Current Research at the Center for Desert Archaeology – Tracking Kayenta, Understanding Salado

Current Research at the Center for Desert Archaeology – Tracking Kayenta, Understanding Salado
Our work in Mule Creek and the Upper Gila is part of the Center’s long-term research project to assess the scale and impact of Kayenta migrations in the southern Arizona during the late 13th and 14th centuries A.D. The Kayenta were a relatively small “group of groups” that substantially influenced much larger local populations everywhere they moved. https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/what-we-do/investigations/salado/mule-creek/mule-creek-underground/

Curation Facility Safeguards Looted Antiquities
Tangible remnants of ancient Native American lifestyles sit stashed in a nondescript, tightly secured Salt Lake warehouse. From the showiest piece of pottery to the most utilitarian tool, the antiquities help tell the story of the Ansazi, Ancestral Puebloans, Apaches, Utes and Navajos who lived in the Southwest centuries ago. There are yucca fiber sandals, grinding stones, and primitively painted ceramic bowls and mugs. There are baby carriers, buffalo shields and prayer sticks. And countless arrowheads and spearheads, shell bracelets and bead necklaces. http://ow.ly/6ElQR

Climate, Tree Rings, Fire, and People – National Science Foundation Funds Innovative Research Program
Researchers at University of Arizona have won a $1.5 million grant to study the interaction between people and wildfires in communities near the edge of forests. The university says a team of experts in tree-ring science, fire ecology, archaeology and other fields will examine how people in the Southwest have responded to changes in surrounding forests over multiple centuries. http://www.chron.com/news/article/University-of-Ariz-wins-wildfire-research-grant-2186768.php

Nevada Closes State Department of Cultural Affairs
The state’s Cultural Affairs Department dies Oct. 1 after an 18-year run — the latest victim of budget cuts.  To preserve the functions of the agency — state museums, grants for artists, historic preservation and archived information — state officials said they had to cut off the head. http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/sep/23/cultural-affairs-department-going-foster-care/

New Exhibit at Salmon Ruins Museum Honors Hugh Chilton Rogers’ Research on Historic Rock Art
A blessing ceremony Sept. 10 marked the opening of a yearlong exhibit at Salmon Ruins Museum. The exhibit, “The Language of Rock Art: a collaboration honoring the work of Dr. Hugh Chilton Rogers,” features the American Indian rock art of the Largo and Gobernador Canyons through pictures captured by Rogers and other local photographers. Until his death in 2009, the Farmington urologist was one of the primary researchers and documentarians of Navajo rock art in the region. http://www.daily-times.com/ci_18926418

Help us raise $5,000 to keep Southwest Archaeology Today going strong!
Thank you for trusting the Center for Desert Archaeology to keep you updated on the latest news and developments in the world of southwestern archaeology. It is our privilege to provide you with Southwest Archaeology Today every Monday morning, but this service does incur costs — staff time, equipment, and technology requirements alone add up to more than $10,000 a year. If each of our 1,500 subscribers gives just $5.00, we will easily exceed our goal. Please consider a contribution to help us continue providing you and others with this valuable online resource. Make your gift today at https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/how-to-help/sat/

Learn More About the Rock Art and Archaeological Heritage near the Great Bend of the Gila
A new video produced by the Center for Desert Archaeology takes you on a spectacular journey to the Gila Bend region of southern Arizona, where you will experience the richness and fragility of this abiding cultural crossroads. Hear residents, researchers, and other advocates explain why we must act now to protect these diverse resources. https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/what-we-do/information/video/gila-bend-asw/

Link Now Available for the Southwest Learning Center of the American Southwest’s Virtual Musuem Project
The URL for the Virtual Museum discussed in last week’s issue of Southwest Archaeology Today is http://swvirtualmuseum.nau.edu/.    The Southwest Virtual Museum is the collaborative project of the Learning Center of the American Southwest, several individual National Parks and Monuments, and the Northern Arizona University Anthropology Laboratories.  The ultimate goal of this venture is to provide public access to the information and artifacts housed by National Park Service favilities throughout the greater Southwest region.

