Southwest Archaeology Today for Jan. 16, 2006

– Historic Preservation: Are UNESCO World Heritage Sites too Much of a Good Thing? The phrase Unesco World Heritage site has been crossing from the lips of travel agents and popping up more and more on travel Web sites. That’s no coincidence: the list has grown steadily from the first 12 in 1978 to 812 today, and includes everything from the Statue of Liberty, the Taj Mahal and Angkor Wat to the Wooden Churches of Southern Little Poland and the Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape in Mongolia. But as the list expands each year, many, including Unesco staff members, are left wondering: is this rapid growth watering down the list’s meaning? And by drawing both tourism and development that’s often left unchecked, can the honor do as much harm as good to those places so anointed?
http://tinyurl.com/9dzv4 – New York Times

– Historic Preservation (Tucson) – Navigating the National Historic Register Nomination Process: Getting a historic designation for a neighborhood can be daunting, but 21 neighborhoods in Tucson have done it, and the city’s Department of Urban Planning and Design is trying to make the process a little easier. Normally, a neighborhood has to go through many steps, including getting a contractor to inspect each house for its historical architecture and design. The department plans to do a study of all of the neighborhoods built after World War II to determine which ones have historical significance, said Marty McCune, historic preservation officer for the city.
http://www.azstarnet.com/dailystar/allheadlines/111438.php

– Preservation vs. Recreation: In the American West the age of preservation has ended and that of recreation has begun. Preservation is predicated on what is now a more than century-old, class-based value system. It began as conservation in the age of Theodore Roosevelt, when it was easy to separate sacred space and that fouled by humans, and even easier for those who fouled that space to accept the distinction and throw their energy into preserving places that were beautiful and remote. No wonder conservation and preservation were watchwords of the American elite for the first half of the 20th century and beyond. (Note of thanks to Brian Kenny.)
http://www.newwest.net/index.php/main/article/5318/

– Historic Myth of Aztec’s in American Southwest Cast in New Light: Dennis Reinhartz, a University of Texas at Arlington historian and co-editor of Mapping of the Entradas into the Greater Southwest, is filmed discussing pre-Columbian trade routes that extended from South America through Aztec land and into New Mexico. Archaeologists claim that Ecuadorian seamen went up the western coastline to trade shells, fruits and maize with Mexican merchants. Told in Nahuatl, Spanish and English, the film explores the concept of “going back.” The more ardent defenders of U.S. nationalism and some American Indians express in harsh tones their desire for Mexicans and their descendants to go back to Mexico. They ignore or aren’t aware of the Uto-Nahuatl language family and the presence of corn that expose a historical connection between Mexican and U.S. Indians.
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/opinion/13626333.htm

– Employment Opportunity (City of Phoenix): City of Phoenix Archaeology Section. The City of Phoenix Archaeology Section has a part-time position open for a contract archaeology assistant (Associate Archaeologist). Hours and days are flexible. This position will conduct archaeological site assessments and Phase 1 reviews for city projects, update the city electronic archaeological site database, maintain the city archaeological project tracking database, and perform other archaeology and museum related tasks as assigned. The applicant should have completed some course work in Anthropology, Archaeology, and/or History. Also, some field and computer experience are preferred. The salary is $12.00/hour paid on a contractual basis as an employee of a consulting firm (EcoPlan) that works for the city. The Associate Archaeologist will work at Pueblo Grande Museum up to 20 or more hours a week. Interested applicants should send resumes to:
Robert Serocki, Jr.
City of Phoenix Assistant Archaeologist
Pueblo Grande Museum
4619 E. Washington Street
Phoenix, AZ 85034