State Parks Foundation Seeks Restoration of Arizona Heritage Fund

State Parks Foundation Seeks Restoration of Arizona Heritage Fund
Advocates for Arizona’s parks, open space, heritage, and historic preservation are encouraged to help restore the Arizona State Parks Heritage Fund. During the 2010 state budget crisis, the entire Arizona State Parks Heritage Fund was swept into the General Fund AND the language authorizing its existence was removed.  House Concurrent Resolution 2047, “Enacting and Ordering the Submission to the People of a Measure Relating to the Arizona State Parks Heritage Fund,” has been introduced by Representative Russ Jones of Yuma. Review the bill’s language at: http://www.azleg.gov//FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/legtext/50leg/2r/bills/hcr2047p.htm&Session_ID=107.   It will be first be heard in the Agriculture & Water Committee on Thursday February 9 at 9 A.M. in Hearing Room 5, House of Representatives, 1700 W. Washington St. Individuals may testify in person by registering on the ALIS system: http://alistrack.azleg.gov/rts/login.asp If you have any questions, please contact Janice Miano, Arizona Heritage Alliance, at 602-528-7500 (office), or mail@azheritage.org.

Announcing the 2012 Archaeology Southwest – University of Arizona Preservation Archaeology Field School
Archaeology Southwest and the University of Arizona School of Anthropology are pleased to offer our summer Preservation Archaeology Field School in Mule Creek, New Mexico. Students will earn 7 credits (undergraduate or graduate) in Anthropology. This will be our third season working at the 13th century component of the Fornholt site, a two-story pueblo with a great kiva. Students will learn excavation, site recording and artifact analysis skills. Our curriculum highlights the goals, ethics and practice of preservation archaeology within a community-based framework. For more information see https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/what-we-do/investigations/salado/field-school/.

2012 Arizona State University Field School in Southwest New Mexico Now Accepting Applications
Arizona State University’s 2012 field school immerses students in the prehistory of the U.S. Southwest at our field site in the beautiful and remote eastern Mimbres area.  Undergraduate and graduate students will receive training in archaeological excavation, survey, and laboratory analysis while participating in ongoing research concerning social and economic reorganization in southwest New Mexico in the 13^th and 14^th centuries.  Applications are due March 1.  For additional information, see our website at http://shesc.asu.edu/new_mexico or contact Karen Schollmeyer at karen.schollmeyer@asu.edu.

Canyon of the Ancients Offers a Heritage Experience on a Path Less Traveled
To get a reference point, Mesa Verde National Park might be good to visit first before venturing off to the Sand Canyon, where the archaeological treasures are not as obvious to the untrained eye.  The visible remnants of the Castle Rock pueblo, for example, are scattered stones at the base of the butte. The outline of the walls are evident beneath the surface, but archaeologists don’t want to disturb the site if they don’t have to, explained Vince Macmillan, archaeologist for the Anasazi Heritage Center and Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. http://www.durangoherald.com/article/20120205/NEWS01/702059922/-1/news01&source=RSS

University of Pennsylvania Anthropologists Use Genetic Data to Infer Asian Region as Origin of American Paleoindians
A tiny mountainous region in southern Siberia may have been the genetic source of the earliest Native Americans, according to new research by a University of Pennsylvania-led team of anthropologists. Lying at the intersection of what is today Russia, Mongolia, China and Kazakhstan, the region known as the Altai “is a key area because it’s a place that people have been coming and going for thousands and thousands of years,” said Theodore Schurr, an associate professor in Penn’s Department of Anthropology.  http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/news/penn-anthropologists-clarify-link-between-asians-and-early-native-americans

Save the Date for the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2012 National Conference, Oct 30 – Nov 4
“Beyond Boundaries” is the theme for the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2012 National Conference, hosted this year in eastern Washington. This conference attracts nationally recognized experts and practitioners for a weeklong series of educational workshops and peer-to-peer networking. The conference will explore preservation’s boundaries using Spokane and the Inland Northwest as a living laboratory to showcase preservation successes and as a classroom for discussing preservation challenges. https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/sat/national_trust_2012_announcement.doc

New Mexico Heritage Preservation Alliance Conference Scheduled for May 3 – 5 
We invite you to share your expertise, enhance your professional growth, and contribute to the preservation of our state’s cultural heritage by answering this call for presentations and sessions to be delivered at the NMHPA’s annual conference. The theme for this year’s conference is: New Mexico’s Centennial: The Role of Preservation, Now and For the Next One Hundred Years. This year’s conference will be held in Santa Fe in collaboration with the Historical Society of New Mexico. Call for papers available at http://www.nmheritage.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Rev-Call-for-papers-20121.pdf.

