Start Your Summer with a New Exhibit in the Cool White Mountains
Join Archaeology Southwest for the opening of a new exhibit featuring the aerial photography of Adriel Heiesy. Adriel has captured a series of images that highlight the breathtaking beauty of Arizona’s White Mountains and the ways that ancient, historic, and modern people have made a life in a rugged and challenging landscape. The exhibit opens at 8:00 a.m. on May 25, 2013, at the Springerville Heritage Center, 418 East Main Street, Springerville, with an opening reception at 6:00 p.m. Mr. Heisey will provide a narrated talk about his artistic process and his impressions of the region from his unique aerial perspectives on time and space in the Mogollon Highlands. http://bit.ly/10GXMT3

Gila Cliff Dwellings Closed June 3–7
Gila Cliff Dwellings will be closed for hazard rock removal from the cliff face directly above the dwellings. Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument will offer twice-daily, ranger-guided tours of the TJ Site while the cliff dwellings are closed. The National Park Service apologizes for any inconvenience that this work may cause visitors who come specifically to visit the cliff dwellings, but the safety of our visitors and staff requires that this work be accomplished before summer rains begin later in July. For further information, please contact the Gila Visitor Center at (575) 536-9461 or e-mail Chief of Interpretation Rodney Sauter at Rodney_Sauter@nps.gov.

Behind-the-Scenes Tours Offered at Anasazi Heritage Center
The Bureau of Land Management’s Anasazi Heritage Center near Dolores, Colo., houses collections from one of North America’s most important archaeological regions: the Four Corners area.  The public is invited to explore behind-the-scenes, for an intimate glimpse into the curated collection in the depths of the museum’s basement. “When a person visits a museum, they only see a fraction of the items housed in the confines of the building,” said Bridget Ambler, Anasazi Heritage Center Curator. “We are excited to offer the public an opportunity to see the wide array of objects and archives that represent 12,000 years of deep history in the American Southwest and, in particular, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument.” The weekly “Behind-the-Scenes” tours are on Thursdays at 2 p.m. from May 2, 2013, through October 31, 2013. Participants should reserve a place in advance by calling (970) 882-5600, as space is limited.

Navajo Nation Archaeology Department Returns to NAU
A new agreement between the Navajo Nation Archaeology Department (NNAD-NAU) and Northern Arizona University (NAU) will help train Navajos and Native Americans to become leaders in the field of archaeology.  NNAD-NAU Program Manager, Ora Marek-Martinez, says that the need for the program is obvious.  ”Overall, the number of Native American archaeologists is really, really low,” Marek-Martinez said. “While there are a lot of tribal members who are technicians or lower type of position archaeologists, there are very few who are the actual principal investigators or who have a management position.” http://bit.ly/115Fef1 - Navajo-Hopi Observer

Lecture Opportunity – Santa Fe
Southwest Seminars Presents Matthias Strecker, who will  give a lecture on “Tiwanaku: An Andean Civilization” on May 27 at Hotel Santa Fe as part of the annual Ancient Sites Ancient Stories II Lecture Series held annually to honor and acknowledge the work of the Archaeological Conservancy. Admission is by subscription or $12 at the door. No reservations are necessary and refreshments are served. Contact Connie Eichstaedt, tel: 505 466-2775, email: southwestseminar@aol.com website: http://bit.ly/YhJddr

Employment Opportunity
The Arizona State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO)/Arizona State Parks (ASP) is going to be hiring an archaeological compliance reviewer; please see  the link to the State Jobs website for more detailed information.  If you have any questions, please contact our Human Resources representative at ASP, Vicki Adney, atvadney@azstateparks.gov or (602) 542-6919.  Job announcement for the Planner III, Archaeological Compliance Specialist https://azstatejobs.azdoa.gov/ltmprod/xmlhttp/shorturl.do?key=1FS

Latest News From the Archaeology Channel
The latest installment of the Video News from TAC features a project in Florida. aided by a hurricane which finds an ancient Native American town where Hernando de Soto and his army encamped and which later became one of the earliest Spanish missions established in what is now the United States. You can see these stories in the May 2013 edition of this monthly half-hour show, available now on the nonprofit streaming-media Web site, The Archaeology Channel (http://www.archaeologychannel.org) as well as on cable TV in cities across the US.

This week we attended a meeting of the Four Southern Tribes Cultural Resources Working Group, hosted by the San Lucy District of the Tohono O’odham Nation and held at the San Lucy Feast House. At the committee’s invitation, we provided a brief overview of the legislation introduced by Representative Raúl Grijalva to establish the Great Bend of the Gila National Monument, and we answered attendees’ questions.

Albert Manuel Jr., District Chairman, and Lillian Cipriano, Vice-chair, at the historic San Lucy Village site (Si:I Mekk).

