled storeroom and new exhibition space for its vast collection of southwestern basketry and other “woven wonders” of southwestern heritage. You can help! http://www.statemuseum.arizona.edu/preserv/woven_wonders/index.shtml

Telephone Consultation Meeting Scheduled to Discus NAGPRA Regulations
On May 19, 2011, the National NAGPRA Program and the Department of the Interior’s Office of the Solicitor will conduct a public, telephonic meeting to discuss the discretionary review of the NAGPRA regulations. The purpose of the meeting is to provide anyone who wishes with the opportunity to consult on whether the rules already codified at 43 C.F.R. Part 10 should be amended. The consultation meeting is scheduled from 2:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Anyone wishing to attend the consultation meeting may register by sending an email message to nagpra@rap.midco.net with “May 19 consultation” in the subject line. In the body of the message, include the name, title, affiliation (tribe, institution, association, or agency), mailing address, telephone number, and email address for each person who will be listening on the same line. In return, registrants will receive an email confirmation of their registration, together with information on accessing the consultation meeting. (Registrants should add nagpra@rap.midco.net to their Contacts list in order to avoid spam filters.)

The Ethics of Collecting Antiquities
Antiquities is “the only area of the art world that deals entirely with stolen goods.” Perhaps that is an exaggeration — certainly, many ancient objects were never looted from historic sites or even dug out of the ground — but it is a bit of hyperbole that has a growing level of acceptance, to some degree with the public and overwhelmingly with archaeologists. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-grant/antiquities-collecting-due-diligence_b_844838.html

Lecture Opportunity (Irvine)
The Pacific Coast Archaeological Society’s April 14 meeting will feature Dr. Nancy Anastasia Wiley, Andrew Garrison, and Destiny Colocho speaking on “Bolsa Chica Archaeology: Part Four: Mesa Production Industries.” Meeting information: Thursday, April 14, 7:30 pm at the Irvine Ranch Water District, 15600 Sand Canyon Avenue, Irvine, CA. The April speakers will informally present replication materials, 7-7:30 pm. Lecture is free and open to the public. For information: http//www.pcas.org

Employment Opportunity (Tucson)
The Center for Desert Archaeology is seeking a part-time membership assistant for it’s Tucson office.
https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/sat/cdarc_mem_assist.doc – Ms Word Document

Employment Opportunity (Aztec NM)
Aztec Archaeological Consultants, LLC is hiring immediately for the position of Field Supervisor/Project Director. This is a seasonal position with the option for permanent staff assignment based on performance review. Salary range $17.00 to $21.00/hr DOE. Requirements: MA in archaeology, RPA preferred, extensive experience writing and producing technical reports (a sample of writing will be required prior to consideration of employment), must hold a current BLM permit for Northwestern New Mexico and Dinetah as well as listing as Project Director for State of NM. Additional permits are a plus. Must have an excellent record of completing projects accurately and in a timely fashion. Please send resume, along with a sample of writing to caterj@aztecarchaeology.com.

Thanks to Gerald Kelso for contributions to this week’s issue of Southwest Archaeology Today.