New York Times Explores the Value of Collections-Based Research

New York Times Explores the Value of Collections-Based Research
Galleries usually get all the publicity, but at many museums the biggest news is happening in the basement. In recent years, curators, visiting scholars, interns and even students have discovered — or rediscovered — cultural treasures lurking on site. The finds, including a rare Picasso in storage, a long-lost recording of a Martin Luther King speech in a cardboard box and an entirely new species of mammal in a specimen drawer, change the image of museum storage from a climate-controlled purgatory for art and artifacts into an organic part of cultural institutions, where history is often being made, or at least demanding to be re-evaluated. http://nyti.ms/ONYAqP

Hohokam and Early Agricultural Period Deposits Located on the Site of Future Outlet Center Northwest Of Tucson
A major ancient human settlement — including pit houses, the likely remnants of an irrigation canal and human burials possibly dating back 4,000 years — has been discovered under the site of a planned outlet center along Interstate 10 in Marana. Experts agree discovery is significant archaeologically — the settlement is likely from the Early Agricultural Period, which predates even the Hohokam culture that was in Southern and Central Arizona from 500 to about 1450 A.D. The find will add additional knowledge about agricultural practices that may be the oldest known in the United States, archaeologists say. http://bit.ly/1oQx0WW – Arizona Daily Star

Take Action Against House Resolution to Restrict Presidential Authority for the Creation of National Monuments
H.R. 1459 would require an unnecessary and lengthy review before the designation of any national monument that is greater than 5,000 acres; expiration of any national monument designation for sites less than 5,000 acres that Congress has not specifically approved within three years; and a limit on the number of designations a president could make to one per state during a four-year term. Under such a provision, President Theodore Roosevelt could not have protected the Grand Canyon back in 1908. http://bit.ly/1jqI3CI – Pew Charitable Trust

Tribes Rally to Defend Traditional Cultural Property Designation for Mount Taylor
Sometimes, the strength of a unified collective has to power to defeat the machinations of industry and development. Such was the case with the traditional cultural property (TCP) designation of Mount Taylor in New Mexico. Since time immemorial, Mount Taylor has been known as Tsoodził to the Navajo people and has been revered as the southern mountain of the Four Sacred Mountains. http://bit.ly/1hTshPS – Native News Online

Ancient Shell Trade in the Southwest is the Topic of Archaeology Southwest’s Next Tucson Archaeology Café
Join us on April 8th as Archaeomalacologist Arthur Vokes explains what marine shell and other precious raw materials reveal about the extent and significance of trade in the ancient Southwest. We gather after 5:00 p.m., and presentations begin around 6 p.m. Seating is open and unreserved, but limited. Share tables and make new friends! The event is free. Please support our hosts at Casa Vicente by ordering refreshments from the menu.

Navajo Family Fights for Right to Remain at Wupatki
Before an expanse of grassland and pueblo ruins in northern Arizona was declared a national monument, it was home to hundreds of Navajos whose ancestors returned to settle the area after a forced march to an Eastern New Mexico internment camp. Slowly, the Navajo families left Wupatki National Monument, too, either voluntarily or under pressure by the National Park Service, which sought to eliminate private use of the public land it managed. Only one Navajo woman remains. http://bit.ly/1iQTDIU – Santa Fe New Mexican

“Atari Excavation” Hits Regulatory Snags
Jonathan Chinn, an executive producer at Austin, Texas-based LightBox, said Thursday that the search hasn’t been halted. Chinn says a local waste-management consultant who filed an excavation permit is addressing questions raised by the New Mexico Environmental Department.  A department spokesman has said the agency was waiting on a revised waste excavation plan. http://bit.ly/1haHbzJ – Dallas Morning News

Tour & Lecture Opportunities – Tucson
Mark your calendar for the afternoon of April 12 for special University Indian Ruin events. From 2 to 4 p.m., Professor Paul Fish, Professor Suzanne Fish, and Adjunct Associate Professor Mark Elson will conduct guided tours of UIR and discuss research at the site. Following the tours, this year’s UIR Residential Scholars, Kacy Hollenback (Ph.D. Arizona, 2012) and Chris Roos (Ph.D. Arizona 2010), will give short talks from 4 to 5 p.m. For more information, please see http://bit.ly/1ri1aVb – University of Arizona School of Anthropology

