The Antiquities Act Is Threatened

Editorial: The Antiquities Act Is Threatened
The heart of the Antiquities Act of 1906 is a mere two sentences. But a good argument can be made that this brief law — which authorizes the president to protect “objects of historic or scientific interest” on federal lands as “national monuments” — has done more than any other to shape our nation’s conservation legacy. The act has been used more than 150 times, by nearly every president, Republican and Democrat, from Theodore Roosevelt on, to protect hundreds of millions of acres for the inspiration and enjoyment of present and future generations. Five of the nation’s 10 most-visited national parks — Grand Canyon, Zion, Olympic, Teton and Acadia, each attracting millions of people a year — were first protected by presidents using the Antiquities Act. http://nyti.ms/2nu2NBg – New York Times

Editorial: The President Lacks the Legal Authority to Alter or Rescind Monument Designations
The Antiquities Act does not say the president may rescind such designations, but proponents of revocation argue that the president has the implied power to do so. They argue that the Constitution’s grant of executive authority to the president is broad and that this is merely one of the unstated powers encompassed within that broad grant. The problem with that argument is that we are not here dealing with any power granted the president under the Constitution, but instead with the management of federal lands. The Constitution’s property clause grants that power not to the president, but exclusively to Congress. http://wapo.st/2nunPjp – Washington Post

Archaeology in Downtown Phoenix :”Finds illuminate prehistoric, modern cultures”
Archaeologists recently unearthed evidence of prehistoric people and remnants of Phoenix’s first fire station in the heart of downtown, where the area’s only grocery store is set to break ground April 13. Until then, the dusty bricks and possible remnants of pit houses give a rare window into the history of a site that has long been at the center of city society. Crews finished Friday a three-week dig at Block 23, named for its place in Phoenix’s original townsite. The land at First and Washington streets was most recently used for parking and has a long list of documented uses starting in the 1880s. http://bit.ly/2nueJ65 – Arizona Republic

Blogs Worth Reading: A Critical Look at the Ethics of the Chaco Matriarchal Lineage Study
The findings, which provide important insights into the social structure of the ancient Puebloans, have sparked considerable excitement among archaeologists and others who study the ancient past. One might think their enthusiasm would be shared by present-day Pueblo peoples, who claim the Chacoans as their ancestors—a contention strongly backed by archaeological evidence. But instead, news of the research, which was published in the journal Nature Communications, has made some Native American tribal officials very angry. In contrast to other recent cases in which scientists have consulted tribal peoples and obtained their blessings before extracting DNA from ancestral Native American remains, the researchers are only now discussing their results with tribal groups. To a number of critics, including some researchers, the controversy represents a setback to recent progress in fostering collaborations between scientists and tribal peoples. http://bit.ly/2nulHb8 – Michael Balter via Sapiens

Ancient Reservoirs at Chaco Studied for Lessons on Managing Water Today
Tucked away in a laboratory in University of Cincinnati’s Braunstein Hall are tubes of rock and dirt that quietly tell a story –– a story that looks back on ancient society’s early water conservation. UC researchers hope the story will aid in the future preservation of our planet’s most precious resource. In an effort to help manage the world’s water supply more efficiently, an interdisciplinary team of University of Cincinnati researchers from the departments of anthropology, geography and geology have climbed through rainforests, dug deep under arid deserts and collaborated with scientists around the world to look at how ancient humans manipulated their environment to manage water. http://bit.ly/2nulzbU – University of Cincinnati Magazine

Honoring Agave’s Ancient and Modern Connections to O’odham Peoples
It was hard to find on a map. So I asked the voice over the phone to give me detailed directions to Topawa, a little desert town about seven miles south of Sells on the Tohono O’odham Nation.
Bernard Siquieros knew it well. He had a friendly voice while he recited the turnoffs, but he didn’t seem very talkative or overly accommodating, like people who often deal with the press can be. He’d just turned me down after all, so I had to beg to get what I wanted. I wanted to see a thousand-year-old roast. Since the days of the Hohokam, Arizonans have survived off the spiny succulents of the desert. They eat the agave like it’s candy, I’d heard. But the practice of roasting agave is very rare; in fact, the Tohono O’odham do it only once a year. Probably because the process takes several days and is unbelievably labor-intensive. http://bit.ly/2nua0RO – Arizona Daily Star

