Museum of Northern Arizona Director Robert Breunig Announces Retirement

Museum of Northern Arizona Director Robert Breunig Announces Retirement
Robert Breunig announced Tuesday he will be retiring next summer after more than 11 years as president and chief executive officer of the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff. Breunig, 68, has been praised as both a stabilizing and visionary force at the institution, which was in deep turmoil when he was hired as director in 2004. He said he decided to announce his retirement nearly a year in advance to ensure the museum, which was founded in 1928, had sufficient time to identify his replacement and provide for an orderly transition of duties. http://bit.ly/Y4b5Ug – Arizona Daily Sun

First Studies on Kennewick Remains Published
The mysterious Kennewick Man, who died 9,000 years ago in the Columbia River Valley, was a seal hunter who rambled far and wide with a projectile point lodged in his hip, five broken ribs that never healed properly, two small dents in his skull and a bum shoulder from the repetitive stress of throwing spears. He came from somewhere far away, far up the Pacific Northwest coast, possibly Alaska or the Aleutian Islands. He might even have come to North America all the way from Asia. http://wapo.st/1qhlg2i – Washington Post

Controversial Technique Used to Date Rock Art at Canyonlands National Park
In the Aug. 25, 2014, online ‘Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,’ USU scientists Joel Pederson, Steven Simms and Tammy Rittenour; USU alum Melissa Jackson Chapot of Wales’ Aberystwyth University, Reza Sohbati and Andrew Murray of Aarhus University and  the Technical University of Denmark, and Gary Cox of Canyonlands National Park report findings from studies using cutting-edge luminescence dating techniques that narrow the time frame for the famed paintings of enigmatic human-like figures. These results disprove proposed hypotheses of the age of the prehistoric drawings, thought by some to be among the oldest artifacts of the American Southwest. http://bit.ly/1wY4ASe – Phys.org

Public Television Station KVIE Presents a Thoughtful Documentary on Looting and the Desecration of Ancient Heritage
In the desolate Owens Valley, looters have been stealing or destroying ancient artifacts, including petroglyphs thousands of years old. Join archeologists, Native American tribal members, and federal land officials as they try to recover these priceless pieces of the past, while restoring and protecting them for future generations. http://vids.kvie.org/video/2365309153/ – KVIE Public Television

Crow Canyon Presents an Index of Science and Technology in Southwestern Archaeology
Though the cliché of the swashbuckling archaeologist is indelibly imprinted in the public imagination, the reality is considerably less romantic—and far more interesting. In the twenty-first century, archaeologist as rogue adventurer has been replaced by archaeologist as research scientist. Probably more than any other social science, archaeology is a multidisciplinary field of study, one that relies heavily on the natural sciences and modern technology in the gathering, analysis, and interpretation of data. http://bit.ly/1wXTJI4

Using DNA to Unravel Ancient Populations in the Arctic
While the area has long been well researched by archaeologists, little is known of its genetic prehistory. In this study, researchers show that the Paleo-Eskimo, who lived in the Arctic from about 5,000 years ago until about 700 years ago, represented a distinct wave of migration, separate from both Native Americans — who crossed the Bering Strait much earlier — and the Inuit, who came from Siberia to the Arctic several thousand years after the Paleo-Eskimos. http://bit.ly/1nhcGfd – Science Daily

Winslow Preservationist Seeks to Preserve Tribal Heritage at the Winslow Indian Cemetery
A dusty, barren field in the shadow of a busy Arizona interstate was for decades a place where children played freely, teenagers spooked themselves on Halloween and locals dumped trash, seemingly unaware of the history beneath them. Inside cotton sacks, burlap bags and blankets buried in the ground are the remains dating back to the 1930s of stillborn babies, tuberculosis patients, and sick and malnourished Native Americans from Winslow and the nearby Navajo and Hopi reservations. http://bit.ly/Z3PhbC – Associated Press via Earthlink

Penn Museum to Display Ancient Human Remains from Iraq
The public will soon get to see an ancient human skeleton recently rediscovered in a Philadelphia museum’s storage room. Visitors can look at the 6,500-year-old remains beginning Saturday at the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Museum. http://bit.ly/1rHY67Q – Associated Press Via Earthlink

ASU Archaeologists Tease Out Evolutionary Advantages Provided by Stone Projectile Points
Attaching a stone tip on to a wooden spear shaft was a significant innovation for early modern humans living around 500,000 years ago. However, it was also a costly behavior in terms of time and effort to collect, prepare and assemble the spear. Stone tips break more frequently than wooden spears, requiring more frequent replacement and upkeep, and the fragility of a broken point could necessitate multiple thrusts to an angry animal. So, why did early hunters begin to use stone-tipped spears? http://bit.ly/1lrxhC9 – Eurekaalert.Org