At the end of the morning session, San Lucy District Chairman Albert Manuel Jr. gave a short presentation on the San Lucy District, one of eleven districts on the Tohono O’odham Nation. Chairman Manuel shared with us another sad chapter in the history of relations between the United States government and Native Americans.

In 1882, President Chester A. Arthur established the Gila Bend Indian Reservation (precursor to the San Lucy District) by Executive Order, reserving approximately 22,000 acres of public land for tribal purposes. Several O’odham villages located along the Gila River north of present-day Gila Bend were incorporated within the reservation, including the village of Si:I Mekk, later called San Lucy. Some of these communities may have been the ancestral villages described by Padre Eusebio Kino when he visited the area in 1697.

By the early 1900s, non-Indian residents began agitating for greater access to bottomlands along the river for agricultural purposes, and conflicts ensued between Euro-Americans and Indians over water, land, and cattle. President Taft became convinced that the initial reservation was too large, so in 1909 he removed more than half of the land from tribal reservation and “restored” these lands to the public domain.

Despite the fact that Si:I Mekk was one of the larger villages on the reservation, the 1909 boundary excluded Si:I Mekk. Many people were forced to leave, though many chose to remain. In 1917, the Tohono O’odham Nation reservation was established, and in 1935, the Nation voted to support the Indian Reorganization Act. As a result, the Nation was divided into eleven districts, one of which was the Gila Bend Indian Reservation, which later became the San Lucy District of the Tohono O’odham Nation.

In the 1960s, Army Corps of Engineers built the Painted Rock Dam to provide flood control for downstream users of Colorado River water. The predicted floodwater storage pool put San Lucy Village at risk, but because the village was not on the reservation, residents would not be compensated for their homes—even though many people pointed out that Si:I Mekk was the largest village in the area and had been on the reservation until President Taft decided to reduce its size. Eventually, an agreement stipulated that the village would be relocated to a 40-acre parcel that now constitutes San Lucy Village and serves as district headquarters.

Shortly thereafter, beginning in the 1970s, a series of floods inundated much of the remaining reservation. This rendered most of the tribal land unusable, such that the initial reservation of 22,000 acres effectively was reduced to around 400 acres. Finally, in 1986, twenty years after completion of the dam, Congress authorized the Nation to acquire up to 9,980 acres of private lands as replacement reservation lands. That process is now complete, and the Nation has acquired all but a few hundred acres of the 9,980 acres of replacement land.

After lunch, Albert Manuel Jr. and vice-chair Lillian Cipriano took the group out to the historic San Lucy Village site on the banks of the now-dry Gila River. Speaking from the cement platform of the former community dance hall, Lillian and Albert shared remembrances from their childhoods in the village, which had no electricity or running water, and they recalled tending family garden plots near the river (as well various accounts of mischievous child’s behavior that you can ask Albert about the next time you see him).

Lillian spoke of the villagers’ determination to move the original village church and their long walk behind the church as it made the slow and perilous journey to “new” San Lucy Village. It was an emotional occasion for the residents; some of the elderly women fell along the walk but rose again, determined to make the entire journey to the church’s new location. Joseph Joaquin talked about attending relocation meetings held in the church by the Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Indian Affairs. At that time, the church bell rang to notify villagers of the meeting, and “just like in a Mexican movie, they rang the church bells, all the people in the village came out of their homes to meet at the church.”

The San Lucy Village church, which was relocated from the historic village of San Lucy.

Today, Albert and others are slowly mapping the old village and identifying the location of various homes and the people who lived in them. As Albert and Lillian told their stories on the cement foundations of a once-vibrant small town, the past came alive, and the experience spoke to the importance of place in telling and remembering the past.

For me, it was a reminder that the social injustices visited upon Native Americans were not missteps in a distant past, but continue through the recent past. It was less than fifty years ago that Si:I Mekk was relocated, and soon thereafter that the remainder of an early tribal reservation here in Arizona was reduced in size, due to the callous attitudes and poor planning of the Army Corps of Engineers. It took twenty years for Congress to right these wrongs, and it is twenty years later that the final steps are being taken to reestablish elements of the O’odham homelands back to the O’odham.