Lecture Opportunity – Blanding
On Saturday March 29 at 2:00 p.m. Edge of the Cedars Museum will host a lecture by archaeologist Natalie Clark. In this presentation, Natalie Clark will discuss the Pueblo II and Pueblo III period communities surrounding two great houses—the Et Al and Owen sites—on Cedar Mesa. Join us at EOC Museum Auditorium at 2:00 p.m. for this free lecture. Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum is located at 660 West, 400 North, in Blanding.  Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.  Daily admission is $5. For more information contact the museum at 435-678-2238.

Lecture Opportunity – Cave Creek
On April 9th at 7:00 pm, at the monthly meeting of the Desert Foothills Chapter of the Arizona Archaeological Society, Dr. Jerry Howard presents a newly created lecture on prehistoric Hohokam irrigation. This lecture focuses on the environmental impact of Hohokam irrigation canals and fields, which clearly had significant impacts on their environment prehistorically. The Hohokam culture transformed the local Sonoran Desert into agricultural landscapes. The meeting is held in the community room (Maitland Hall) at The Good Shepard of the Hills Episcopal Church, 6502 Cave Creek Road, Cave Creek, AZ. http://bit.ly/1aYMEY2

Lecture Opportunity – Coolidge
On Wednesday March 26^th, at noon, Maren Hopkins will present the final presentation in Casa Grande Ruins’ 2014 lectures series. Her lecture, Landscape, Memory, and the Huhugam in O’odham Oral Historical Traditions: Examples from the Western Papagueria, draws on cultural memories of landscape using archaeological and ethnographic information to demonstrate how the preservation of and access to land is significant for the retention and transmission of Native American identities.  Ms. Hopkins works as an archaeologist and ethnographer in the American Southwest.

Workshop Opportunity – El Paso
On April 12, from 2:00 to 5:00 pm, Australian archaeologists Drs. Michael Hermes and Tim Stone present a three part program on topics of mutual interest for El Paso, the Southwest and Australia at the El Paso Museum of Archaeology. Topics iclude the Anangu world view and religion, Australian rock art case management studies, and a forum for discussion of archaeological issues common to Austraila and the Southwest. Information: 915-755-4332 or http://bit.ly/11ofVK5.

Lecture Opportunity – Phoenix
Join the Phoenix Chapter of the Arizona Archaeological Society at Pueblo Grande Museum on April 10th at 7:00 pm, for a free presentation on Identifying Nested Social Groups: The Pioneer Period in the Tucson Basin by Eric Klucas, Statistical Research, Inc., Tucson.  Pueblo Grande Museum is located at 4619 E. Washington Street, Phoenix. Join us for light refreshments before the meeting followed by an interesting talk and a short Q&A period. Contact Ellie Large at 480-461-0563 for more information.

Lecture Opportunity – Santa Fe
Southwest Seminars Presents Dr. David Wilcox, Anthropologist and Archaeologist, Senior Research Associate (ret.), Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff who will give a lecture March 31 Macrocosm and Microcosm in Southwestern Archaeology: An Historical Perspective at 6pm at Hotel Santa Fe as part of the Ancient Sites Ancient Stories II Lecture Series held annually to acknowledge the work of The Archaeological Conservancy. Admission is by subscription or $12 at the door. No reservations are necessary and seating is limited. Contact Connie Eichstaedt at tel: 505 466-2775; email:southwestseminar@aol.com; website: http://bit.ly/YhJddr

Reminder: Expand Your Archaeological Horizons at This Year’s Arizona Archaeology Expo
March brings the annual Archaeology Expo, which offers special tours and educational opportunities for archaeology buffs young and old. We’re so pleased that this year’s Expo will be held right in our own backyard, at Catalina State Park, on Saturday, March 29th. There will be plenty of activities, including demonstrations about rabbit-stick and atlatl throwing, corn grinding, flint knapping, and pottery making—to name just a few. There will be booths providing information and materials focused on archaeological research in the state, including information on volunteer and career opportunities. http://bit.ly/1dbIZax – Archaeology Southwest