Colorado Study Finds Strong Economic Benefits in Historic Preservation
A report that examines the impacts of historic preservation practices in Colorado found that historic preservation helps to build strong communities, support a healthy job market, and a future for Colorado that is more environmentally sustainable. Today, the Colorado Historical Foundation and History Colorado released The Economic Power of Heritage and Place: How Historic Preservation is Building a Sustainable Future in Colorado, which was conducted by Clarion Associations.  http://tinyurl.com/7nccahr – Yahoo News

Preservationists See Potential in Downtown Tucson’s Marist College Building
One of Tucson’s most endangered and remarkable historic buildings could be plucked from neglect and given new life. It will take some vision – and a hefty bankroll – to resurrect the historic Marist College, which was built in 1915 and has been unoccupied but for flocks of pigeons for more than a decade. http://azstarnet.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/as-fixer-upper-historic-marist-college-has-upsides/article_9de8ecd2-34c6-519e-a5c7-0df17d443434.html#ixzz1lYUdCyIK

University of Michigan Anthropologist Studies Border-Crossing Migration through an Archaeological Lens
The toe and heel of the boot are scuffed and a bit dusty. The sole has a few holes, and a small sock is tucked inside. It now belongs to University of Michigan professor Jason De Leon (sic). The boot was one of the first items he plucked out of the Sonora Desert in Arizona when he started the Undocumented Migration Project in 2008 to put his archaeological and anthropological training to use studying migrant workers who illegally cross the border into the U.S. http://www.freep.com/article/20120205/NEWS06/202050501/U-M-professor-studies-migration-through-items-left-in-Arizona-Mexico-desert

The Case of Fired Utah State Archaeologist Becomes a Bureaucratic Farce
Former State Archaeologist Kevin Jones cannot challenge the loss of his state job last summer in a restructuring at the Utah Department of Community and Culture. An officer of the Utah Career Service Review Office ruled Thursday that he has no jurisdiction in the case because Jones chose to retire before he could be terminated in a reduction of force. http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/53442488-90/jones-state-archaeologist-employment.html.csp

Reminder – Join Archaeology Southwest’s Next Archaeology Café for an Examination of New Interpretations of Ancient Rock Art
On Tuesday, February 7, 2012, Henry Wallace will broaden our thinking about what what rock art can contribute to our understanding of the human experience. Come settle in with a drink and a plate of delicious tapas at downtown Tucson’s own Casa Vicente. We meet the first Tuesday of each month from September through May after 5:00 p.m.; presentations begin at 6:15 p.m. Seating is limited and unreserved, on a first-come, first-served basis—be ready to make new acquaintances! Our forum opens with an informal presentation on a timely or controversial topic, followed by a question and answer period.  https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/event/what-can-we-really-learn-from-prehistoric-rock-art/

Lecture Opportunity – Tucson
Evelyn Billo, Robert Mark, and Donald E. Weaver, Jr. will present Sears Point Rock Art and Beyond, Synopsis of the 2008 through 2010 Recording Project.  This presentation will provide a birds-eye view of the National Register Sears Point Archaeological District (SPAD), as well as some intriguing petroglyph designs and preliminary analyses of 8000 individual rock art elements.  The presentation will be held 20 February, 2012 from 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM in the DuVal Auditorium (inside UMC), 1501 N. Campbell Ave, as part of the monthly meeting of the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society. http://www.az-arch-and-hist.org/

Tour Opportunity – Tucson
On Saturday February 11, 2012, Old Pueblo Archaeology Center director Allen Dart will guide a “Rock Art and Archaeology of Ventana Cave” educational tour. This early-morning carpool tour onto the Tohono O’odham Nation to visit the Ventana Cave National Historic Landmark site, where excavations by Arizona State Museum archaeologists Emil W. Haury and Julian Hayden found evidence for human occupation going back from historic times to around 10,000 years ago. Ventana Cave (actually a very large rockshelter) also contains pictographs, petroglyphs, and other archaeological features used by Native Americans for thousands of years. Tour fees benefit the Tohono O’odham Hickiwan District’s efforts to develop a caretaker-interpretive center at Ventana Cave, and the nonprofit Old Pueblo Archaeology Center’s education programs. Place: Meets at Pima Community College’s Community Campus parking lot, 401 N. Bonita Ave., Tucson. Time: 6:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Fee: $30 ($24 for Old Pueblo Archaeology Center and Pueblo Grande Museum Auxiliary members; no charge for Tohono O’odham Nation members). Reservations required. http://www.oldpueblo.org/assets/20120211%282%29VentanaCaveRockArtTourFlyerRevised20111030.pdf