Update on Archaeology Southwest’s Salado Preservation Initiative
The next phase of the Salado Preservation Initiative began last month, when Bill Doelle, Jeff Clark, Andy Laurenzi, and our new Preservation Fellow, Lewis Borck, headed to the field to visit several sites in the Sulphur Springs Valley, on the west side of the Chiricahua Mountains, and some sites in the Upper San Bernardino Valley, on the east side of the mountains. Our intent was to visit sites where we hope to do some limited test excavations, as well as sites for which we will be relying on previously excavated material. http://bit.ly/12nnct0

National Park Service Webinar To Discuss Traditional Cultural Properties and National Register Process
You are cordially invited to participate in a 1-1.5 hour webinar with Paul Loether, NPS Chief of the National Register of Historic Places/National Historic Landmarks Program. The workshop will serve as a forum for discussing the current status of NPS’ efforts to update the guidelines for identifying, evaluating, and documenting NR-eligible Traditional Cultural Properties as well as to discuss the proposed development of similar guidelines related to Native American landscapes.  The webinar will be held on Thursday, May 23, 2013 from 2:30 to 4:00 pm Eastern time. If you would like to participate please contact Alexis Abernathy via e-mail alexis_abernathy@nps.gov.

Traditional Cultural Properties Workshop To Be Held Prior to Arizona Preservation Conference
Now is the time to register for the free workshop on Traditional Cultural Properties (TCPs) that is being offered prior to the 2013 Historic Preservation Conference in Mesa.  The Workshop dates are June 12-13, and the HP Conference dates are June 13-14.  The joint conference will be held at the Hilton Phoenix East/Mesa, located at 1100 W. Holmes Ave., Mesa (US 60 and Alma School Rd).  For more information on the TCP Workshop, please feel free to contact Ann Howard at ahoward@azstateparks.gov.  To register for the TCP Workshop and/or the HP conference, please go to www.AZPreservation.com or call (602) 568-6277.

National Public Radio Looks at the Revolution in Archaeological Mapping
Legend has it that the rainforest of Mosquitia hid La Ciudad Blanca, the White City. For centuries, explorers tried to find the fabled city in the jungle of Nicaragua and Honduras. Protected by white water, coral snakes, stinging plants and brutal topography, the White City remained an archeologist dream. But with a new application of recent technology, a documentary filmmaker, not an archeologist, found the White City. http://n.pr/ZSsUQv  - NPR

Now You See it, Now You Don’t – The Brigadoon Effect
Springtime for southern Arizona archaeology means… the Brigadoon Effect! Now you see it, now you don’t.  As many of you probably know, vegetation can be an archaeologist’s friend or foe. Trees and creosotes can  hide site features—or they can reveal them as if by magic. Archaeologists call this seasonal aid “The Brigadoon Effect,” after Brigadoon, a 1954 musical about an enchanted Scottish village that appeared only a few times each century. http://bit.ly/YDd5Q9

Arizona Archaeology Society to Offer Preservation Workshop
The AAS will be offering a preservation workshop taught by archaeologist Dr. John Hohmann and architect Larry Roberts. The workshop will be comprised of lectures and hands-on learning experiences in site preservation and stabilization at historic Q Ranch near Young AZ. Weekend dates of the workshop are Sept 14-15, 21-22, 28-29. An extended session from Sept 14-22, for those who wish more experience, is included in the registration fee.The cost of the workshop is $75. Membership in the Arizona Archaeological Society is required. Camping in the pines is available at the site at an additional fee or accommodations and all meals are offered by the owner at the historic Q Ranch. For more information on lodging or camping, contact Owner Jonathan Rogers, Q Ranch Lodge, P.O. Box 299, Young, AZ 85554 qranchlodge@earthlink.net (928) 970-0596. For information on the workshop or AAS membership, contact Joan Clark PO box 1382 Carefree AZ jnclark1@cox.net 480-488-9793′

Arizona Archaeology Society to Offer Scientific Illustration Workshop
The scientific illustration workshop will be taught by Dr. John W. Hohmann and Bryan Donahue, professional artist and scientific illustrator.  Each student will learn about the importance and value of scientific illustration  and will have the opportunity to illustrate various artifacts and cultural features from Q Ranch, a secluded historic ranch with both prehistoric and historic components.  Workshop runs from Monday 8 a.m., July 29 thru Friday 4 p.m., August 2 (5 days class work, 6 nights). Cost:$895 per person/double occupancy or $1150 per person single occupancy which includes course registration, lodging and meals. For reservations and enrollment please contact Jonathan Rogers,Q Ranch Lodge, PO box 299, Young AZ 85554 (qranchlodge@earthlink.net) (928-970-0596).Membership in AAS is required, for more information on membership contact Joan Clark (jnclark1@cox.net) 480-488-9793.

Lecture Opportunity – Camp Verde, AZ
The Verde Valley Archaeology Center is pleased to offer a presentation by Dr. John Ware. The presentation titled “Does Deep History Matter”  is scheduled for May 21 from 7:00pm-9:00pm. Dr. Ware will speak in the multi-use center located at 370 Camp Lincoln Road, Camp Verde. Dr. Ware will argue that the survival of our species may depend on re-learning some of the ancient lessons.

