Research Reveals High Incidence of Violence around Ancient Mesa Verde

Research Reveals High Incidence of Violence around Ancient Mesa Verde
It’s a given that, in numbers terms, the 20th century was the most violent in world history, with civil wars, purges and two world wars killing as many as 200 million people. But on a per-capita basis, Washington State University archaeologist Tim Kohler has documented a particularly bloody period more than eight centuries ago on what is now American soil. Between 1140 and 1180, in the central Mesa Verde of southwest Colorado, four relatively peaceful centuries of pueblo living devolved into several decades of violence. http://bit.ly/1oA0jPB

Crow Canyon Presents Interactive Timelines of the Ancient Southwest
The following timelines mark significant, but selected, developments and events in Pueblo Indian history as documented in the archaeological and historical records. The timelines do not pretend to represent the perspectives of Pueblo people, who have their own approaches to remembering, documenting, and interpreting events important to them. http://bit.ly/1sNwD1I

Research on Shell Middens Refining Understanding of El Niño Events in Ancient Climates
The planet’s largest and most powerful driver of climate changes from one year to the next, the El Niño Southern Oscillation in the tropical Pacific Ocean, was widely thought to have been weaker in ancient times because of a different configuration of the Earth’s orbit. But scientists analyzing 25-foot piles of ancient shells have found that the El Niños 10,000 years ago were as strong and frequent as the ones we experience today. http://bit.ly/1nG58Sd – Science Daily

Twin Threats to the Grand Canyon Highlight Deeper Debate over the Concept of Public Heritage
“We have multiple ways for people of all ability levels to experience the canyon, whether it’s taking a slow trip on the river, riding one of the burros, hiking the trails, or even flights or helicopters,” said Bob Irvin, president of the conservation group American Rivers. “But if we start building gondolas and other forms of development, we lose much of what makes the Grand Canyon so special. It would be a devastation, a sacrilege, to build that structure there.” That word, sacrilege, may sound a bit overblown — but only to the ear of someone who has never been afforded the chance to grasp, firsthand, what makes this place so utterly unique, a landscape without antecedent or analog. http://nyti.ms/VaoQid – New York Times

Looting Is Erasing Maya Heritage
Deep in the jungle in the north of Guatemala, along deep-rutted 4×4 tracks, the pyramids of the great Maya city of Xultún are hidden under heavy vegetation and oddly symmetrical hills. But crudely cut tunnels in the sides of the hills signal a modern intrusion. The tunnels are the work of “huecheros“—the local slang term for antiquity looters, derived from the Maya word for armadillo. On a building overlooking an ancient plaza, the looters scrawl a message, brazen and taunting: “We, the huecheros, stuck it to this place.” http://bit.ly/1vuUk3d – National Geographic

Casa Grande National Monument Reopens
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument has upgraded the air conditioning and electrical systems in the visitor center, and will re-open to the public on Sunday, August 10. Some small details need to be completed before delicate artifacts can be returned to display, but otherwise the facility will be open as usual. The museum written displays will be available. Until all artifacts are returned, no entrance fees will be collected. The park film will continue to be shown in the theater and rangers will be available for orientation and questions. Once all testing of the improved systems is complete the artifacts will be returned and entry fees will resume. This is expected to occur the third week of August.  The Monument is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. except for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Directions and additional information are available on the Monument’s website, http://www.nps.gov/cagr, or you may call (520) 723-3172.