Cedar Mesa vs. The Internet

Cedar Mesa vs. The Internet
Surging interest in Cedar Mesa can be easily documented by an Internet search. Google Cedar Mesa and you can choose from 17,500,000 results.  Better known national parks see considerably less web traffic: Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado, designated in 1906, comes in with 2,600,000 results. Though the search results are unsubstantiated and vary widely, it’s safe to say that Cedar Mesa is a hot item on the web. What can be learned from the 17 million web mentions? Scanning the surface of that information, it seems clear that people use the web to find ruins through guidebooks, guide services, outing organizations and individual blogs. People sometimes buy or receive free maps and GPS coordinates to guide them to “undiscovered” ruins.  http://www.cedarmesafriends.org/

Emil Haury’s Field School
When Emil Haury took over for Byron Cummings as the head of the University of Arizona archaeology program he brought with him a new focus. Prior field schools had been held at University Indian Ruin near Tucson and Kinishba on the Apache Reservation. Haury wanted to continue the investigation of the prehistoric culture he had dubbed the Mogollon culture named for the mountain range in New Mexico but since Cummings had retired to his home at Kinishba, if Haury wanted to put his own stamp on the program he needed to find a new site to excavate. http://tucsoncitizen.com/armchair-marcaeologist/

New Findings Indicate Maya Domesticated Turkeys 1000 Years Earlier than Previously Suspected
The discovery of the turkey bones at an ancient Mayan archaeological site in Guatemala provides evidence of domestication, usually a significant mark of civilization, and the earliest evidence of the Mexican turkey, Meleagris gallopavo, in the Maya world. “The discovery of the turkey bones is significant because the Maya did not use a lot of domesticated animals. While they cultivated domesticated plants, most of their animal protein came mostly from wild resources,” said lead author Dr Erin Thornton, a research associate at the Florida Museum of Natural History. http://www.sci-news.com/archaeology/article00522.html

The Black Drink of Cahokia
People living 700 to 900 years ago in Cahokia, a massive settlement near the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, ritually used a caffeinated brew made from the leaves of a holly tree that grew hundreds of miles away, researchers report.The discovery – made by analyzing plant residues in pottery beakers from Cahokia and its surroundings – is the earliest known use of this “black drink” in North America. It pushes back the date by at least 500 years, and adds to the evidence that a broad cultural and trade network thrived in the Midwest and southeastern U.S. as early as A.D. 1050. http://phys.org/news/2012-08-black-scientists-evidence-ritual-caffeinated.html#jCp

Employment Opportunity – Tucson
The City of Tucson has an opening for a Lead Historic Preservation Planner. The Housing and Community Development Department is seeking a highly qualified Lead Planner to perform duties in the Historic Preservation Office. Examples of essential duties may include but not limited to: Writes grant applications, administers grants, and oversees implementation of grant funded historic preservation projects. Assists the Historic Preservation Officer with evaluations of eligibilities of buildings for historic designation. Interacts with the State Historic Preservation Office and other State and Federal agencies. Writes quarterly and annual reports for the City’s historic preservation program, for the Certified Local Government program, and for various grants. Prepares project scopes and Requests For Proposals. Assists with consultant selections, National Register nominations, historic context studies, historic building documentations and surveys. Manages consultant work on various preservation-related projects to ensure the City’s required compliance with federal preservation regulations. Reviews proposed work and advises City departments, property owners, and developers regarding appropriate rehabilitation of historic buildings. Assists City departments on projects which impact historic buildings, archaeological sites, and other cultural resources. Assists with planning for rehabilitations of historic City buildings. Leads training sessions on cultural resource compliance process for City departments and Historic Zone Advisory Boards. Provides education and outreach to a variety of audiences on historic preservation and cultural resources issues. http://www.tucsonaz.gov/sigma/JobDetails.aspx?Postings=4533