Lecture Opportunity – Santa Fe
Southwest Seminars Presents Dr. James T. Watson, Head of Research Division, Assistant Curator of Bioarchaeology, Arizona State Museum and Assistant Professor of Anthropology, School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, who will give a lecture on Blood Feud or Bad Death? Violence Among Early Farming Communities in the Sonoran Desert on May 20 at Hotel Santa Fe as part of the annual Ancient Sites Ancient Stories II Lecture Series held annually to honor and acknowledge the work of the Archaeological Conservancy. Admission is by subscription or $12 at the door. No reservations are necessary and refreshments are served. Contact Connie Eichstaedt, tel: 505 466-2775, email: southwestseminar@aol.com website:  http://bit.ly/YhJddr

Lecture Opportunity -  Tucson
The Arizona Archaeological and Historical society is pleased to present Janine Hernbrode and Peter Boyle on Monday, 20 May at 7:30 PM at the DuVal Auditorium (1501 N. Campbell Ave. inside University Medical Center) to discuss Hohokam Petroglyphs at Sutherland Wash: Flower World and Gender Imagery. Hernborde and Boyle will discuss a rich set of data recently created by a team of volunteers from AAHS and the Arizona Site Stewards which includes a detailed recording of 3,251 prehistoric petroglyphs, a variety of surface features, artifacts, trails, and solar markers, suggesting the special significance of Sutherland Wash. Contact Jon Boyd @ 520 444-6385 with questions about this, or any other AAHS program.

Last Saturday, a number of us at Archaeology Southwest were happy to take part in the 30^th anniversary celebration for Catalina State Park. Encompassing 5,500 acres on the north side of Tucson, the park is a haven for Sonoran Desert plants and wildlife, and also protects a number of archaeological sites. Most of the sites are small, but one, the Romero Ruin, is a significant precontact Hohokam site.

Archaeology Southwest has been associated with Romero Ruin and Catalina State Park for most of its history. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, we mapped, surface-collected, and conducted test excavations at Romero Ruin. We undertook these efforts to help park staff plan and implement an interpretive trail through the site in 1993. We’ve been giving public tours of the site off and on since 1986. We even celebrated our own 30th anniversary at the park last year.

In keeping with that tradition, Bill Doelle, Jeff Clark, and Matt Peeples were on hand on Saturday to lead groups of enthusiastic visitors through Romero Ruin. I staffed an information booth at the Large Group Area. I was especially pleased to be able to offer for sale the latest issue of Archaeology Southwest Magazine, “In the Mountain Shadows: The Continuing Story of an Ancient Southern Arizona Community.” Hot of the press less than 48 hours earlier, this issue is an update of a booklet we first published in 1996 focused on the archaeology of the park, and contains lots of new information about the Hohokam occupation of the larger northern Tucson Basin area. Members will receive their copies next week.

We also let park visitors experience archaeology up close. We’re currently processing a collection of artifacts from several sites in the San Pedro River valley that we protect via conservation easements. “Processing artifacts” means cleaning and sorting lots of pieces of dirty, broken pottery. I brought some wash basins, brushes, and buckets, and invited visitors to get their hands wet and dirty by helping wash some sherds. It was mostly the kids who took me up on the offer—perhaps the rest of us have washed enough dishes in our lifetimes? It was fun to watch the kids’ faces light up as they diligently scrubbed the dirt off a sherd to sometimes reveal a bit of painted design, an artisan’s work of over 1,000 years ago.

Archaeology Southwest Finance & Policy Committee member Matthew Harrison and his daughter Belle washing 1,000 year-old sherds from the San Pedro River valley.

Our experiences last Saturday were just a reminder of what we already know: when people experience archaeology, they begin to understand its value in their own lives. Weare committed to creating meaningful opportunities for people across the Southwest and beyond to explore and experience the places of our past. And we congratulate Catalina State Park on a great first 30 years of caring for such a special place!

The next phase of the Salado Preservation Initiative began last month, when Bill Doelle, Jeff Clark, myself, and our new Preservation Fellow, Lewis Borck, headed to the field to visit several sites in the Sulphur Springs Valley, on the west side of the Chiricahua Mountains, and some sites in the Upper San Bernardino Valley, on the east side of the mountains. Our intent was to visit sites where we hope to do some limited test excavations, as well as sites for which we will be relying on previously excavated material.

Some of these sites were described by Sauer and Brand in 1930 and by University of Arizona student Louis Caywood in 1933. There was a long hiatus until survey work by Woosley and Price (Amerind Foundation) in the mid-1980s and work by Cochise College’s archaeology program, which was active in the region in the late 1970s through late 1980s. Other than some Gila Pueblo publications and work by the University of Arizona at the Ringo site along Turkey Creek, excavation has been limited to the work of avocational archaeologists Vera and Jack Mills at the Kuykendall site.

