Groundbreaking Study Posits an Ancient Southwestern Baby Boom

Groundbreaking Study Posits an Ancient Southwestern Baby Boom
The grandeur of Mesa Verde’s cliff-side dwellings and the awe-inspiring engineering feats of Chaco Canyon attest to the vibrant cultures that flourished in the American Southwest more than 1,000 years ago. At these sites, ancient civilizations monitored the motions of the cosmos, developed sophisticated agricultural techniques, and apparently had lots of babies. In a new study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists say that at the height of their prosperity between AD 500 and 1000, birthrates among neolithic Native Americans likely exceeded the highest birthrates on Earth today. http://lat.ms/1xBqOq6 – Los Angeles Times

Five Years Later, Artifacts from Blanding Raids Remain in Curation
One of the nation’s most extensive and valuable troves of American Indian artifacts fills a nondescript warehouse in the Salt Lake Valley, where federal curators are preserving pottery, cradle boards, projectile points, hand tools, pendants, grinding stones and thousands of other items illegally removed from ancestral Puebloan sites in the Four Corners region. When the Bureau of Land Management raided the homes of antiquities collectors in Blanding and other towns in 2009, it was bent on ending the looting of ancient graves and ruins on the Colorado Plateau. http://bit.ly/1kt86cf – Salt Lake Tribune

Stabilization Efforts Continue at Salmon Ruins
Salmon Ruins employees are preserving history at the Chacoan site once again thanks to a $26,400 state grant funded by the National Park Service and a $28,000 match from the park’s own budget. Larry Baker, the museum and heritage park’s executive director, got official notice of the state Historic Preservation Division of the Office of Cultural Affairs grant award Dec. 31. http://bit.ly/TWPACo – Farmington Daily Times

Climate Change Threatens National Parks
Climate change has arrived in America’s national parks, threatening natural and historical resources with climbing temperatures and changing precipitation patterns, according to a new National Park Service report. In “Climate Exposure of U.S. National Parks in a New Era of Change”—published yesterday in the scientific journal PLOS ONE — National Park Service scientists Nicholas Fisichelli and William Monahan find that present-day temperatures are at the high end of the range of temperatures measured since 1901 and point to changes in precipitation patterns over time. http://bit.ly/1r0yOhv – Scientific American

Lecture Opportunity – Cortez
The Crow Canyon Archaeological Center will present “Wildlife Conservation and Zooarchaeology,” a program by Steve Wolverton, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 24, as part of the Four Corners Lecture Series.Admission to Wolverton’s lecture is free. The Crow Canyon Archaeological Center is at 23390 Road K, Cortez. For more information, call 970-564-4362.

Lecture Opportunity – Santa Fe
Southwest Seminars Presents Dr. John L. Kessell who will present But That’s What the Timpanagos Said: Bernardo de Miera Maps the Great Basin, 1777-1778 as part of the Voices From the Past Lecture Series held to acknowledge the New Mexico History Museum. No reservations are necessary and refreshments are served. Seating is limited. Contact Connie Eichstaedt at 505 466-2775 for information. Email: southwest seminar@aol.com; http://bit.ly/YhJddr – Southwest Seminars

Lecture Opportunity – Santa Fe
At 12 pm, Wednesday, July 16, Barbara Mills will present Re-connecting the Past: Network Approaches to Regional Interaction in the Archaeology of the Late Prehispanic Southwest at the School for Advanced Research Boardroom.  This presentation addresses how network analyses are being used by archaeologists in the Southwest to understand the dynamics of social interactions in the past. http://bit.ly/1jWqmKV – School for American Research

Employment Opportunity – Arizona
Arizona State Parks Seeks a Cultural Resources Manager. The Cultural Resources Manager is the Agency subject matter expert in archaeology and history. They advise and facilitate the protection, preservation, and management of historic and archaeological resources at ASP. They identify and make recommendations regarding paleontological resources at ASP. They coordinate the training, supervision and data collection of the 900+ Arizona Site Stewards.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Vicki Adney, ASP HR Chief at vadney@azstateparks.gov, or Nicole Armstrong-Best, CRM supervisor at narmstrong@azstateparks.gov. http://bit.ly/1mXAUcR – Arizona State Parks