President Declares Chimney Rock a National Monument

Chimney Rock Declared a National Monument
President Obama exercised his authority under the Antiquities Act to designate a new national monument at Chimney Rock Archaeological Area in southwestern Colorado. The president’s decision provides this irreplaceable site with permanent protection and a designation equal to its historical and cultural importance. Located in San Juan National Forest, the 4,726-acre Chimney Rock Archaeological Area holds great spiritual significance for more than twenty Pueblos and other southwestern tribes.  http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/09/21/chimney-rock-becomes-our-newest-national-monument & https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/2012/09/21/chimney-rock-national-monument-established/

Hohokam Hardball — A Debate over the Fate of the Hohokam at the First Phoenix Archaeology Café
At the first-ever Archaeology Café in Phoenix, archaeologists Douglas Craig and Jeffery Clark discuss their differing views on the drastic changes that occurred in southern Arizona in the centuries before the Spaniards arrived. The discussion will begin at 6:00 pm, Wednesday, September 26th at Macayo’s – 4001 N. Central Ave., Phoenix. Seating is open and unreserved, but limited. It’s best to arrive half an hour before the presentation begins. Share tables and make new friends! The event is free. Please support our hosts at Macayo’s Central (near the Indian School light rail stop) by purchasing refreshments from the menu—at happy hour prices! Archaeology Café in Phoenix is made possible, in part, by the Arizona Humanities Council.  https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/event/archaeology-cafe-phoenix-hohokam-hardball-debating-the-hohokam-decline/

The Amerind Foundation Will Celebrate 75 Years on October 21
When retired businessman and amateur archaeologist William Shirley Fulton established the Amerind Foundation in 1937, he envisioned it as a way to study the vibrant history and culture of the indigenous populations of the Americas. Today, on the eve of its 75th anniversary, the nonprofit organization is known far and wide for its impressive collection of artifacts – about 25,000 pieces gathered from Alaska to Argentina – as well its avid support of research in the fields of anthropology and archaeology.  http://azstarnet.com/entertainment/music/he-kept-digging-away/article_fad3b4d9-4cd2-52ca-bfbc-de2cafc42ef0.html

San Diego Rock Art Symposium Announced
The San Diego Museum of Man is pleased to announce Rock Art 2012, our 37th annual Rock Art Symposium, which will meet on Saturday, November 3, 2012. This day-long event offers participants the opportunity to share in the results of rock art research around the globe, presented in illustrated lectures. The Call for Papers has also been issued—If you have rock art research to report, or a new discovery to announce to the world, we are accepting proposals for Rock Art 2012 papers until available time on the program is filled. To submit a paper, send the title and a brief abstract by e-mail to RockArtSymposium@cox.net by October 29, 2012. Full information and a link to the pre-registration form is available at: http://www.museumofman.org/rockart

 Fort Collins Museum Receives Grant to Fund NAGPRA Compliance
The Fort Collins Museum of Discovery has received a $57,522 grant from the National Park Service for a project aimed at returning Native American cultural items, including human remains, to appropriate descendants or affiliated Indian tribes. The grant will provide funds to research the cultural affiliation or aboriginal territory for the last individual human remains in the museum’s care. To date, the museum has repatriated and/or interred 18 of the 19 individuals once documented in its collections. http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20120919/NEWS01/309190027/Fort-Collins-museum-receives-grant-research-Native-American-remains

Exploring Ancient Gardening Strategies at Aztec Ruins National Monument
Aztec Ruins National Monument opened to tours on Sept. 15 in conjunction with the city’s Founders’ Day celebration. The event, called Harvest 1212, featured an educational walking tour of an experimental garden aimed at promoting awareness of native crops. http://www.daily-times.com/farmington-news/ci_21567582/aztec-ruins-experiments-gardening?source=rss

Planning Meeting for 2013 Arizona Archaeology and Heritage Awareness Month 
Please come and share your ideas as the SHPO initiates planning for the 2013 Arizona Archaeology and Heritage Awareness Month (AAHAM) celebration. We will be deciding on a theme for the month, so bring your ideas! We will be identifying our partners, discussing tentative plans for the 2013 Archaeology Expo, and exchanging ideas for the promotion of this important educational program within our state. The 2013 Archaeology Expo will be held on March 23rd (Saturday only), at the historic Horseshoe Ranch on the Agua Fria National Monument. The co-hosts of the Expo, the Bureau of Land Management and the Arizona Game & Fish Department, will be present to discuss preliminary plans for this unique Expo. Thursday, October 4, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. at the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), Arizona State Parks, 1300 W. Washington, Phoenix on the Basement Boardroom. For More Information, Please Contact: Kris Dobschuetz, SHPO Archaeological Compliance Specialist, at kdobschuetz@azstateparks.gov or (602) 542-7141, or, Ann Howard, Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer/Archaeology, at (602) 542-7138, avh2@azstateparks.gov.