Our trip took us first to a large drainage off the Dragoon Mountains, to a site surveyed intensively by Woosley and Price. Our visit confirmed that what they had mapped in 1985 was intact on the ground, and the landowner was thrilled to learn of our interest in putting in a few 1 x 2 meter test pits this spring. Our next stop was Sunsites, where we visited a large, extensively looted adobe room block. Little information exists about this site, and our knowledge of the site came secondhand via Amerind.

Next on the list was a site discovered by Gerald Kelso in 2009, during work in advance of a Natural Resources Conservation Service environmental quality improvement project (in this case, brush clearing). While conducting his survey, he came upon a Salado adobe room block. Kelso then notified us, and Jeff was able to confirm Gerald’s assessment on the ground. We flagged the site boundary, and no brush clearing has occurred within it. Since that time, the landowner has graciously agreed to allow us to visit the site, and has recently agreed that we may map the site using aerial photogrammetry. We will also be able to excavate at least one test pit in a trash mound adjacent to the room block. The site exhibits no obvious looting, which remains a mystery, given the extensive looting that occurred on a site a few hundred meters to the north. Amerind had located and documented the latter site, but did not survey the area of the room block we will be investigating.

We spent the night in Douglas at the historic Gadsen Hotel and we enjoyed a yummy Mexican meal at El Café east of downtown. The morning found us hot on the trail of the Mud Springs Ruin site, another site documented by Sauers and Brand. They noted the presence of two room blocks in the area, and with the aid of site card maps, we found both sites. Located on State Trust Lands, one site was extensively looted (an old screen was still on site), but the other was virtually untouched—go figure! A large cave opening was clearly visible on the ridgeline to the south, begging our return.

Following our Mud Springs visit, we met Peggy Boss, owner of the Boss Ranch and the Boss Ranch site. Partially excavated by John Douglas in partial fulfillment of his master’s degree, it is one of few excavations of sites in the southern Chiricahua Mountain region. Ms. Boss was a gracious host, well remembering Douglas’s excavation. John documented 300 years of human habitation at the site, including significant occurrences of Salado polychrome. The site was much larger than it appears at present; railroad and modern highway construction may have destroyed portions of the site.

We ended the trip on the Grill Ranch. This site was first noted by Charles Di Peso as a minor addendum to a site card prepared for a large cave site in the northern Chiricahuas. He noted a twenty- to thirty-room pueblo and commented, “the presence of another Gila poly site on the east side of the Chiricahuas raises the old question…Why so much Gila Poly, so far south and east?” Why, indeed…? Stay tuned.

Jeff Clark examines a Salado polychrome pottery sherd.

]]> http://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/2013/05/07/recent-field-visits-for-the-salado-preservation-initiative/feed/ 2 http://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/2013/05/06/the-brigadoon-effect/ http://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/2013/05/06/the-brigadoon-effect/#comments Mon, 06 May 2013 19:09:12 +0000 Guest http://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/?p=24139 By Bruce Hilpert, Archaeology Southwest Member and Volunteer

Spring vegetation reveals buried walls. Photo by Bruce Hilpert.

Springtime for southern Arizona archaeology means… the Brigadoon Effect! Now you see it, now you don’t.

As many of you probably know, vegetation can be an archaeologist’s friend or foe. Trees and creosotes can  hide site features—or they can reveal them as if by magic. Archaeologists call this seasonal aid “The Brigadoon Effect,” after Brigadoon, a 1954 musical about an enchanted Scottish village that appeared only a few times each century.

In March, a team of Arizona Site Stewards who have been working with Archaeology Southwest to document sites in Pinal County returned to a Hohokam village site near the Picacho Mountains to see what the spring vegetation might reveal. Two years ago, we had found the habitation site based on the presence of a cluster of trash piles, but we found no evidence of houses, such as embedded stones.

What a difference a little rain makes! When we visited, the plant “matting” covered the desert floor, but the plants did not grow as thickly along the adobe walls. The plant coverage was only 50–70% as thick on the walls. Although rooms were not always as apparent as in the picture, we were able to locate and map about twenty rooms in the area. At McClelland Platform Mound, we saw a similar effect that revealed much thicker walls on top of the mound and in the immediate area.

So, next spring, while it lasts, be sure to keep your eyes open for some “enchanting” views of archaeological sites.

Spring vegetation reveals buried walls. Photo by Bruce Hilpert.

Publication Announcement
Emiliano Gallaga’s ”A Landscape of Interactions During the Late Prehistoric Period in the Onavas Valley, Sonora, Mexico,” has been published as the 205th volume of the Arizona State Museum Archaeological Series. This latest publication of the ASM Arch Series is now available through Amazon.com and other online booksellers.

