Dear Friends of Southwest Archaeology Today,
First, thank you for subscribing. Although Archaeology Southwest has closed its physical offices for now, our staff members are working remotely and doing their best to keep everything on schedule. We are committed to staying connected with you. We’re fortunate that, through your support, we have the resources to do that.
I thought this might be a fitting moment to pull back the curtain a bit. For the past two years, Communications Director Kate Sarther and I have been serving as SAT’s editorial team. We select the articles and commentaries in light of Archaeology Southwest’s mission to explore and protect the places of the past. This is why SAT often goes beyond our service of providing regional archaeology news, publications, events, and opportunities—because inherent in our mission is a responsibility to share information about Tribal and global heritage protection and preservation, and about U.S. public lands policy.
I am expanding our coverage to include anthropological perspectives on times of crisis. We’re also bearing witness to closures of heritage places and paying attention to the effect of this crisis on communities in the Southwest. Please let us know of any podcasts, digital presentations, and other creative resources we should share.
Finding meaning in people’s stories through time and across space is why we meet up at this email every week. That’s a key component of the compassion I know we’ll all be drawing on and deepening now.
Until next week, with sincere wishes for your well-being and safety,
William H. (Bill) Doelle
President & CEO, Archaeology Southwest
Deadline for Public Commentary on Management Plans for Greater Chaco Must Be Extended
With the federal social distancing order in place because of the COVID-19, the All Pueblo Council of Governors (APCG) is seeking an extension for the 90-day comment period to protect the Chaco Culture National Historical Park that is under threat by the Trump administration. Last month, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management Farmington Field Office and Bureau of Indian Affairs Navajo Regional Office released a draft Resource Management Plan Amendment (RMPA) with a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), triggering a 90-day public comment period ending May 28th. Given drastic change in normal lives due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the All Pueblo Council of Governors says its ability to [promote] Chaco protection efforts has been significantly reduced. https://bit.ly/2WZpLG0 – Native News Online
Press release from the All Pueblo Council of Governors: https://bit.ly/2UIwHEy
Archaeologists, historians and environmentalists are joining New Mexico’s congressional delegation and a coalition of Native American tribes in asking federal land managers to grant more time for the public to comment on a contested plan that will guide oil and gas development near Chaco Culture National Historical Park. The federal government should wait until the coronavirus outbreak subsides to ensure the public has an adequate opportunity to participate, the groups have argued in a series of letters sent to the U.S. Interior Department and the Bureau of Land Management in recent days. https://bit.ly/3aBfe7W – AP News
All BLM offices and public rooms are currently closed and many of the locations where physical copies of the draft resource management plan amendment could be found have also closed due to the coronavirus. New Mexico Oil and Gas Association spokesman Robert McEntyre said the industry organization supports the request to extend the deadline for public comments. “We have not submitted a formal request at this time, but plan to do so in the near future,” he said in an email. https://bit.ly/3dIYcq5 – Farmington Daily Times
Editors’ note: Paul F. Reed, Preservation Archaeologist and Chaco Scholar at Archaeology Southwest, explained what you can do to help get the deadline extended and provided sample text at the Preservation Archaeology blog: https://bit.ly/2R33Z0d
In addition, the Conservation Lands Foundation and nearly a hundred other organizations have officially requested that the Department of the Interior suspend new changes to public lands management during this national emergency. Learn more and take action here: https://bit.ly/2yp5ak5
Video: Update on the Northern Chaco Outliers Project
On March 26, Drs. Kari Schleher and Kellam Thromorton presented a webinar on Crow Canyon Archaeological Center’s Northern Chaco Outliers Project. https://youtu.be/DDg-EOrjQCM – Crow Canyon Archaeological Center (opens at YouTube)
Editors’ note: Kudos to Dr. Throgmorton, who recently won an award for his dissertation research on how Chaco Canyon as a political and ritual center exerted its influence throughout the larger Pueblo region. https://bit.ly/39x2bCU – Crow Canyon Archaeological Center
Essay: Life of the Gila: Public Lands of the Gila Watershed
What lands have yielded this information about the past, and where is such information still preserved? These are important questions. Land in the United States has owners—of many different kinds. In the western United States, public land is abundant, and that is the complicated story I want to explore here. https://bit.ly/2R05lbM – Bill Doelle at the Preservation Archaeology blog
Study: Monument Reductions Will Have Adverse Economic Consequences
While rural Utah leaders have long derided national monument designations as an unacceptable drag on their area economies, a new study by a nonpartisan think tank indicates that large monuments, including Grand Staircase-Escalante, on balance, have helped drive economic activity in adjacent communities. And, it warns, reducing them in size, as has happened in Utah, could cost hundreds of jobs. https://bit.ly/2QV61PV – Salt Lake Tribune
National Parks and Viral Spread
The Park Service has closed more than 100 sites to protect against spreading the coronavirus, including some of its most popular landmarks — the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, the Statue of Liberty and the Arches and Yellowstone national parks. But more than 300 sites remain open, and the government has waived entrance fees. News that the virus is spreading through national parks staff has sparked complaints from employees who are still compelled to go to work. https://wapo.st/2UQw2Rp – Washington Post
Commentary and guidance from the National Parks Conservation Association: https://bit.ly/2ULIj9S
Editors’ note: You can visit National Parks on Google Earth: https://bit.ly/3dHcbg9
Commentary: Evolution and the Strangeness of Social Distancing
For some, particularly self-described introverts, this new form of distancing may not feel so different from their previous everyday life. But for many, it forces a pattern of behaviors that feels unnatural and uncomfortable, feeding a rising sense of anxiety. Why does intentionally avoiding physical interaction with other humans during our daily routine feel so strange? The answer may lie in millions of years of behavioral and cultural evolution. https://bit.ly/2UXel2W – George M. Leader at Sapiens
Commentary: The Surprising History of Radiocarbon Dating
Several years ago, I went back to Chicago to see some old friends: artifacts, really—ancient sandals to be precise. The sandals were at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois, where I worked in the early 2000s. They had been found in Tularosa Cave, New Mexico, in 1950, and their construction from reed matting made clear they were from early Indigenous people of that region, a group that archaeologists call the Mogollon (pronounced MOH’-gee-yoan). But I wanted to know exactly how old they were, so I was returning to collect samples for radiocarbon dating. https://bit.ly/2wIYD3n – Stephen E. Nash at Sapiens
Online Events and Opportunities
Each Tuesday and Thursday at noon the staff of Utah’s State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) will be taking to Facebook Live to talk about their projects and take your questions. Since we’re all working from home, we’re taking this opportunity to expand our outreach and education efforts in the digital world. You can learn more at facebook.com/UtahSHPO and send us suggestions for future topics you’d like to see. We’ll be at it until COVID-19 (and earthquakes!) let us get back into our regular schedules. https://www.facebook.com/events/237524647639920/
Take a tour of Aztec Ruins National Monument from the comfort of your own home: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVLwn2cKnVM
Closures in San Juan County, Utah
With efforts to protect communities from the spread of COVID-19 underway, a number of substantial restrictions or closures have been announced in San Juan County, Utah. Here is a list of the latest closures impacting visitors in the region. https://bit.ly/33XAja0 – Friends of Cedar Mesa
We’re happy to help get the word out. Please submit news, publication announcements, and other resources to this link for consideration: https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/submit-to-sat/
Questions? sat-editor@archaeologysouthwest.org