Looting Public Lands Steals Everyone’s Heritage

Looting Public Lands Steals Everyone’s Heritage
I remember walking up the slope of tall grass waving in the breeze of a cool South Dakota morning. I was a young graduate student on my first archaeological project, and we were conducting site surveys along the east shore of Lake Oahe in the summer of 1979. It was also my introduction to the wanton destruction of our archaeological heritage by looters. It was the Mobridge site, a prehistoric American Indian village established centuries ago along the Missouri River. The people had been drawn there by the arable and soft floodplain soils, where they grew maize, beans and squash and hunted bison on the prairies that seemed to extend forever outward from the river. http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/01/02/4520023/looting-public-lands-steals-everyones.html

The Standing Towers of Hovenweep
What’s in a name? Hovenweep National Monument lies on the Utah-Colorado state line in the Four Corners region of the American Southwest, surrounded by national parks and monuments with colorful, descriptive names. Mesa Verde National Park is 45 minutes to the east. Natural Bridges National Monument sits off to the west. To the north are Canyonlands and Arches national parks. Their names are an embodiment of their terrain. http://delcotimes.com/articles/2013/01/06/life/doc50e8f1a9089ad625866162.txt

Review of Jared Diamond’s The World Until Yesterday
Jared Diamond’s failure to grasp that cultures reside in the realm of ideas, and are not simply or exclusively the consequences of climatic and environmental imperatives, is perhaps one reason for the limitations of his new book, The World Until Yesterday, in which he sets out to determine what we in the modern world can learn from traditional societies. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/jan/09/history-society

Singer Andy Williams’s Navajo Blanket Collection Will Go Up For Sale, Rare Chief’s Blanket Is the Star
Mr. Williams’ interest in the blankets began in the 1950’s, said David Roche, sr. consultant, Sotheby’s American Indian Art department, when few others were collecting. About his blankets, “Andy said they impressed his guests,” said Mr. Roche, “and, hanging next to Rothkos, they held their own.” The star of the collection, estimated to sell between $200,000 and $300,000, is a Navajo First Phase Chief’s Wearing Blanket marked by rare red striping. (In the 1800’s, according to the Sotheby’s press release, “The going rate for a Navajo chief’s blanket was one hundred buffalo hides, twenty horses, ten rifles, or five ounces of gold.”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/lynndouglass/2013/01/07/singer-andy-williams-navajo-blanket-collection-up-for-sale-rare-chiefs-blanket-is-the-star

2013 Pecos Conference Website Up
The Pecos Conference is an annual conference of archaeologists which is held in the southwestern United States or northwestern Mexico. Each August, archaeologists gather under open skies somewhere in the southwestern United States or northwestern Mexico. They set up a large tent for shade, and then spend three or more days together discussing recent research and the problems of the field and challenges of the profession. In recent years, Native Americans, avocational archaeologists, the general public and media organizations have come to speak with the archaeologists. These individuals and groups play an increasingly important role, as participants and as audience, helping professional archaeologists celebrate archaeological research and to mark cultural continuity. http://www.swanet.org/2013_pecos_conference/

Lecture Opportunity – Tucson
On Sunday, January 27, at 3 pm in the historic San Pedro Chapel, 5230 E. Fort Lowell Road, Homer Thiel will present a lecture and display artifacts found during “Recent Archaeological Discoveries at Fort Lowell.” As part of the soil remediation work conducted at the Fort Lowell-Adkins Steel property, Desert Archaeology, Inc. unearthed ten prehistoric pit structures ranging in date from about A.D. 950 to A.D. 1300. Many had artifacts sitting on their floors. Fort era finds included the alignment of Cottonwood Row, the edges of the Parade Ground, the Bakery, and a garden area north of the Officers Quarters. Archaeologist Homer Thiel will describe how these finds provide new information that will be incorporated into the design and future exhibits in Fort Lowell Park. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Employment Opportunities – Petrified Forest
Petrified Forest National Park has several job openings in its archaeology division. These include positions for this coming summer and a term position beginning immediately. The park is in the process of doubling in size as a result of a recent boundary expansion. The new positions focus on archaeological survey and mapping of this newly acquired land. The archaeological record of Petrified Forest spans the Paleoindian through Historic periods. There are significant Ancestral Pueblo occupations with sites ranging in size from hamlets to those with several hundred rooms. The park has incredible diversity, some of the earliest ceramic occupations on the Colorado Plateau, and unparalleled rock art sites. It encompasses major prehistoric trade and migration routes in addition to early stagecoach lines, railroads, and a section of route 66. This is a unique opportunity with a vast array of research and training opportunities. See https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/335306500 and https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/335311700

Employment Opportunity – Flagstaff
WestLand Resources Inc., an engineering and environmental consulting company, is seeking an experienced archaeological project manager to coordinate cultural resources projects in our Flagstaff, AZ office. Successful candidate will have a graduate degree and experience in managing large cultural resources projects. Duties include conducting survey and data recovery, agency coordination, and marketing. WestLand offers a competitive salary, health insurance, 401k, quarterly profit sharing, and a positive work environment. Please send a letter of interest, resume, and references to rfederico@westlandresources.com