Help Preserve a Historic Southwestern Observatory
In 1895, Lowell Observatory founder Percival Lowell commissioned the Alvan Clark & Sons Firm of Cambridgeport, Massachusetts to build a state-of-the-art 24” refracting telescope. Since completion of the project the following year, the telescope has been in regular use to view the heavens and help unravel the wonders of the universe. While Lowell staff members have conscientiously maintained the telescope through the years, the facility is now in need of a large-scale overhaul, requiring disassembly of the telescope and replacement of parts no longer functioning properly. http://bit.ly/118rHdP - Lowell Observatory via IndieGgo

Exhibit Opening – Dolores
An exhibit featuring paintings by Four Corners native Stanton Englehart opens at the Anasazi Heritage Center on Sunday, May 12. A reception and celebration begins at 1 p.m. and features comments by guest curator Sharon Englehart and light refreshments. All art lovers are invited to attend, and admission to the Anasazi Heritage Center is free throughout the day.   Stanton Englehart: A Life on Canvas, will be available for sale in the museum’s gift shop.  A short film featuring the artist and his work accompanies the exhibit.  The BLM Anasazi Heritage Center is located three miles west of Dolores, Colo., on Highway 184. The museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.  For more information, call 970-882-5600 or go to www.co.blm.gov/ahc.

Lecture Opportunity – Santa Fe
Southwest Seminars Presents Dr. Frances Mariko Hayashida, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, and Author, ‘Water, Land, and Politics on the North Coast of Peru’ and ‘Archaeology, Ecological History, and Conservation’, who will give a lecture on Ritual of Chicha: Maize Beer Production in the Andes from the Ancient Past to the Present on May 13 at Hotel Santa Fe as part of the annual Ancient Sites Ancient Stories II Lecture Series held annually to honor and acknowledge the work of the Archaeological Conservancy. Admission is by subscription or $12 at the door. No reservations are necessary and refreshments are served. Contact Connie Eichstaedt, tel: 505 466-2775, email: southwestseminar@aol.com website: http://bit.ly/YhJddr

Lecture Opportunity – Tucson
On Saturday May 18 from 2-3:30 p.m. the Pima County Public Library and Old Pueblo Archaeology Center offer a free presentation titled “Arts and Culture of Ancient Southern Arizona Hohokam Indians” by archaeologist Allen Dart at the historic Old Arivaca Schoolhouse, 17180 W. Fourth St. in Arivaca, Arizona. This presentation will illustrate the material culture of the Hohokam and presents possible interpretations about their relationships to the natural world, their time reckoning, religious practices, beliefs, and deities, and possible reasons for the eventual demise of their way of life. No reservations are needed. For details contact Leesa Jacobson at the Caviglia-Arivaca Branch Library at 520-594-5235 or Leesa.Jacobson@pima.gov

Position Announcement
The Denver Museum of Nature & Science has just posted a position for a new Curator of Anthropology, specialization open, as long as the candidate has research expertise with the Rocky Mountain region and our collections, and whose work complements that of existing curators (Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh and Stephen E. Nash). Please share the link below with qualified colleagues you think might be interested and a good fit for this institution.  The advertisement will be up on the AAA website very soon, and the SAA website shortly. The search committee will begin reviewing applications May 15. Questions should be directed to Steve Nash stephen.nash@dmns.org 303-370-6056 http://ch.tbe.taleo.net/CH06/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=DMNS&cws=1&rid=344

Reminder – It’s time to start planning for the 2013 Pecos Conference
The conference and camping area will be at the Flagstaff Hotshots camp, 10 miles northwest of Flagstaff, on the Coconino National Forest. http://bit.ly/104FLBX - Pecos Conference Website

Eyewitness Account of Paris Auction of Sacred Puebloan Objects
The whole event got a lot of people doing what they could to prevent it and might have raised enough awareness to not hold such “exceptionally rich” auctions anymore. The danger is that katsinam might surface here and there, and just be included in a general auction without anyone even noticing or saying much about it. The auction master said, “Folks, you realize there won’t be another such auction soon. This has caused way too much trouble.”  http://bit.ly/10lFyG6 – Indian Country Today

Celebration of the Life of Linda Cordell Scheduled for the First of June in Santa Fe
Please join family and friends for a celebration of the life and work of Dr. Linda Cordell, Saturday, June 1, 11AM-1 PM, at the New Mexico History Museum Auditorium, 113 Lincoln Avenue Santa Fe, NM (behind the Palace of the Governors). Please RSVP for Memorial Service and Reception by May 25:  mjpiper@unm.edu No on-site parking is available, however, free parking can be found at the State Capitol Parking lot at Paseo de Peralta and Old Santa Fe Trail, and paid parking can be found at downtown City of Santa Fe parking lots, including the Santa Fe Convention Center.

