2024
03
Apr
Bears Ears Partnership Debuts Short Documentary
Dear Friends,
Paul Reed, Preservation Archaeologist and Director of our New Mexico State Program, recently published a stunning report on the problem of orphaned and abandoned oil and gas wells and energy infrastructure surrounding Bears Ears National Monument in Utah and Chaco Canyon National Hi...
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2022
31
May
The Lands Between
Dear Friends,
Sometimes a blow is external—other times, internal.
I got one of each over the holiday weekend.
Apropos of our yearlong focus on “Avian Archaeology,” a Cooper’s Hawk that inhabits the Eucalyptus tree next to my house hit me on the back of the head at full speed, ...
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2022
04
May
Chaco and Naco
Dear Friends,
Today let’s start with two short words that rhyme and two consecutive numbers. Chaco and Naco. 10 and 11.
Chaco—actually the Greater Chaco Cultural Landscape—is threatened by oil and gas extraction. I sincerely hope that you will take two actions as soon as possible. First,...
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2022
03
May
Camp Naco Is Back in the News
Bill Doelle, President & CEO
(May 4, 2022)—I have spent nearly five decades in southern Arizona. That’s long enough to gain a realistic perspective on the pace of preservation advocacy. Sadly, failure is often rapid. But success often takes decades.
Camp Naco has been part of Archaeology S...
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2014
04
Dec
Putting the People Back in Camp Naco
By Bill Doelle, President & CEO
Camp Naco saw more than 500 visitors in the two days after Thanksgiving as part of the annual Bisbee Home Tour. That’s more people than were ever stationed there at one time!
The association of Archaeology Southwest with Camp Naco started a decade ago when Be...
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2014
30
Sep
Southern Arizona’s Camp Naco Begins Second Century
Preparing to Serve Again: Southern Arizona’s Camp Naco Begins Second Century
Recent infusion of funding helps repair formerly derelict historical military installation and plan for 21st-century use
(Tucson, Ariz.) September 30, 2014—Eight years of fervent grassroots efforts to save Camp Na...
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2014
27
May
Engaging the Complexities of the Borderlands
By Bill Doelle, President & CEO
Last Friday, some fresh eyes came to Camp Naco, and they helped me to see some things in new ways. Since 2006, I have worked with Becky Orozco, instructor of Anthropology and History at Cochise College, to preserve the historic adobe buildings at Camp Naco. I...
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2014
02
Mar
Was Beringia a Refuge for Ice Age Peoples?
Was Beringia a Refuge for Ice Age Peoples?
Genetic and environmental evidence indicates that after the ancestors of Native Americans left Asia, they spent 10,000 years in shrubby lowlands on a broad land bridge that once linked Siberia and Alaska. Archaeological evidence is lacking because it drowne...
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2013
11
Aug
Anthropology Community Remembers Keith Basso
National Museum of the American Indian Remembers Keith Basso
Keith H. Basso (73), a major figure in American Anthropology and American Indian Studies, died from cancer in Phoenix, Arizona, on Sunday, August 4. He devoted his life’s work to understanding and bringing to the appreciation of others t...
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2013
11
Aug
No New Ruins — A Plea from a Stubborn Optimist
By Bill Doelle, President & CEO
Sometimes, archaeologists can prevent ruins. Yes, I said prevent, not preserve. Camp Naco is teaching me life lessons about just how hard it can be to prevent ruins.
After working with a devoted team of ruin preventers for the past eight years, it is time...
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2013
30
Jun
Bipartisan Effort to Expand Casa Grande National Monument
Toward a Grander Casa Grande
The boundaries of Casa Grande Ruins National Monument could be expanded if Congress adopts legislation introduced Tuesday by U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz.The Casa Grande Ruins is one of the finest examples of 13th century Hohokam culture in the American Southwest, K...
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2013
09
Jun
Vandalism in National Parks and the Social Media Effect
Vandalism in National Parks and the Social Media Effect
The cause of this recent spike in graffiti on public lands is unclear, but some park personnel say there is reason to believe that it coincides with the rise of social media. “In the old days,” said Lorna Lange, the spokeswoman for Joshua T...
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