Exciting New Research on Ancient Turquoise Trade in the Southwestern Culture Area

Exciting New Research on Ancient Turquoise Trade in the Southwestern Culture Area
Turquoise is an icon of the desert Southwest, with enduring cultural significance, especially for Native American communities. Yet, relatively little is known about the early history of turquoise procurement and exchange in the region. University of Arizona researchers are starting to change that by blending archaeology and geochemistry to get a more complete picture of the mineral’s mining and distribution in the region prior to the 16th-century arrival of the Spanish. In a new paper, published in the November issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science, UA anthropology alumnus Saul Hedquist and his collaborators revisit what once was believed to be a relatively small turquoise mine in eastern Arizona. Their findings suggest that the Canyon Creek mine, located on the White Mountain Apache Indian Reservation, was actually a much more significant source of turquoise than previously thought. http://bit.ly/2lptnzL – University of Arizona

The President Claims He Has the Authority to Alter National Monuments
President Donald Trump plans to visit Utah in December to announce that he will trim the boundaries of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, a move that is likely to spur an instant court battle. Trump, after meeting with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke earlier Friday, called Sen. Orrin Hatch to tell him that he has decided to change the designations that Hatch, the Utah delegation and state officials have been pushing. http://bit.ly/2lqVWwE – Salt Lake Tribune

President’s Decision on Bears Ears, in Context, Reveals His Core Values
Trying to shrink Bears Ears, Trump makes it clear whose heritage he cares about. Protecting Native American history is bad, Confederate monuments are good, public lands are for drilling, and national parks are for the rich. http://bit.ly/2lnR4Zj – Westwise

Society for American Archaeology Asks for Your Help in Saving the Antiquities Act
As you may know, Congressman Rob Bishop is sponsoring a bill, HR 3990, the National Monument Creation and Protection Act, that would essentially do away with the Antiquities Act as we know it today. The measure has already been approved by the Natural Resources Committee. The next step is a vote in the full House, and we need your help to stop this legislation. Please go to our advocacy page. There, you can fill in your contact information to get your representative’s contact information, and call their office to ask them to oppose the bill. We also provide talking points you can use. It is imperative that we prevent H.R. 3990 from going any further. http://bit.ly/2lqiT3j – Society for American Archaeology

Reminder: Phoenix Archaeology Café November 7
Former City Archaeologist Todd Bostwick kicks off the series with an exploration of archaeology under the freeways of metro Phoenix. Learn more about what was found under the freeways we all travel daily. Presented by Archaeology Southwest, a nonprofit organization working across the Southwest to explore and protect the places of our past, Archaeology Café is an informal forum where adults can learn more about the Southwest’s deep history and speak directly to experts. Archaeology Southwest’s Archaeology Cafe program is supported by the Smith Living Trust and the Arizona Humanities Council. http://bit.ly/2xYEPmY – Archaeology Southwest

Editorial: Leave It Where You Found It
It was unmistakable. At my feet lay an artifact of human perfection in the red dirt of southeastern Utah. We were hiking across a mesa top through a pinon forest at the edge of a sage flat where thick cryptogamic soil was rent by the hooves of elk and deer. The arrowhead was pearl white and luminescent when held against the sun. Its every line was perfect, including the delicate serrations napped by a skilled artisan. Here was a touchstone to the distant past of a distant people. http://bit.ly/2lrME3y – Aspen Times

Lecture Opportunity – Cave Creek
Desert Foothills Chapter – AAS presents on November 8 from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM, at no charge, Dr. Patricia Gilman. The Mimbres region of southwestern New Mexico is famous for its stunning black-on-white pottery with human and animal figures as well as fine-line geometric designs. The presence of scarlet macaws that probably originated in the tropical forests of Mexico, at least 750 miles to the south, and their depiction on the pottery suggest that something out-of-the ordinary may have been occurring, at least in terms of ritual and religion. In contrast, their pit structure and pueblo architecture is rather ordinary. Patricia Gilman discusses Mimbres archaeology through time, focusing on the possible relationship between some of the pottery designs and interaction with people on the east coast of Mesoamerica. The meeting is held in the community building (Maitland Hall) at The Good Shepherd of the Hills Episcopal Church, 6502 East Cave Creek Road, Cave Creek, AZ 85331 (near the Dairy Queen). http://bit.ly/2imIwP4 – Desert Foothills Chapter – AAS

Lecture Opportunity- Taos
The Taos Archaeological Society’s monthly meeting/lecture on Wednesday November 8, 2017 at 7 pm will feature Michael Burney, Archaeologist, who will speak on “Ozette, Washington–Excavating a Maritime Makah Whaling Village.” When the Makah people left Ozette in 1920, they ended nearly two thousand years of occupation at this strategic whaling and seal harvesting site. Full scale excavations from 1966-1981 revealed houses and their contents-including ordinarily perishable wood and basketry objects that had been buried in a mudflow well before the arrival of Europeans in the region. The event will take place at Kit Carson Electric Board Room, 118 Cruz Alta Road, Taos and is free and open to the public. Note: there will be no lecture in December. Our series concludes 2017 with our annual Holiday Pot Luck Gathering being held on Friday December 1 at 5pm at the Saint James Church, 208 Camino de Santiago, Taos.  All are invited to attend and bring a covered dish to share with good food and good new and old friends. Please join us.

Tour Opportunity – Tucson
The Presidio San Agustín del Tucson Museum is resuming its guided walking tours of the Turquoise Trail on the third Saturday of each month through April of 2018, from 10 am to 12:30 pm. The Turquoise Trail is a 2.5-mile walking tour of downtown Tucson that follows a turquoise line and leads walkers past many architectural and artistic gems important to Tucson’s history. The tour will pass by many important features of downtown, like the Jácome art panel at the Tucson Convention Center, El Tiradito/The Wishing Shrine, the Barrio Viejo neighborhood, the Blenman House (aka Royal Elizabeth Bed & Breakfast) and the former Carnegie Library, which houses the Tucson Children’s Museum. The tour ends at the Hotel Congress around 12:30 pm, and those wishing to have lunch at a downtown restaurant afterwards are welcome to do so at their own cost. The walking tour fee of $10 for Presidio Museum Members and $15 for non-members does not include lunch, but it does include all-day admission to the Presidio Museum. Registration is available at www.TucsonPresidio.com.

Lecture Opportunity – Santa Fe
Southwest Seminars Presents Dr. Vernon Scarborough, Jon-Paul McCool, M.A., and Samantha G. Fladd, M.A. who will present a lecture “Chaco Canyon Water” on November 13 at 6pm at Hotel Santa Fe as part of the Mother Earth Father Sky Lecture Series held to honor and acknowledge The New Mexico Environmental Law Center. Vern is Distinguished University Research Professor and Charles Phelps Taft Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Cincinnati and Author, “The Flow of Power: Ancient Water Systems and Landscapes”; Jon-Paul is a Geographer and Satellite Remote Sensing Researcher; Samantha is Archaeologist and Chaco Canyon Water Management and Soil Salinity Researcher. Admission is by subscription or $15 at the door. No reservations are necessary. Seating is limited. Refreshments are served. Contact Connie Eichstaedt (505) 466-2775; email: southwestseminar@aol.com; website: http://southwestseminars.org