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Introduction to Archaeology Southwest’s Edge of Salado Research
What slows or halts the geographic spread of an ideology—especially an ideology that brings people together? In our previous work, we focused on detecting Kayenta immigrants and determining their impacts in communities across the southern Southwest. Kayenta immigrants were a powerful minority with a strong identity and contagious ideology. Salado ideology developed as local groups and these influential immigrants lived together over generations. We have identified communities that adopted these new ideas. Now, we wonder, why did some local groups say “no” to Salado? How might we investigate 600-year-old acts of resistance? http://bit.ly/1rC6Nwx
Edge of Salado Field Research – A Pictorial Overview
We have been working in the Coyote Mountains for three weeks now as part of our Edge of Salado investigation. I can say, without any doubt, that it has been one of my favorite settings to work in. Each site is nestled within a box canyon eroded from micaceous igneous rock, which presents a pure sense of grandeur each time you look up from your 1 x 2 m excavation unit. http://bit.ly/1hE3rGd – Preservation Archaeology via Archaeology Southwest
A View from the Edge of Salado
I have had the pleasure of being an intern for the Edge of Salado project since February of this year. It has been fun, challenging at times, and very rewarding. It has been a good learning experience, in terms of how to meet the project’s research goals while still providing a good experience for everyone involved. For those of you who are not familiar with our project, Lewis Borck, Archaeology Southwest’s Preservation Fellow, is looking for signs of resistance to the Salado ideology. http://bit.ly/1rvxWzA – Preservation Archaeology via Archaeology Southwest
The Next Tucson Archaeology Café Features a Summary of Archaeology Southwest’s Current Research.
On May 6, 2014, Archaeology Southwest Preservation Fellow Lewis Borck provides an update on his “Edge of Salado” research project, which examines life, community, and resistance on the frontier of an expansive ideology. We gather after 5:00 p.m., and presentations begin by 6:15 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, 375 S. Stone Avenue, by ordering refreshments from the menu. If you are unable to attend the Tucson Café, a video of this discussion will be posted via YouTube in mid-May.
Mexican Origin of the Domestic Chile Pepper
Study co-author Gary P. Nabhan, an ethnobiologist and agroecologist at the University of Arizona’s Southwest Center, noted: “This is the first research ever to integrate multiple lines of evidence in attempts to pinpoint where, when, under what ecological conditions, and by whom a major global spice plant was domesticated. http://bit.ly/1hEnL69 – Science Daily
Landfill Excavation Locates Atari Cache
In a way, yesterday’s excavation of Alamogordo, New Mexico’s legendary Atari landfill was an important, once-in-a-lifetime moment in video game history. The dig confirms a story that has taken on nearly mythical status in the annals of a still-young video game industry—a powerful physical reminder of the hubris of the company that was on top of the world in 1982 and at the bottom of the literal and metaphorical landfill by September of 1983. There’s another way you could view it, though: some guys with cameras hired some garbage men to dig up a bunch of 31-year-old junk they knew was there and that no one wanted even when it was new. http://bit.ly/QNa5zY – Ars Technica
Could Teotihuacan’s Pyramid of the Sun Collapse?
The Pyramid of the Sun may fall apart. One side is dry while another side is wet, which could lead to the pyramid’s collapse unless a fix can be found. Between the 1st and 7th centuries, Mexico’s Pyramid of the Sun was at the heart of the largest city in the Americas. Now known as Teotihuacan, the lost city had a population of more than 125,000, making it one of the biggest in the world. The pyramid itself is among the largest on the planet. Its exterior is covered with 3 million tonnes of volcanic rock, but the interior is a mound of earth. http://bit.ly/1j3Dd0k – New Scientist
Yale Case Highlights Complications in the Repatriation Process
When stories of stolen Tlingit objects at the Yale Peabody Natural History Museum hit the press this week, museum officials came under fire. Yale was not alone in having these kinds of items in their collection. In 1899, the Harriman Expedition, loaded with scientists, artists, and collectors ransacked an Alaskan Tlingit village, abandoned following a small pox epidemic. They brought the items back and distributed them to museums all over the country. http://bit.ly/1iqtBOv – Indian Country Today
Tour Curation Facilities at the Anasazi Heritage Center
The curation staff at the Bureau of Land Management’s Anasazi Heritage Center (AHC) will host weekly “Behind-the-Scenes” tours of its curation and collections management facility on Thursdays from May 1 through October 30. Tours are open to the public, and are free with the cost of admission to the AHC. Tours will take place every Thursday at 2 p.m. Space is limited. Participants should reserve a place in advance by calling 970-882-5600. For safety and security reasons, tours are limited to adults and older children. The Anasazi Heritage Center is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, contact the museum at (970) 882-5600, or see its web site at http://1.usa.gov/1jXDQ8v – Anasazi Heritage Center
Lecture Opportunities – Arivaca, Prescott, and Sedona
Archaeologist Allen Dart gives his free “Southwestern Rock Calendars and Ancient Time Pieces” presentation at 2 p.m., Sunday, May 4, at Red Rock State Park, 4050 Red Rock Loop Rd., Sedona; at 10 a.m., Saturday, May 10, at the Old Arivaca Schoolhouse, 17180 W. Fourth St., Arivaca; and at 7 p.m., Thursday, June 19, at the Smoki Museum, 147 N. Arizona St., Prescott. The program illustrates how southwestern Native Americans developed sophisticated skills in astronomy and predicting the seasons, centuries before Old World peoples first entered the region. No reservations are needed. For more information, call 520-798-1201 or email adart@oldpueblo.org.
Lecture Opportunity – Cave Creek
Dr. Britton Shepardson is presenting a lecture on applied quantitative analysis and non-invasive methods to address a number of research topics on Easter Island and other Polynesian islands. The Desert Foothills Chapter (AAS) meeting is Wednesday, May 14th. There are refreshments available at 7:00 p.m. and the meeting begins at 7:30 p.m., usually ending prior to 9:00 p.m. at the community room in The Good Shepherd of the Hills Episcopal Church, 6502 East Cave Creek Road, Cave Creek, AZ 85331 (near the Dairy Queen). http://bit.ly/1aYMEY2 – Desert Foothills Chapter of the Arizona Archaeology Society
Lecture Opportunity – Glendale
The public is invited to a free lecture by archaeologist Chris Reed on the archaeology of the Natural Bridges National Monument offered by the Agua Fria Chapter of the Arizona Archaeological Society at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, May 12, 2014 at the West Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 5904 W. Cholla St., Glendale, AZ (off 59th Avenue, south of Cactus). Membership in the Society is not required. For more information, contact Tim Cullison, 602-863-9744, tcullisonaz@gmail.com.
Thanks to Adrianne Rankin for contributions to this week’s newsletter.
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