Oil and Gas Leases Pushed Back 10 Miles from Chaco Park Boundary

BLM Prevents Oil and Gas Drilling on Chaco Culture Park Boundary
Opponents of drilling near Chaco Culture National Historic Park in New Mexico have received a reprieve from proposals to drill on U.S. Bureau of Land Management parcels bordering the park, which is home to ancestral Puebloan ruins. The BLM this week released an environmental assessment that proposes to lease four of 38 parcels that were nominated by gas and oil companies. None of the parcels recommended by the BLM’s preferred alternative to go forward is among the nominated parcels closest to the park. http://bit.ly/1aWHqA7 – Durango Herald

Reanalysis of Utah’s Cave #7 Mass Burial Yields New Insights on Ancient Warfare and Burial Practices
Nearly a hundred skeletons buried in a cave in southeast Utah offer grisly evidence that ancient Americans waged war on each other as much as 2,000 years ago, according to new research. Dozens of bodies, dating from the first century CE, bear clear signs of hand-to-hand combat: skulls crushed as if by cudgels; limbs broken at the time of death; and, most damning, weapons still lodged in the back, breast and pelvic bones of some victims — including stone points, bone awls, and knives made of obsidian glass. http://bit.ly/1etnEMB – Western Digs

Microplasma Could Lead to Handheld Device for Analysis of C-14
A team of researchers, including experts from Uppsala University in Sweden have developed a miniature device that they claim could revolutionize the way in which archaeologists date objects they discover in the field. The instrument in question is being described as a high-tech microplasma source that is capable of exciting matter in a controlled, efficient way. While the device, which is detailed in a paper appearing in the Journal of Applied Physics, could be used in a wide range of applications in harsh environments, the authors claim that it could drastically change the study of artifacts. http://bit.ly/18Gq71e – Red Orbit

Lecture Opportunity – Aztec
On September 13, 7:00 PM, at the Aztec Ruins National Monument Visitors Center, Steve Lekson will present Pinnacle Ruins and Mesa Verde Migrations as part of the Aztec Ruins Lecture Series. The University of Colorado (as part of the Canada Alamosa Project) conducted excavations at Pinnacle Ruin in southern New Mexico from 2000-2008.  Pinnacle Ruin appears to be a sizable village of Mesa Verde migrants, 400 km south of the Mesa Verde heartlands.  Pinnacle Ruin, together with contemporary migrations west and east, offers insights on the range of social strategies represented in the depopulation of the Four Corners. http://1.usa.gov/18Ne0hR – Aztec Ruins National Monument

Lecture Opportunity – Dolores
On September 11 at 7:00 PM, at the Anasazi Heritage Center, Anasazi Heritage Center, 27501 Colorado 184, Steve Lekson will present Chaco, Capital of the Northern Southwest as part of the Four Corners Lectures Series at the meeting of the Hisatsinom Chapter of the Colorado Archaeological Society. Chaco has been intensely studied for over 100 years, yet we cannot agree on what Chaco was. Is Chaco an unresolvable mystery? Lekson’s presentation reviews current ideas about Chaco, and reaches a conclusion. Contact Diane McBride at 970-560-1643 with questions about this program. http://on.doi.gov/14wxHyG – Anasazi Heritage Center

Lecture Opportunity – Dolores
The Hisatsinom Chapter of the Colorado Archaeological Society is pleased to present the documentary Death of Place by local filmmaker Larry Ruiz on Sunday, September 15 at 1:00 PM at the Anasazi Heritage Center. The film features famed author Craig Childs, archaeologists Winston Hurst, Jonathan Till, and Rich Friedman, and rock art expert Joe Pachak discussing how sacred places in the Four Corners area of southwestern US are in danger and must be preserved. The film shows how close we are to losing this precious part of our ancient history. In the film, we take the audience to Utah where author Craig Childs expresses his deepest hope and love for the land. Navajo Historian Clyde Benally will be on hand to say a few words.

Lecture Opportunity – Durango
On September 12, 7:00 PM at the Lyceum in the Center of Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis College, Steve Lekson will present a San Juan Basin Archaeological Society lecture  Mimbres and Casas Grandes.  The University of Colorado’s current research in the Mimbres area is re-writing the history of that remarkable culture, famed for its figurative black-on-white pottery; and clarifying the role of Mimbres in the origins of Casas Grandes, the last great Southwestern city. This presentation introduces these civilizations, summarizes recent research, and offers preliminary conclusions. http://bit.ly/14wyakf – San Juan Basin Archaeological Society

Lecture Opportunity – Irvine
Cave Art to Stonehenge: Artifacts of Mythical Beliefs Arising from Auditory Illusions of the Supernatural will be presented by Steven J. Waller, at the Pacific Coast Archaeological Society general meeting starting 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 12, at 15500 Sand Canyon Ave.  http://bit.ly/1fNjayh – Pacific Coast Archaeology Society

Lecture Opportunity – Tucson
The Arizona State Museum and the Arizona Archaeological and Historical society, in honor of the museum’s 120th anniversary, are please to present David R. Wilcox on Monday, September 16 at 7:30 PM at the DuVal Auditorium (1501 N. Campbell Ave. inside University Medical Center) to present Synergies of Success: Stories of Cooperation Between Professional and Avocational Archaeologists in Arizona. Dr. Wilcox will discuss synergies that have come from relationships between professional and avocational archaeologists whose cooperation repeatedly produced significant contributions to knowledge. It is a valuable reminder of how such success is crafted, and perhaps a guide to how it can be realized. Contact Jon Boyd @ 520 444-6385 with questions about this, or any other AAHS program.

Lecture Opportunity – Tucson
The University of Arizona Egyptian Expedition and American Research Center for Egyptology Arizona Chapter are pleased to present Dr. Geoffrey Martin on Tuesday September 24 at 5:30 p.m. at the University of Arizona Bryant Bannister Tree Ring Building (1215 E. Lowell Street) to discuss Re-excavating the Royal Tomb of Horemheb in the Valley of the Kings. Contact Dr. Creasman @520-621-2414 about this and other lectures presented by the UAEE and the ARCE-AZ or go to www.arce.arizona.edu for additional information. Free to the public.

Lecture Opportunity – Santa Fe
Southwest Seminars Presents Dr. Patricia Crown, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, University of New Mexico who will give the lecture Investigating Chocolate Use in Chaco Canyon: Re-Opening the Cylinder Jar Room in Pueblo Bonito on September 9 (tonight) at 6pm at Hotel Santa Fe as part of the annual Native Culture Matters Lecture Series held to honor and acknowledge the work of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. Admission is $12 at the door or by subscription. Refreshments are provided and no reservations are necessary. Contact Connie Eichstaedt, Southwest Seminars, for information. 505 466-2775. Email: southwest seminar@aol.com or website: http://bit.ly/YhJddr

Lecture Opportunity – Santa Fe
Southwest Seminars Presents Dr. E. Charles Adams, Curator of Archaeology and Professor of Anthropology, Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona; who will give a lecture on September 16 at 6pm at Hotel Santa Fe,  Hopi History As Told Through Archaeology and Oral Tradition as part of the annual Native Culture Matters Lecture Series held to honor and acknowledge the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. Admission is $12 at the door or by subscription. Refreshments are provided and no reservations are necessary. Contact Connie Eichstaedt, Southwest Seminars, for information. Tel: 505 466-2775. Email: southwest seminar@aol.com or website: http://bit.ly/YhJddr