International Rock Art Conference Scheduled for May 26-31 in Albuquerque
The American Rock Art Research Association invites Scientists, Researchers, Educators, Conservators, and all interested people to the XVII International Congress of IFRAO in conjunction with the ARARA 2013 Conference.  Field trips will provide opportunities for all Congress attendees to learn about the rock art of this region. The nearby Petroglyph National Monument will allow attendees continual access to the local rock art throughout the Congress. The Congress theme “Ancient Hands Around the World” is designed to bring together the diverse interests of the many people who study and work to conserve the pictographs and petroglyphs in all countries. Depictions of hands are found in rock art of all cultures and in all time periods, and their symbolism portrays our goal of assembling people from across the globe to share their experiences and knowledge. http://bit.ly/11PxMHD - IFRAO

Canyon of the Ancients Selects Two Artists in Residence
Today, the Bureau of Land Management selected Jeff Potter of Alameda, N.M., and Lewis Williams of Montrose, Colo., to share their artistic vision of Canyons of the Ancients National Monument through the 2013 Artist in Residence program. Each artist spends a weeklong residency absorbing and experiencing the monument’s landscape, creating a work of art in response to the experience and then sharing their vision and techniques with visitors.  http://on.doi.gov/10LTals -  BLM’s Canyon of the Ancients

Reminder  - Archaeology Café in Tucson: Connecting the American Southwest and Mesoamerica—A Ritual Economy
Ben Nelson (Arizona State University) will provide a big-picture view of relationships between the two regions in the past. He will also discuss his investigations at the site of La Quemada. We gather after 5:00 p.m., and presentations begin by 6:15 p.m. Outdoor seating is open and unreserved, but limited. Share tables and make new friends! The event is free. Please support our hosts at Casa Vicente by ordering refreshments from the menu. http://bit.ly/13puGv4 – Archaeology Southwest

Lecture Opportunity - Cortez
The Hisatsinom Chapter of the Colorado Archaeological Society is please to present Dr. Kelly Jenks to discuss Five Centuries of Cross-Cultural Contact in the Upper Pecos River Valley on Tuesday, May 7, at 7:00 PM at First Methodist Church, Cortez, CO. For centuries, the Upper Pecos River Valley has served as a transportation corridor connecting the peoples and products of the eastern plains to the pueblos in the west. She will review five centuries of cross-cultural interaction and trade along the Pecos—from prehistoric trade between Plains Indians and Pecos Pueblo through the arrival and impact of Santa Fe Trail trade—to identify some overarching themes. Dr. Jenks is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Fort Lewis College.  Contact Diane McBride with questions, 970-560-1643.

Lecture Opportunity – Glendale
The public is invited to a free lecture on the Grasshopper Pueblo Research Project offered by the Agua Fria Chapter of the Arizona Archaeological Society at 7:00 PM on Monday, May 13, 2013 at the West Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 5904 W. Cholla St., Glendale, AZ (off 59th Avenue, south of Cactus). Membership in the Society is not required. The University of Arizona archaeological field school was conducted at the 500-room Grasshopper Pueblo near Cibecue on the White Mountain Apache Indian Reservation. This experience was often the jumping-off point for participants into further archaeological careers. The speaker, David E. Doyel, Ph.D., is the archaeologist for the Barry M. Goldwater Range at Luke Air Force Base. For more information contact Tim Cullison, 602-863-9744, tcullisonaz@gmail.com.

Lecture Opportunity – Santa Fe
Southwest Seminars Presents Dr. Paul Minnis, Archaeologist and Ethnobotanist, Professor of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma and Author, Social Adaptation to Food Stress: A Prehistoric Southwestern Example, who will give a lecture on Chiles and Cuisine in the Ancient Southwest and Northern Mexico on May 6 at Hotel Santa Fe as part of the annual Ancient Sites Ancient Stories II Lecture Series held annually to honor and acknowledge the work of the Archaeological Conservancy. Admission is by subscription or $12 at the door. No reservations are necessary and refreshments are served. Contact Connie Eichstaedt, tel: 505 466-2775, email: southwestseminar@aol.com, website: http://bit.ly/YhJddr  – Southwest Seminars

Children’s Lecture Opportunity – Tucson
On Wednesday May 1 from 6-7 p.m. the Pima County Public Library and Old Pueblo Archaeology Center offer a free children’s presentation titled “What Is an Archaeologist?” by archaeology technician Sherry Eisler at the Flowing Wells Branch Library, 1730 W. Wetmore Rd., Tucson. This program is designed to give children an idea of what archaeologists do, how they do it, and how they learn about people through their work. It examples of the tools archaeologists work with, real and replica artifacts, and activities to help children experience how archaeologists interpret the past. No reservations are needed. For details contact Librarian Brian Chanecka at Tucson telephone 520-594-5228or Brian.Chanecka@pima.gov.

