Dear Friends,
Good morning! And I say that because it’s 6:30 a.m. here in San Diego as I begin to write this.
I’ll confess. I forgot about you.
I take that as a good sign. It suggests that I really can occasionally step away from work and relax. Last evening—at the time I am normally working with Kate on PAT—I was watching the sun set over the Pacific Ocean with my wife, daughter, and grandkids.
This morning I turned on my laptop and saw the draft of PAT Kate had emailed last night. What? What day is it? Ohhhh, yesterday was Tuesday…
So, this is the best I can do. I’m looking forward to Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, and some more sunsets and walks on the beach. I’ll be back with you next week.
May each of you find some time to relax, as well.
President & CEO, Archaeology Southwest
Banner image: National Park Service
An Audio Postcard from Mesa Verde National Park
Mesa Verde National Park is home to stunning juniper and piñon pine forests and some of the largest cliff dwellings in North America. KSJD’s Chris Clements visited the park and caught a performance by Pueblo dancers, a tour of Cliff Palace, and learned about the connections from the past to the present of the Ancestral Puebloan people. KSJD (public radio) | Listen now »
Commentary: Grand Staircase-Escalante Management Plan Alternative C Would Be an Improvement
NEWS: The Interior Department has released the draft resource management plan for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and is seeking public input on four possible alternatives. CONTEXT: While a national monument’s designation gets all the fanfare, the management plan is kind of a bigger deal, because it guides what level of protection the monument will get. … [A] cursory look tells me the agencies’ preferred alternative (Alternative C) is a big improvement over the status quo. It “emphasizes the protection and maintenance of intact and resilient landscapes using an area management approach.” Though it’s less restrictive than Alternative D, this approach would significantly up limits on grazing, motorized vehicle use, and target shooting across the monument in relation to the current plan. Jonathan Thompson at The Land Desk | Read more »
The Bluebird Story: A Navajo Grandmother’s Earth Lessons
By Stanley Perry, as told to Millicent Michelle Pepion. “My uncle, Stanley Perry, is a Navajo Storyteller from Pinon, Arizona. … The following is a story about humans and their relation to Mother Earth. For Navajo people, a disruption happened within generations when children, including my uncle and his cousins, were sent to the Pinon Indian Boarding School, where the Navajo language and Navajo culture was forbidden. When the children were sent home to live with their grandparents for the summer a disconnect occurred, as grandparents, many of whom only spoke Navajo, could no longer communicate their traditional knowledge to their grandchildren.” BorderLore | Read more »
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument Announces New Superintendent
The National Park Service (NPS) has selected Dave Carney as the superintendent of Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. Carney will begin his new assignment on August 23, 2023. The position reports to the Saguaro National Park superintendent. “Dave has worked at Casa Grande Ruins National Monument as the program manager for interpretation and education for nine years and has served as acting superintendent on numerous occasions and for extended periods of time,” said Saguaro Superintendent Leah McGinnis. “The park will benefit from the knowledge and experience Dave brings to this position. His passion for the place is undeniable and I look forward to seeing where Dave’s leadership will take the park.” Casa Grande/NPS (press release) | Learn more about the monument »
Publication Announcements
Charles Adams and Richard C. Lange, editors (2023). Comings and Goings: 13,000 Years of Migration in and around Rock Art Ranch, Northeastern Arizona. The Arizona Archaeologist, No. 45, Parts 1 and 2. Arizona Archaeological Society, Phoenix. »
Sarah E. Oas and Karen R. Adams (2023). Forty Years of Archaeobotany at Crow Canyon and 850 Years of Plant Use in the Central Mesa Verde Region. In Research, Education, and American Indian Partnerships at the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, edited by S. Ryan, pp. 347–358. University Press of Colorado. »
Karen G. Schollmeyer and Jonathan C. Driver (2023). Fine-Grained Chronology Reveals Human Impacts on Animal Populations in the Mesa Verde Region of the American Southwest. In Research, Education, and American Indian Partnerships at the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, edited by S. Ryan, pp. 335–346. University Press of Colorado. »
Stephen L. Uzzle (2023). Reevaluating Mobility and Sedentism in Classic Mimbres and Salado Villages, Southwest New Mexico. KIVA 89(3):323–346. »
Grant Opportunity: Publication Subvention Funds
The Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society (AAHS) is pleased to announce the 2023 competitive subvention grant program for AAHS members. The purpose of this program is to provide money in support of the first publication of digital or print books or Kiva journal articles that further AAHS’s mission. Many sources of grant funding do not support publication costs. Through this program, AAHS can provide occasional funding to prevent this barrier to the sharing of research results. This year, awards up to $5,000 will be considered. The deadline for receipt of submissions is September 18, 2023, for consideration by the end of October. AAHS | Learn more »
Position Announcement: Archaeology Centre Supervisor
The Centre for Archaeological Field Training at Pima Community College seeks an Archaeology Centre Supervisor. The Archaeology Centre Supervisor supervises, coordinates, and monitors operational activities in the Archaeology Centre, the campus based outdoor archaeology field classrooms, and in remote and environmentally hostile field settings. Collaborates directly with faculty and the Archaeology Centre Director to coordinate and implement student field and laboratory activities in a variety of settings. Pima Community College | Learn more »
