Native American Tribes Ask for Better Protection of Ancient Places on BLM Lands

Native American Tribes Ask for Better Protection of Ancient Places on BLM Lands
A panel discussion Saturday at the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center on the impacts of oil-and-gas to the land featured perspectives of prominent members of the Santa Ana and Acoma pueblos. Acoma Gov. Fred Vallo Sr. and Santa Ana official Timothy Menchego expressed concern about the destruction of sacred sites in the Four Corners area because of industrial development. Both areas are under consideration for special master lease plans by the Bureau of Land Management to help identify, avoid and mitigate industrial impacts to sensitive areas, including cultural resources. http://bit.ly/1OogPPD – Cortez Journal

Join the Public Discussion – Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde: Cultural Landscapes At‐Risk: Albuquerque Forum
This timely conversation with archaeologists, Native Americans, and other experts will take place on December 5, 2015, from 2:00-4:00 p.m., at the Hibben Center, Maxwell Museum, University of New Mexico, 450 University Blvd. NE, Albuquerque.  Archaeology Southwest and the National Trust for Historic Preservation host this second public forum addressing ongoing efforts to protect the fragile Greater Chaco and Mesa Verde landscapes. http://bit.ly/1jeWgb7 – Archaeology Southwest

Panel Meets on Master Leasing Plans for BLM Lands on the Mesa Verde Landscape
Should there be more specific planning for local oil and gas development managed by the Bureau of Land Management? So-called master lease plans target areas needing additional management to mitigate impacts industry may have on recreation, cultural resources, and natural qualities of private and public lands. http://bit.ly/1jrDsWp – Cortez Journal

Winslow Historic Commission Member Is Restoring a Neglected Historic Cemetery
An Arizona woman has completed a painstaking project to identify people buried in a once-neglected pauper’s grave made up primarily of Navajo children who died of tuberculosis and other illnesses decades ago. Gail Sadler spent about 1,200 hours going through thousands of death certificates from 1932 to 1962 to create an index. She found that 542 people were laid to rest at the Winslow Indian Cemetery, once tied to a tuberculosis sanatorium a half-mile away. The overwhelming majority were Navajo and under the age of 3. http://bit.ly/1MYiDdw – AzFamily.Com

Interesting Hypothesis on the Palatability of Squash as a Food Crop
If Pleistocene megafauna — mastodons, mammoths, giant sloths and others — had not become extinct, humans might not be eating pumpkin pie and squash for the holidays, according to an international team of anthropologists. “It’s been suggested before and I think it’s a very reasonable hypothesis, that wild species of pumpkin and squash weren’t used for food early in the domestication process,” said Logan Kistler, NERC Independent Research Fellow, University of Warwick, U.K. and recent Penn State postdoctoral fellow. “Rather, they might have been useful for a variety of other purposes like the bottle gourd, as containers, tools, fishnet floats, etc. At some point, as a symbiotic relationship developed, palatability evolved, but the details of that process aren’t known at the present.” http://bit.ly/1TlHyfN – Science Daily

Reminder — Today, Monday the 30th, Is the Last Day for Early Registration for the Southwest Symposium
The Southwest Symposium promotes new ideas and directions in the archaeology of the United States Southwest and the Mexican Northwest. The 2016 symposium focuses on Engaged Archaeology, showcasing collaborative and participatory work with descendant groups and local communities, public archaeology, and interdisciplinary work, in spoken and poster sessions. Presentations demonstrate how engaged archaeology results in new understandings of the past and broadens the relevance of archaeology. http://bit.ly/1Q6Le4J – SW Symposium

Dyck Rock Shelter Collection Now on Display at Verde Valley Archaeology Center
The Verde Valley Archaeology Center has a new permanent exhibit on display with more than 20,000 items. The display is called the Dyck Rockshelter Collection. The rockshelter that originally homed all these items is located at the edge of a limestone along Wet Beaver Creek. The Southern Sinagua inhabited the Verde Valley from AD 600 to AD 1425. http://bit.ly/1PUH3KO – Verde Valley Bugle

Meas Verde’s NPS Centennial Celebration Promises a Feast for the Eyes
Mesa Verde National Park plans to kick off the National Park Service Centennial with the illumination of Cliff Palace from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 9, and the annual holiday open house from 4 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 10, in the Chapin Mesa headquarters area. Both events are free and open to the public. http://bit.ly/1YBCvKT – Cortez Journal

