Major Interpretive Improvements at Mesa Grande

Community Updates Plans for a Visitor’s Center at Mesa Grande
As Mesa’s pioneers scouted their new home, one of their most striking discoveries was a mound larger than a football field that was the cultural center of the ancient Hohokam. Now Mesa is planning to boost the site’s profile by opening a visitors center next year that will improve public access. The building will allow the site to accept visitors on a regular basis, following years of it being open only one day a year. http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/local/mesa/article_ccbc034c-b972-11e0-895a-001cc4c002e0.html

Editorial in East Valley Tribune Celebrates Developments at Mesa Grande as a New Link to our Shared Past
To an archaeologist, “If only a mound of dirt could talk” is not a rhetorical proposition.  Dirt does talk in the desert Southwest. It speaks of what was once the center of civilization hundreds of years ago in modern-day Mesa. http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/local/article_c97c5d0c-ba36-11e0-858d-001cc4c002e0.html

Steve Lekson Launches a New Blog to Chronicle the Writing of a New Book
The Southwest in the World is the working title of a book Steve Lekson is writing.   The blog posts excerpts – draft sections – from the book.   Those drafts will remain up for a few weeks, to be replaced by another draft section, and so on until the book is finished.   The first post is from a chapter on secondary states: “Chaco as Altepetl” casts our comparative nets a bit beyond the Southwest’s familiar spaces – geographic and intellectual.   Lekson thinks this analysis “solves” Chaco…maybe.  http://stevelekson.com/

Thirteenth Southwest Symposium Scheduled for January
The symposium’s theme is “Causation and Explanation: Demography, Movement, Historical Ecology” and the event is being organized by Cynthia Herhahn and Ann Ramenofsky. Causal explanations of long-term change are the overarching goal of the 13th Southwest Symposium. Although there are many potential causes of long term change, here we focus on demography, historical ecology and movement, each of which has figured significantly in Southwestern archaeology regardless of theoretical orientation. The focus on these variables is not only supported by 100 years of research in the Southwest, but offers the opportunity to explore the intersections and tensions between them. http://www.unm.edu/~swsympos/index.html

The AIA Urges You to Support Your State Archaeologists
Around the U.S., many states are facing budget woes and belt tightening is underway. In two states, however, the process has already disproportionately targeted archaeology. We thank Dr. W. Frederick Limp, President of the Society of American Archaeology, for this important update: In Utah, the positions of State Archaeologist, Assistant State Archaeologist and State Physical Anthropologist were abruptly eliminated.  In New York, the State Archaeologist/Director of Cultural Resource Survey, the Curator of Archaeology, and the Curator of Historical Archaeology were fired. http://www.archaeological.org/news/aianews/5983

National Park Service Considering Reversing Reagan-Era Ban on the Collection of Traditional Plants and Minerals by Native Americans
The agreements would facilitate continuation of tribal cultural traditions on ancestral lands that now are included within units of the National Park System without impairing park resources. The proposed rule respects tribal sovereignty and the government-to-government relationship between the United States and the tribes and would provide system-wide consistency to this aspect of NPS-tribal relations. The proposed rule would provide opportunities for tribal youth, the NPS, and the public to understand tribal traditions, without compromising park values or significantly altering strategies for park management. http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/07/national-parks-service-proposal-would-allow-natives-to-take-plants-and-minerals/

Stolen Nevada Petroglyphs Restored in Place
Thoughtlessly — and illegally — snatched from its original resting place in the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area sometime in 2008, the petroglyph wound up on display in a remote Pahrump front yard until an alert narcotics detective spotted it the following year while serving a search warrant. http://www.lvrj.com/news/stolen-petroglyph-returns-to-canyon-after-rocky-journey-125704538.html?ref=538

Deer Valley Rock Art Center to Host Twilight Tour Events
The rock art center will host Twilight Tours, as in, evening tours of petroglyphs perfect for those looking for a break from the summer heat. The museum will stay open late, as well, on two upcoming Saturdays, Aug. 6 and 20. The early-evening timing also provides light that lets petroglyphs – the work of people who lived in the Valley 500 to 7,000 years ago – clearly emerge.  (Reservations required) http://www.azcentral.com/thingstodo/events/articles/2011/07/21/20110721twilight-tours-view-petroglyphs-deer-valley-rock-art-center.html