August Subscription Lectures (Santa Fe NM)
8/28, Carleton Bowekaty (Zuni), Bears Ears: In the Sacred Land between. Southwest Seminars | Learn more »
REMINDER: Aug. 24 Online Event: Duck Pots in Brooklyn
With Kelley Hays-Gilpin and Dennis Gilpin. Ravenous collectors stripped antiquities from Ancestral Puebloan communities at the turn of the 20th century. They shipped boxcar loads of artifacts to museums in the eastern United States and overseas. Generations of archaeologists wrote off these “legacy collections” as devoid of interest, but today, we are rediscovering their value. The Brooklyn Museum of Art’s collection of pottery from the “Chacoan outlier” community of Hunters Point, located near Window Rock, Arizona, is largely untouched for over a century and comprises over 140 whole vessels. The collection contains a surprising variety of vessel forms, including bird-shaped pitchers and represents a wide range of potters’ skills, from beginners to master potters. We reunite scattered archival information about the Hunters Point Great House community with our study of the ceramic data to reconstruct the community’s timeline, network relationships, and distinctive features, and offer insights into the western frontier of the Chaco world. Crow Canyon Archaeological Center | Learn more and register (free) »
Aug. 31 Online Event: Seeking My Center Place: Migrations though Science & Tradition
With Lyle Balenquah (Hopi). The title of this talk shares a name with a chapter Lyle Balenquah wrote for a forthcoming volume about “Indigenous Archaeology.” Lyle’s webinar will focus on his experiences as an archaeologist involved in various projects dealing with repatriation, site conservation and Indigenous advocacy. Crow Canyon Archaeological Center and Canyons of the Ancients National Monument | Learn more and register (free) »
Sept. 7 Online Event: Revisiting the Depopulation of the Northern Southwest with Dendrochronology
With Ben Bellorado and Tom Windes. The depopulation of Ancestral Pueblo people from the northern Southwest has been a fascination of archaeologists for decades. Using a suite of social and environmental models, scholars have attempted to explain the processes that led tens of thousands of people to vacate hundreds of communities at the end of the thirteenth century A.D. Recent site documentation and dendroarchaeological research in the Cedar Mesa area (in the southern Bears Ears National Monument), however, shows an inherent bias in these assessments that undervalue the size of populations and their longevity on the outskirts of the region. The presenters provide a synthesis of new tree-ring data from over two dozen previously unrecorded cliff dwellings from the greater Cedar Mesa that provide insights into the dating of construction and remodeling of structures and the size and longevity of communities living in remote cliff-dwellings in the western portion of the region. Crow Canyon Archaeological Center | Learn more and register (free) »
Sept. 12 In-Person (Phoenix AZ) and Online Event: The Zuni Mapping Project
With Curtis Quam (Zuni) and Matt Peeples. Curtis Quam, Director of the A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Heritage Center, and Matt Peeples, Associate Professor with the School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University will discuss the Zuni Mapping Project and modern methods of recording the land. This program is given in partnership with the Arizona Archaeology Society. In person at the S’edev Va’aki Museum (formerly Pueblo Grande Museum) from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. S’edev Va’aki Museum Foundation | Register for online attendance (free) »
Sept. 13 In-Person Event (Tucson AZ): The Antiquity of Irrigation in the Southwest
With Allen Dart. Learn more about the origins of agriculture in the Americas and the earliest irrigation systems yet known in North America. Open to the public, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., Academy Village Auditorium, 13715 E. Langtry Lane. Arizona Senior Academy | Learn more »
REGISTER NOW TO SAVE YOUR SPOT: Sept. 16 In-Person Workshop (Tucson AZ): How Did People Make and use Stone Tools?
With ancient technologies expert Allen Denoyer. You will use age-old techniques and replica tools to create a stone projectile point. Learn about the history of stone tools and their uses. Explore the intricate components of complete hunting technology beyond just the points. Each class lasts approximately 3 hours. Beginners are welcome! Open to individuals 18 years and older. $50 fee. Hands-On Archaeology (Archaeology Southwest) | Learn more and register »
Sept. 18 In-Person (Tucson AZ) and Online Event: Marjorie F. Lambert’s Contributions to Southwest Archaeology
With Shelby Tisdale. In the first half of the twentieth century, the canyons and mesas of the Southwest beckoned and the burgeoning field of archaeology thrived. Among those who heeded the call, Marjorie Ferguson Lambert became one of only a handful of women who not only left their imprint on the study of southwestern archaeology and anthropology but flourished. In-person at 1064 E Lowell St., 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society | Learn more and register for online attendance (free) »
Video Channel Roundup
Find out which webinars and videos you missed and get caught up at the YouTube channels of our Partners and Friends. (And please do let us know if your channel isn’t in this list but should be!)
Amerind Foundation
Archaeology Southwest
Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society
Arizona State Museum
Aztlander
Bears Ears Partnership
Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA
Crow Canyon Archaeological Center
Grand Canyon Trust
Grand Staircase Escalante Partners
Mesa Prieta Petroglyphs Project
Mission Garden (Friends of Tucson’s Birthplace)
Museum of Indian Arts and Cultures
Museum of Northern Arizona
Old Pueblo Archaeology Center
San Diego Archaeological Center
School for Advanced Research
Southwest Seminars
The Archaeological Conservancy
Verde Valley Archaeology Center
Remember to send us notice of upcoming webinars and Zoom lectures, tours and workshops, and anything else you’d like to share with the Friends. Thanks!