There Is Still Time to Prepare to Participate in the Arizona Archaeology Expo
The 2016 Archaeology Expo will be held in conjunction with Coolidge Cotton Days on Saturday, March 5, 2016 at Casa Grande Ruins National Monument from 9 am to 4 pm and is a FREE event. The National Park Service is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2016 and is the host for this year’s Expo. If you are interesting in helping or participating at this year’s Expo, please feel free to join our planning meeting on Wednesday, December 2, 2015 at Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, 1100 W. Ruins Drive, Coolidge, Arizona at 10:00 am in the theatre room. All are invited to attend. Planning meetings will occur once a month until March and alternate between Arizona State Parks headquarters in Phoenix and the Monument. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Kris Dobschuetz at kd2@azstateparks.gov or 602-542-7141.

Archaeology Café – Tucson: Ancient Cultural Landscapes in Southeastern Utah and the Big Questions of Anthropology
On December 1, 2015, Jonathan Till (Edge of the Cedars) will present Ancient Cultural Landscapes in Southeastern Utah and the Big Questions of Anthropology. His presentation will focus on the ancient and historic cultural landscapes of the Bluff valley in southeastern Utah. Till will describe several possible scenarios for the management of these landscapes and consider the outcomes of these management practices for Native American peoples, for the United States citizenry, and for humanity in general. We meet on the patio of Casa Vicente, 375 S. Stone Ave., Tucson. Enter through the restaurant. Presentations begin after 6:00 p.m. It is best to arrive before 5:30 p.m., as seating is open and unreserved, but limited. http://bit.ly/1jeW7Vl – Archaeology Southwest

The Petroglyphs of West Tucson
Centuries before cellphone photos and social media sites, residents of what is now Tucson had their own way of posting scenes from daily life: They pecked petroglyphs into rocks. These petroglyphs, images carved into cliffs and boulders, date to as long ago as A.D. 800 — and many are still visible at easy-to-reach sites around the valley. http://bit.ly/1jrJAhf – Arizona Daily Star

Lecture Opportunity – Tucson
On December 17 archaeologist Jeffery J. Clark will present From Hohokam to Salado: The Kayenta Diaspora in the Southwest for Old Pueblo Archaeology Center’s 6-8:30 p.m. “Third Thursday Food for Thought” dinner at the U-Like Oriental Buffet Asian Cuisine, 5101 N. Oracle Rd. (at River Rd.), Tucson. Dr. Clark will discuss archaeological evidence that 5,000 to 7,500 Kayenta people from northeastern Arizona immigrated southward during the late thirteenth century, some of them ultimately reaching southeastern Arizona where they encountered the highly sedentary irrigation communities of the Hohokam World. Reservations required at 520-798-1201 before 5 p.m. Wednesday December 16.

Lecture Opportunity – Tucson
The ARCE (American Research Center in Egypt) December lecture is on Thursday, Dec. 3rd at 5:30pm in Harvill Building, Rm 318, located at 1103 E 2 St, Tucson, AZ 85721. There is a parking garage at Euclid and 2nd St. Our very own Becky Caroli will be giving a fascinating talk Turning Over a New Leaf, examining trees in Ancient Egypt.

Lecture Opportunity – Santa Fe
Southwest Seminars Presents Independent Historical Anthropologist Dr. Ross Hassig, Former Professor of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma and Author, Time, History and Belief in Aztec and Colonial Mexico; Aztec Warfare: Imperial Expansion and Political Control; Trade, Tribute, and Transportation: the Sixteenth Century Political Economy of the Valley of Mexico who will give a lecture Polygamy and the Rise and Demise of the Azteca on December 7 at 6pm at Hotel Santa Fe as part of the Mother Earth Father Sky Lecture Series held to honor The New Mexico Environmental Law Center. Admission is $12 at the door or by subscription; No reservations are necessary. Refreshments are served. Seating is limited. Contact Connie Eichstaedt tel: 505 466:2775; email:southwestseminar@aol.com; website: http://bit.ly/YhJddr

Thanks to Cherie Freeman, Brian Kreimendahl, and Adrianne Rankin for contributions to today’s newsletter.