Southwest Archaeology Today for Oct. 7, 2005

Archaeology making the news – a service of the Center for Desert Archaeology.

– Path drove Arizona’s past: Since A.D. 900 and probably before, Apache Trail has been vital to life in the Valley. It has been a trade route, a path to cooler climates and water recreation, the scene of legends and the key to the construction of a dam that provided the foundation for the Valley’s rise from the desert floor.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/1007ApacheTrail07.html

– Snowbowl development case to hinge on religious rights: The federal judge hearing the case over improvements at Arizona Snowbowl raised several concerns about both the quality of the water to be used and the tribes’ assertions that the Forest Service only consulted them as an afterthought.
http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=116806

– Judge orders full trial on Snowbowl: Skiing proponents, tribal members and environmentalists will be back in court on Wednesday for a trial over snowmaking at Arizona Snowbowl after a U.S. District Court judge declined on Friday to grant either side an immediate victory. The trial in Prescott will focus on whether tribes’ religious practices and beliefs are merely inconvenienced or truly harmed if Snowbowl is allowed to make snow with reclaimed wastewater.
http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=116845

– Will Peaks become religious monument?: Activists and Native American tribes across the country are watching the lawsuit over snowmaking on the San Francisco Peaks to see whether the tribes’ religious rights trump the Forest Service’s ability to allow Snowbowl to make snow there with reclaimed wastewater.
http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=116915

– Lower Pecos Rock Art could become more famous: The sheer abundance and preservation of ancient rock art along the Pecos River, Devils River and Rio Grande confluences of southwest Texas made an insightful impression on a world-renowned archeologist last week.
http://www.delrionewsherald.com/story.lasso?ewcd=d93e826ae15e8bc5

– Qwest Foundation Supports Expansion of ‘E-Education’ at Crow Canyon Archaeological Center: The Crow Canyon Archaeological Center announced today receipt of a grant for more than $24,000 from the Qwest Foundation. The funds will be used to expand Crow Canyon’s Web site to support nationally recognized educational programming and to build upon American Indian students’ cultural background.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/051007/75158.html?.v=1

– Annual Fall Friendraiser at Museum of Northern Arizona Nov. 19: Live, from Flagstaff, it’s Saturday Night at MNA! An evening filled with laughter at the Museum of Northern Arizona’s third annual fall friendraiser on Saturday, November 19 at 6 p.m. will showcase “James & Ernie,” the first Navajo stand-up comedy duo from the Navajo Nation, who have been featured around the Four Corners region of the Southwest.
http://www.azreporter.com/?itemid=522

– ‘1491’: Vanished Americans: (New York Times book review) Before the Pilgrims landed, 95 percent of the Indian population may have been dead, says Charles C. Mann.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/09/books/review/09baker.html

– Short stroll leads to 40-room Hohokam village: The Sears-Kay Ruin, the remnant of an ancient Hohokam village, stands atop a rocky hilltop nearly 10 miles east of Cave Creek.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/arizonaliving/articles/1008hike1008.html

– Endangered Places List 2005: Colorado Preservation Inc., a nonprofit, statewide historic preservation organization, has an Endangered Places Program that provides assistance to organizations and individuals working to save structures, sites and landscapes important to Colorado’s heritage.
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_3093479?rss

– Q Marks the Spot: Recent find fingers long-sought Maya city: Scientists working at a Guatemalan archaeological site that’s more than 1,400 years old have reported finding a hieroglyphic-covered stone panel that, they say, conclusively identifies the ancient settlement as the enigmatic Site Q, a Maya city about which researchers have long speculated.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20051008/fob1.asp

– Pacific Coast Archaeological Society’s October 13, 2005 meeting will feature Andrea P. Murray speaking on “The Orange County Curation Project – Preserving the Past for the Future.” Meeting information: Thursday, October 13, 2005, 7:30 PM at the Irvine Ranch Water District, 15600 Sand Canyon Ave., Irvine, CA. Meeting is free and open to the public. For information: http://www.pcas.org