Reminder: Archaeology Café (Tucson): When Social Networks Hurt
Dr. Kacy Hollenback (SMU) joins us for our April 4, 2017, café. She will discuss instances in which social networks led to increased vulnerability in certain disaster contexts (such as smallpox epidemics), instead of increasing resilience (as most people envision). We meet on the patio of Casa Vicente, 375 S. Stone Ave., Tucson. Enter through the restaurant. Presentations begin after 6:00 p.m. It is best to arrive before 5:30 p.m., as seating is open and unreserved, but limited. http://bit.ly/2okfSy2 – Archaeology Southwest

Arizona State Museum’s “Woven Through Time” Exhibit Opens on April 8
Celebrate, shop, try, and admire basketry at ASM, Woven Through Time: American Treasures of Native Basketry and Fiber Art opens with a full day of celebration! Saturday, April 8, 2017 from 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. The museum will offer free admission all day. Learn more at http://bit.ly/2nukvVj – Arizona State Museum

Travelogue: Imagining Life in the Past at Long House
It’s easy to look into the past when visiting the Long House, the second-largest cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde National Park. Considered the most in-depth, the Long House Tour is about two hours long and offers the rare opportunity for visitors to explore the ruins solo. It’s worth the walk. http://dpo.st/2nua6ck – Denver Post

Living History at the Tucson Presidio
The Presidio San Agustín del Tucson Museum (Presidio Museum) will hold its next Living History Day on Saturday, April 8, from 10 am – 3 pm. Visitors will experience the day-to-day lives of soldiers and their families who lived in the Presidio in the late 1700s.  Demonstrations of children’s games, candle making, weaving, and blacksmithing will be held, and fresh baked bread and handmade tortillas will be available to sample. Soldiers will practice their drills and fire a four-pound bronze cannon, a replica of cannons used at the Presidio in the late 1700s. Interactive opportunities will allow visitors to pump the bellows of the blacksmith’s forge, spin cotton and learn how the soldiers fire their muskets. Admission to Living History Days is included in the $5 admission to the Museum.  Children ages 6-14 are $1 and children 5 and under and Presidio Trust members are free.

Tucson Historic Preservation Awards Nomination Period Extended
The Tucson-Pima County Historical Commission has extended the nomination deadline for 2017 Historic Preservation Awards to noon, Friday, April 7, 2017. To print a copy of the nomination form, please go to: https://www.tucsonaz.gov/clerks/boards?board=61  and click on the link under Item 6 labelled 2017 Awards Program Description and Nomination Form.  To obtain an electronic form that you can submit it via email, please contact Ana Juarez, Ana.Juarez@tucsonaz.gov and she will send you a Word version of the application form.

Lecture Opportunity – Cave Creek
Desert Foothills Chapter – AAS presents on April 12th from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM at no charge, Ph.D. Matt Peeples. Depictions of archaeology in popular culture are full of dubious tales of ancient extraterrestrials, lost civilizations, giants, and widespread scientific conspiracy. In this talk, PhD. Matthew Peeples explores such fantastic claims focusing in particular on a few popular claims here in our own Arizona backyard. Matt Peeples’ presentation goal is not to simply “debunk” these claims but to further explore how and why pseudoscientific claims take hold in the popular imagination and what we can do about it. The meeting is held in the community building (Maitland Hall) at The Good Shepherd of the Hills Episcopal Church, 6502 East Cave Creek Road, Cave Creek, AZ 85331 (near the Dairy Queen). http://bit.ly/2imIwP4 – Desert Foothills Chapter of the Arizona Archaeology Society