Curation Challenges and the Future of the Arizona State Museum
The museum is, by law, the repository for all archaeological material gathered on state, federal and municipal land in Arizona, and it must curate that material “in perpetuity.” State and federal laws requiring construction sites to be surveyed before building produced a flood of material in the latter part of the 20th Century, leading to a bigger curation burden for the museum and a reduced role in archaeology itself. At one point, the museum rented warehouse space downtown to shelve its treasures, but had to give that up during the recent construction slowdown. Fewer projects meant less income for the museum, which charges firms for storing and curating. http://bit.ly/11uzPAL - Arizona Daily Star

Archaeology Café (Tucson): Connecting the American Southwest and Mesoamerica—A Ritual Economy
Ben Nelson (Arizona State University) will provide a big-picture view of relationships between the two regions in the past. He will also discuss his investigations at the site of La Quemada. We gather after 5:00 p.m., and presentations begin by 6:15 p.m. Outdoor seating is open and unreserved, but limited. Share tables and make new friends! The event is free. Please support our hosts at Casa Vicente by ordering refreshments from the menu. http://bit.ly/13puGv4 - Archaeology Southwest

Nonprofits and Property Owners Dispute Claims over Ancestral Puebloan Lands in Southern Utah
A dispute over the ownership of private property containing Native American antiquities received its first hearing in 5th District Court on Friday amid concerns potential development on the property could destroy graves and other artifacts. The property is located near the Anasazi Valley Trailhead southwest of Ivins. http://bit.ly/YEfJBZ – The Spectrum

Respecting Ancient Traditions, Replicating Mesa Verde Black-on-white 
For a potter fascinated with ancient cultures of the Southwest, replicating Mesa Verde clay vessels using age-old techniques from the Four Corners area is heaven — or at least as close as one might hope to come to a hands-on experience of the ancestral Puebloan culture, 700 to 900 years ago. http://bit.ly/11B28fc - Santa Fe New Mexican

Lecture Opportunity – Cave Creek, AZ
Steve Hayden, the son of famous Keet Seel archaeologist, Julian Hayden, will be speaking at the May 8th meeting of the Desert Foothills Chapter (DFC) of the Arizona Archaeological Society (AAS) at 7:00 P.M. at the Good Shepherd of the Hills Episcopal Church, 6502 E. Cave Creek Road, Cave Creek, AZ.  The title of Steve’s presentations is, “The 1934 Civil Works Administration (CWA) Excavation and Stabilization of Keet Seel – Julian Hayden’s Diary.”   Steve will talk what he discovered in his father’s personal, handwritten diary of events that occured during the 1934 winter excavation of Keet Seel, including the reason that no official report was ever filed.  Character sketches of the 32 men present for this excavation include Julian’s father, Irwin, a Harvard trained archaeologist, members of the Wetherill family and fiddler Kenner Karchner.   A dessert potluck will precede this talk and the public is invited to attend.  Please check the AAS website at http://www.azarchsoc.org/ for more information or call DFC President Glenda Simmons at 928-684-3251.

Lecture Opportunity – Santa Fe
Southwest Seminars Presents Dr. Steve Lekson, Curator of Anthropology, Museum of Natural History and Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Colorado and Author, A History of the Ancient Southwest, who will give a lecture on Chaco in the North on April 22 at 6pm at Hotel Santa Fe as part of the annual Ancient Sites Ancient Stories II Lecture Series held annually to honor and acknowledge the work of the Archaeological Conservancy. Admission is by subscription or $12 at the door. No reservations are necessary and refreshments are served. Contact Connie Eichstaedt, tel: 505 466-2775, email: southwestseminar@aol.com, website: http://bit.ly/YhJddr  – Southwest Seminars

Lecture Opportunity – Santa Fe
Southwest Seminars Presents Dr. Pat Gilman, Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma and Co-Editor, Mimbres Society who will give a lecture on Art of the Mimbres: What is its Meaning? on April 29 at 6pm at Hotel Santa Fe as part of the annual Ancient Sites Ancient Stories II Lecture Series held annually to honor and acknowledge the work of the Archaeological Conservancy. Admission is by subscription or $12 at the door. No reservations are necessary and refreshments are served. Contact Connie Eichstaedt, tel: 505 466-2775, email: southwestseminar@aol.com, http://bit.ly/YhJddr  – Southwest Seminars