Southwest Archaeology Today for March 3, 2006

Archaeology Making the News – A Service of the Center for Desert Archaeology

– Arizona Archaeology Month Events for the week of March 4 – March 11:
— Archaeology Expo Starts Today in Tubac: Kids and adults will learn about the hard life of native people and early settlers at the annual Arizona Archaeology Expo Friday and Saturday. This year it’s at the Tubac Presidio State Historic Park. The state’s Archaeology and Heritage Awareness Month kick-off, which is held at a different location each year, aims to use fun activities to show what archaeologists do and outline Arizona’s early history.
http://www.azstarnet.com/dailystar/allheadlines/117801.php

— Public Lecture on Spanish Trails: March 7 In Search of Spanish Trails, Archaeologist John Madsen, ASM south John Madsen is an associate curator of archaeology at Arizona State Museum. His research focuses on Spanish explorations in Arizona between 1539 and 1821, mainly the trails and camps of the Coronado expedition that passed through Arizona between 1539 and 1542. In this lecture he shares details about his investigations into the lesser-known expedition lead by Captain Jose de Zuniga from Tucson to Zuni, New Mexico in 1795. John shares his archaeological findings and shows many Spanish artifacts found throughout southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. 7-9 p.m. Arizona State Museum Room 309, Free.

— Public Volunteer Day at Casa Malpais (Springerville Arizona): A public volunteer workday has been scheduled for March 11th, from 9:30 am to 3:00 Pm. Bring your work gloves and a good hat and help archaeologists from the Center for Desert Archaeology and the Casa Malpais Museum and Visitor’s Center in an effort to do some spring-cleaning and preservation of this important site. Lunch will be provided by generous local business. To volunteer, meet at the Casa Malpais Museum and Visitor’s Center at 318 E. Main St, in Springerville for directions to the site.

– Navaho Tribe Appeals Federal Decision on Snowmaking for the San Francisco Peaks Ski Area: The Navajo Nation is appealing a federal court decision that allowed a ski lodge to pollute a sacred site with “reclaimed” water. “We not only disagree with the lower court opinion on moral and ethical grounds, there are a number of legal errors that we believe provide us with a solid basis for appeal,” attorney Howard Shanker said.
http://tinyurl.com/halvy – Native Times

– Deadline Approaching for Applications for Kiva Editor: This is the last call for Kiva Editor applications. The deadline is March 15th. Our call for applications has so far been very successful.
http://www.cdarc.org/sat/kiva.doc

– Phoenix Turns 125: It all started in 1867 when Jack Swilling of Wickenburg stopped to rest his horse at the White Tank Mountains, scanned the Salt River Valley and saw the potential farmland. He returned to Wickenburg, created the Swilling Irrigation Canal Company and started digging a canal to divert water from the Salt River to the Valley. The new canals tied into the vast irrigation system, about 135 miles of canals, left behind by a Native American society, the Hohokam, which historians believe was destroyed by a prolonged drought.
http://tinyurl.com/n8cx5– Arizona Republic

– The Preservation of Honey Bee Village (Tucson): Oro Valley’s first residents might be happy to learn how much the town values its earliest history and native heritage. With a new partnership officially in place, the historic Hohokam Indian site in Oro Valley – known as Honey Bee Village – will now be preserved, thanks to the combined efforts of the town of Oro Valley, Pima County, a local developer and the Tohono O’Odham nation. Creation of the Honey Bee Village Preserve was marked in a ceremony featuring speeches from town and county officials and leaders of the Tohono O’odham nation Feb. 23. An archeologist was on hand to lead a tour of the site.
http://tinyurl.com/llfpu – Northwest Explorer also see
http://www.azstarnet.com/dailystar/allheadlines/118001.php

– A Preview of the Archaeology Channel’s Film Festival is Now Online: Every year we feature the world’s best heritage film productions in our film festival. You can see what’s coming up this year in TAC Festival 2006 Preview, the latest video feature on our nonprofit streaming-media Web site, The Archaeology Channel. The world’s best films and videos on archaeology and indigenous peoples are showcased at The Archaeology Channel International Film and Video Festival, to be held 7-11 March 2006 at the McDonald Theatre in Eugene, Oregon, USA. This preview video includes a short clip from each of the 17 productions that will compete on the big screen. Film-makers from 15 countries submitted a total of 56 entries for this event, which is one of the world’s few contests in the genre of heritage film.
http://www.archaeologychannel.org

– Four Corners Tour Offered by Crow Canyon Archaeological Center: Experience the Past: Excavation and Exploration in the Four Corners, July 16-22. Join Crow Canyon’s researchers to examine the evidence of ancestral Pueblo life in the Four Corners region, visit famous and lesser-known archaeological treasures and gain insights into modern Pueblo people’s interpretations of rock art images. Be an archaeologist for a day at Goodman Point Pueblo. With Crow Canyon’s Dr. Mark Varien, Margie Connolly, Kristin Kuckelman, and Jonathan Till. Read more! A minimum of 12 travelers is needed by April 16.
http://www.crowcanyon.org/programs/four_corners.html