Perry Mesa Symposium Scheduled for Sept. 10
Announcing the “Perry Mesa Symposium”, Saturday, September 10, 2011, at the Embassy Suites Hotel North in Phoenix, AZ.  Presented by The Friends of Agua Fria National Monument (FAFNM), this is an amazing day of presentations regarding the current studies of prehistoric cultures in the Perry Mesa area around Agua Fria National Monument north of Phoenix, AZ.  Top notch scholars and experts in the subject matter will discuss what is known and not known about several thousand years of habitation in the area.  The new FAFNM web site is now up and running with links to symposium registration information, schedule, program (close to twenty scholars/experts are involved), hotel reservations, Silent Auction, sponsorship and FAFNM membership.  http://aguafriafriends.org/projects/perry-mesa-symposium/

New Mesa Verde Facility Highlights Critical Issues in Managing our Heritage in National Parks
The sight was not beautiful, but it was impressive. For nine months, Russell Planning & Engineering, the Durango-based construction firm that won the contract to build Mesa Verde’s new $12.1 million visitor center, has been achieving the improbable: a government construction project that is on time and under budget.  On the other hand, Cliff Spencer – the park’s new superintendent – is attempting to do what many see as impossible: his job. Expectations are high, numerous and often confused. http://durangoherald.com/article/20110724/NEWS01/707249899/-1/news01&source=RSS

Volunteer Petroglyph Documentation Project Honored by Take Pride in America Program
The Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project and the Taos office of the Bureau of Land Management were awarded the Take Pride in America Award of 2011 for the Outstanding Public-Private Partnership category by the U.S. Department of the Interior. Twelve members of the project traveled to Washington, D.C., this week to accept the award, which was presented to them in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House.  http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Program-honored-for-helping-kids-discover-thousands-of-petrogly

Texas A and M Students Excavate a Potential Pre-Clovis Site in Central Texas
Digging oneself in a hole is usually not a good idea, but in this case it’s a matter of digging for artifacts that could shed even more  light on the antiquity of man in America. The students’ dedicated digging is enhanced by having the privilege of doing so under the watchful eye of a nationally and internationally acclaimed scientist who is still basking in the archeological world for the game-changing study that he and his colleagues published earlier this year.  http://tamunews.tamu.edu/2011/07/26/student-researchers-at-texas-am-led-dig-search-for-more-early-man-in-america-artifacts/

Photo Essay Examines the Archaeology of the Apache Wars in Texas
Archaeological evidence of the Apache War–conflict between US forces and Native American tribes in the southern Plains–is found at Pine Springs Camp. http://archaeology.about.com/od/military/ig/Buffalo-Soldiers-in-Texas/Pine-Springs-Camp.–0j.htm

Lecture Opportunity (Santa Fe)
Eric Blinman, Director of the Office of Archaeological Studies, Museum of New Mexico will present “Archaeology and History of the Pueblo Peoples” – A Southwest Seminars program assisted by the Hotel Santa Fe, A Picuris Pueblo Enterprise. 6 Pm, Monday, August 8 at the Hotel Santa Fe.

Help Celebrate Tucson’s Birthday and Support Tucson’s Mission Garden
Enjoy the cool early morning and a delicious traditional birthday breakfast on Sunday, August 7, 2011, from 7 to 10 AM at the Mercado San Agustín, 100 South Avenida del Convento, located at the corner of Congress & Avenida del Convento. A $10 entry fee purchases a delicious breakfast of torta de huevo, Sonoran-style tepary beans, home-made tortillas, pistachio Nut/mesquite muffins, and fruit salad, served with pan dulce, coffee and horchata.  Tours will be offered of the Mission Garden, as well as the opportunity to purchase potted Kino heritage trees.  Please RSVP via MissionGarden.Tucson@gmail.com.

Thanks to Cherie Freeman and Adrianne Rankin for contributions to this week’s issue of Southwestern Archaeology Today.