Vandalism at Mission San Juan
The latest damage has gone deeper for historic Mission San Juan in San Antonio. Police are trying to determine who carved graffiti into an 18-century stone wall. Gregory Smith with the National Parks Service says he’d relate this damage “to if someone carved their names in the Alamo.” http://www.kens5.com/news/local/Vandals-again-target-historic-Mission-San-Juan-130343693.html

Volunteer Opportunities at Pueblo Grande Museum
Artifacts. Rare books. Indian ruins. If you have a passion for historic landmarks, the Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park has the volunteer opportunity for you. The museum, located at the site of a 1,500-year-old Hohokam village just minutes from Sky Harbor Airport, is seeking volunteers for a variety of positions. http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/local/the_valley/article_b01f255e-e571-11e0-abf3-001cc4c002e0.html

Lecture Opportunity (Cortez)
The Hisatsinom Chapter of the Colorado Archaeological Society is pleased to present Sally Cole to discuss Rock Art at the Falls Creek Rock Shelters on Tuesday, October 4 at 7:00 PM at the Cortez Cultural Center, 25 North Market Street, Cortez, CO.  In her presentation, Sally will discuss her on-going research into the chronology and social identity of the Basketmaker II Falls Creek Rock Shelters community near Durango.  The community was first excavated and written about by Dr. Earl Morris in the late 1930s. Sally Cole is an adjunct faculty member of the Department of Anthropology at Fort Lewis College in Durango, research associate with the Utah Museum of Natural History, and a consulting archaeologist working on the Colorado Plateau for over thirty years.  She publishes prolifically and frequently presents at various archaeological and rock art symposia.   She is well known for her seminal work on rock art entitled Legacy on Stone: Rock Art of the Colorado Plateau and Four Corners Region.  For questions about this or other lectures, please call Bob Bernhart at 739-6772.

Lecture Opportunity (Glendale)
The Agua Fria Chapter of the Arizona Archaeology Society is offering a free lecture on “A Prime Archaeological Site in Peoria, AZ” on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 6:00 PM at the Glendale Public Library Auditorium, 5959 West Brown (south of Peoria Ave). Recent excavations were conducted in a 4-acre park at the center of the Palo Verde archaeological ruin in the City of Peoria. These investigations completed previous work which uncovered 14 ancient habitation areas surrounding the city park. Those excavations involved nearly 50 acres and recovered data on 67 Hohokam pit houses and over 100 other site features. The application of new technologies provides a fresh perspective on the site. The speaker, Mark Hackbarth, is a senior archaeologist for Logan Simpson Design. For more information contact Sandy Haddock, (480) 481-0582, azmacaw44@cox.net.

Google Earth Archaeology – Ancient Geoglyphs of Saudi Arabia
The lines were originally discovered by British RAF pilot Percy Maitland in 1927, but this is the first time they’ve ever been seen in all their glory. Kennedy used Maitland’s photos with Google Earth to pinpoint their locations. And Google offers really the only high resolution glimpse at them that can be seen by the ordinary viewer. The structures are known to the local Bedouin tribes as being created by “the old men”, and are about 2,000 years old. Similar structures, all resembling kites and wheels, have been discovered in Jordan and Yemen—some dating back as far as 9,000 years—and, while scientists aren’t certain just what the hell these ruins were for, some conjecture that at least the kite-like ones could have been traps for game animals.  http://gizmodo.com/5842477/google-earth-reveals-ancient-ruins-in-saudi-arabia

Seminar on Surface Metrology Highlights Advances in the Study of Ground Stone and Other Archaeological Surfaces
Studying the complexities of surfaces—their textures, their roughness, their behavior—can yield a world of information in a broad range of fields, including anthropology, archeology, biomedical sciences, food science, forensics, and manufacturing. The 1st Surface Metrology Seminar for the Americas, to be held at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) Oct. 24-26, 2011, will bring together renowned experts in surface metrology to teach practitioners in these and other disciplines how to most effectively use the latest tools and technologies. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-09/wpi-ste092011.php