The Mormon Battalion and the Founding of Mesa
Years before Anglos rediscovered the agricultural potential of the Salt River Valley and began settling communities on land farmed centuries before by the Hohokam, there was the Mormon Battalion — a unit of the U.S. Army — over 500 volunteers organized to help the U.S. military’s fight in the Mexican-American War. Although in existence for just one year, 1846-47, the battalion achieved several remarkable accomplishments, including a nearly 2,000-mile march from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to San Diego, thereby establishing one of the earliest southern land routes to California. http://www.azcentral.com/community/mesa/articles/20120910mission-mexico-veteran-stakes-out-lehi-mesa.html?nclick_check=1#ixzz27J17I9NT

Update on the Clovis Comet Hypothesis — A View from the Topper Site
That’s a question that has been hotly debated by scientists since 2007, with the University of South Carolina’s Topper archaeological site right in the middle of the comet impact controversy. However, a new study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) provides further evidence that it may not be such a far-fetched notion. Albert Goodyear, an archaeologist in USC’s College of Arts and Sciences, is a co-author on the study that upholds a 2007 PNAS study by Richard Firestone, a staff scientist at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. http://phys.org/news/2012-09-topper-site-middle-comet-controversy.html#jCp

Celebrate Public Lands Day with Free Admission to National Parks on September 29
All 397 national parks will offer free entrance on Saturday, September 29 for National Public Lands Day. The 19th annual event encourages everyone to get outside and enjoy the great outdoors. Visit www.nps.gov for a list of parks and information to help plan your park adventure. “National Public Lands Day reminds all of us of the vast and diverse nature of America’s open spaces, from small neighborhood parks to large national parks, and the importance of each one,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “We are fortunate that more than 600 million acres of public land, including national parks, provide all of us with cherished places where we can go to unwind, recreate, or learn.”

Lecture Opportunity – Cortez, CO
The Hisatsinom Chapter of the Colorado Archaeological Society is pleased to present Tim Kearns to discuss Desert Varnish in the Four Corners on Tuesday, October 2 at 7:00 PM at the Cortez Cultural Center. Desert Varnish is a naturally occurring coating on exposed rock surfaces and is relatively common in the Four Corners Region. It is often associated with prehistoric rock art. In his presentation, Tim will discuss the formation, age, dating techniques and new directions in research of Desert Varnish.  Tim Kearns is a professional archaeologist currently associated with Woods Canyon Archaeological Consultants.  Over his 37 years working in the southwest, he has worked for various museums, universities and private consulting firms.  Contact Bob Bernhart @ tel:970-739-6772 with questions about this, or any, program.

Lecture Opportunity – Dolores, CO
Laurene Montero, Archaeologist for the city of Phoenix, will share insight into the prehistory of Arizona, especially Pueblo Grande and the Phoenix Basin, at the Anasazi Heritage Center at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 30. Montero’s presentation is connected to the museum’s special exhibit, “Pieces of the Puzzle, New Perspectives on the Hohokam.” The exhibit is on loan from Archaeology Southwest (formerly the Center for Desert Archaeology) with artifacts from Pueblo Grande and the Arizona State Museum (Tucson) through Oct. 31, 2012. Arizona river basins were settled and farmed between AD 1 and AD 1450 by the widespread cultural tradition known as Hohokam. The Hohokam built complex canal systems for irrigation, and their arts and architecture were different from the Ancestral Puebloans of the Four Corners. Ball courts and carved stone incense burners show influence from Mexican cultures of the same time period. The Hohokam produced the earliest pottery in the American Southwest, appearing before AD 300, and likely influenced the development of Colorado’s first pottery in later centuries.

Lecture Opportunity – Phoenix
The public is invited to a free lecture on the history of Mexicans in Phoenix offered by the Agua Fria Chapter of the Arizona Archaeological Society at 7:00 PM on Monday, October 8, 2012 at the West Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 5904 W. Cholla St., Glendale, AZ (off 59th Avenue, south of Cactus). The Mexican-American community of Phoenix dates to the founding of the city in 1868. From those earliest days, Phoenicians of Mexican descent actively participated in the city’s economic and cultural development while also preserving their culture and heritage in the thriving barrios. This lecture details how the Mexican-American population grew and expanded until today this substantial community is flourishing. Speaker Frank Barrios is a native of Phoenix and a descendant of one of the Valley’s early pioneer families. He is also past president of Phoenix First Families, a state organization for families that arrived in Arizona prior to 1912. He is the author of the book, “Mexicans in Phoenix.” For more information contact Tim Cullison, 602-863-9744, tcullisonaz@gmail.com.

Position Announcement – University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado at Boulder, Department of Anthropology invites applications for a tenure-track appointment as an Assistant Professor specializing in Southwestern archaeology. Preference will be given to candidates whose regional expertise does not duplicate that of current faculty and to candidates whose technical expertise includes ceramic, faunal, or archaeobotanical analysis or another specialty not represented among our faculty. Applicants should also have expertise in archaeological theory and will be expected to develop an active field research program. A strong commitment to teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels is essential. The successful candidate will teach two classes per semester, and, on a rotating basis, a summer field school. Applicants must have PhD in hand at the time of application. Application materials are accepted electronically at https://www.jobsatcu.com, posting 818579. Please include a letter of application outlining your experience and qualifications, curriculum vita, and names and contact information for at least four references. Review of applications will begin on November 1, 2012 and continue until finalists are identified. The University of Colorado is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to building a diverse workforce. We encourage applications from women, racial and ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities and veterans. Alternative formats of this ad can be provided upon request for individuals with disabilities by contacting the ADA Coordinator at: hr-ada@colorado.edu

Employment Opportunity – Lawton, OK
The award-winning Comanche National Museum and Cultural Center in Lawton, Okla. is seeking to fill the following position: Director of Collections (full time). M.S./M.A. Degree (preferred) in Anthropology (Cultural or Archaeology), Museum Studies, Art History, Conservation or related field and 24 months of collections-related experience.  Requirements may be met by equivalent combination of education and related experience.  http://nativetimes.com/component/content/article/58-jobs-advertisement/7832-director-of-collections-ft

Thanks to Carrie Gregory and Cherie Freeman for contributing to this week’s newsletter.