Lecture Opportunity – Flagstaff
The Northern Arizona Chapter of the Arizona Archaeological Society welcomes Benjamin Bellorado who will speak at the monthly meeting Tuesday, April 18, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. at The Peaks Alpine Room, 3150 N. Winding Brook Road, Flagstaff. The title of the presentation is “Murals in the Monument: Ancestral Pueblo Archaeology and Tree-Ring Dating in the Southern Bears Ears.” Mr. Bellorado, a doctoral candidate at the University of Arizona in Tucson, will discuss building decorations at cliff dwellings in the area, mapping and tree-ring dating of sites with the most well-preserved examples of intact murals in the region, and how these data are helping archaeologists and land managers. For more information, please contact Kathleen Walters: 928-853-4597 or flagcelt@aol.com.

Lecture Opportunity – Phoenix
On Tuesday, April 11, 2017, at 7:00 pm, the Phoenix Chapter of the Arizona Archaeological Society invites you to join us in the Pueblo Grande Museum Community Room for a presentation on “The AAS Excavation Project at Goat Camp Ruin in Payson” by Scott Wood, Retired Tonto National Forest Archaeologist. Goat Camp Ruin was occupied from about 750 to 1280 AD. The builders/occupants were either under Hohokam influence or Hohokam colonists, based on pottery, rounded room corners, and other artifacts. After several changes in ownership and extensive pot-hunting, the city of Payson took over ownership of the site. The Rim Country Chapter, with Scott Wood’s assistance, proposed creating an archaeological interpretive site as well as a hiking trail for this 6-acre parcel of land. Join us for light refreshments before the meeting followed by an interesting talk and a short Q&A period. The Pueblo Grande Museum is located at 4619 E. Washington Street, Phoenix. Attendance is free and the public is welcome.

Lecture Opportunity – Queen Creek AZ
The San Tan Chapter of AAS (Arizona Archaeological Society) is hosting Garry Cantley a regional archaeologist with the BIA western office. The title of his talk: Archaeological Resources and Crime Prevention in relation to Site Stewards. Garry will discuss the Archaeological Resources Protection Act, one of the federal government’s tools against looting of archaeological resources on federal and Indian land. Besides giving an overview of the law, he will intersperse his presentation with discussion of previous ARPA investigations. The meeting is held in the San Tan Historical Society Museum, 20425 S Old Ellsworth Rd. (on the corners of Queen Creek and Ellsworth Rds) Dinner with the speaker is prior to the meeting at 5:30pm, Serrano’s Mexican Food Restaurant. Contact Marie Britton at mbrit@cox.net for reservations and for more information.

Lecture Opportunity – Camp Verde AZ
On Tuesday, April 11, 2017, 6:30-8:30 p.m., the Verde Valley Archaeology Center welcomes R. E. Burrillo for “Bears Ears Archaeology: Past, Present, and Future.” Burrillo is a writer and archaeologist with extensive experience in the back country of the Bears Ears. The presentation will take place at Cliff Castle Casino, 333 Middle Verde Rd., Camp Verde. http://bit.ly/2nMDxrT – Verde Valley Archaeology Center

Lecture and Tour Opportunity – Tucson
Old Pueblo Archaeology Center’s April 20 “Third Thursday Food for Thought” dinner at Picture Rocks Redemptorist Renewal Center, 7101 W. Picture Rocks Road, Tucson, features archaeologist Suzanne Griset presenting “Footprints along the Santa Cruz: 3,000 Years of Farming Where the Rillito Meets the River” about the 2016 archaeological discovery of adult, child, and dog footprints in an ancient field near Tucson. Before dinner archaeologist Allen Dart leads a tour to the Picture Rocks petroglyphs. Tour at 5:30, dinner at 6, presentation 7:15-8:30 p.m. Reservation deadline 5 p.m. April 18. $15 dinner fee (tour and presentation are free). 520-798-1201 or info@oldpueblo.org.