Man Who Crashed Drone into Yellowstone Hot Spring Faces Federal Charges
A man from the Netherlands faces federal charges after crashing a small unmanned aircraft into Yellowstone National Park’s Grand Prismatic Spring in early August. Theodorus Van Vliet faces up to six months in jail and a $5,000 fine for the Aug. 2 incident, one of three such instances in the park this summer that has officials warning visitors: Leave your drone at home. http://bit.ly/1nhnFp3 – KJA18.Com

Lecture Opportunity – Santa Fe
Southwest Seminars Presents Katsina carver Randy Brokeshoulder who will give a demonstration and discussion of The Grass Dance on September 1 at Hotel Santa Fe at 6pm as part of the Native Culture Matters Lecture Series held to acknowledge the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI). No reservations are necessary and admission is by subscription or $12 at the door. Refreshments are served and seating is limited. Contact Connie Eichstaedt at 505 466-2775; email: southwest seminar@aol.com; website: http://bit.ly/YhJddr

Lecture Opportunity – Santa Fe
Southwest Seminars Presents Crow Canyon Archaeological Center Archaeologist Dan Simplicio Archaeologist and Laboratory Education Coordinator, who will present What’s Not Growing at Zuni? on September 8 at Hotel Santa Fe at 6pm as part of the Native Culture Matters Lecture Series held to acknowledge the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI). No reservations are necessary and admission is by subscription or $12 at the door. Refreshments are served and seating is limited. Contact Connie Eichstaedt at 505 466-2775; email: southwest seminar@aol.com; website: http://bit.ly/YhJddr

Lecture Opportunity – Tucson
The Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society (AAHS) is pleased to present Dr. Paul E. Minnis on Monday, September 15^th at 7:30 pm in the University Medical Center’s Duval Auditorium (1500 N Campbell Ave, Tucson 85724), who will present “What no Chiles in the Ancient Southwest?” Dr. Minnis explores how the fortuitous discovery of the first cultivate chile from an archaeological site a few kilometers from Paquimé/Casas Grandes, just across the border in northern Chihuahua, provides an opportunity to reconsider dynamic history of chile and a time to challenge our common assumptions about chile. Meetings are free and open to the public. For more information please visit the AAHS website:http://www.az-arch-and-hist.org/, or contact John D. Hall at jhall@sricrm.com with questions about this or any other AAHS program.

Lecture Opportunity – Winslow
The Homolovi Chapter of AAS (Arizona Archaeological Society) is pleased to present Abraham Arnett on Wednesday, 10 September, at 7 p.m.at the Winslow Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center (Historic Lorenzo Hubbell Trading Post), 523 W. Second St, Winslow, AZ. Abraham will be speaking on the rich and unfolding archaeology of the Hay Hollow Valley in east central Arizona. For question or further information, call Sky Roshay at 928-536-3307.  You can also join us for dinner at 5 p.m. at the Historic La Posada Turquoise Room (on your own tab).

Tour Opportunity – The Ancient Chacoan World
On Friday-Sunday September 26-28, veteran southwestern tour guide Marc Severson leads Old Pueblo Archaeology Center’s “Chaco Canyon, Aztec, and Salmon Great Pueblos” drive-your-own-vehicle New Mexico educational tour. Fee $195 ($175 for Old Pueb­lo and Pueblo Grande Museum Auxiliary members). For additional $70 ($60 OP-PGMA members) on Monday visit sites in and near Zuni Pueblo including Our Lady of Guadalupe historic mission church with its Zuni ceremonial-life murals, Village of the Great Kivas Chacoan Outlier site, and Zuni Eagle Rehabilita­tion Center. Fees do not include transportation, meals, Gallup and Farmington overnight lodgings, or gratuities. Registration deadline September 12: 520-798-1201 or info@oldpueblo.org.

Position Open: Editor for Kiva, Volumes 81–83
The Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society seeks an editor for Kiva: The Journal of Southwestern Anthropology and History. Kiva is the premier Southwest journal and has published peer-reviewed articles about archaeology, anthropology, history, and linguistics since 1935. The journal has a circulation of approximately 650 individual and institutional members. The editor is an independent contractor who accepts and solicits manuscripts for publication in four issues per year, maintains the journal’s established high standards of professional quality, and works in coordination with a book reviews editor and Maney Publishing’s editorial, production, and marketing team. Maney Publishing will train the editor for online article submission, tracking, and publishing. The editor has a working relationship with the Society’s Publications Committee and Board of Directors through a contract covering three volume years with an option for renewal. Compensation is $1,750 per issue ($7,000 per year). Please visit http://bit.ly/1uhONZh for more information. March 1, 2015 is the proposed start date. Please send a letter of interest and curriculum vitae by November 1, 2014, to: Jenny Adams, Ph.D., Chair, Kiva Acquisitions Editor Search Committee. 3975 N. Tucson Blvd. Tucson, AZ 85716 520-881-2244 or jadams@desert.com

Thanks to Cherie Freeman for contributing to this week’s SAT newsletter.