Southwest Archaeology Today for Oct. 19, 2005

Archaeology making the news – a service of the Center for Desert Archaeology.

– Ojito bill will be law ‘in days’: After nearly two years of delay, the House today could send a bill to the president creating the first new wilderness area in New Mexico in 15 years. The Ojito Wilderness bill protects from development about 11,000 acres of plateaus, mesas and badlands containing many animal and plant species and archaeological and paleontological sites. It was where in 1979 a skeleton of a 110-foot-long dinosaur, seismosaurus, was found.
http://www.abqtrib.com/albq/nw_local/article/0,2564,ALBQ_19858_4166995,00.html

– City postpones construction: The city of Santa Fe is pulling back from plans to tear down the Sweeney Convention Center next month to make room for a new civic center and underground garage because of objections from Tesuque Pueblo.
http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/33823.html

– Exploring New Mexico pueblos: The 19 pueblos of New Mexico are the oldest tribal communities in the United States, having descended from the ancestral Pueblo cultures that once inhabited Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde and Bandelier.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/travel/2002557358_puebloside16.html

– Tour reveals Durango’s historical prominence: Though the ancestral Puebloan people did not leave a written legacy, civilization in Southwest Colorado dates back 2,200 years, when hunter-gatherers first began stalking the lands of the Animas Valley, counters Smith. In fact, by the year 1270, the population between what is now Wolf Creek Pass and the Four Corners National Monument was roughly the same as in the mid-1990s.
http://tinyurl.com/dsd83 (Durango Herald)

– State seeks volunteers to protect archeological sites: New Mexico’s Historic Preservation Division and several federal agencies want to train more volunteers to monitor historic and archeological sites in order to protect them.
http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2005/10/17/daily1.html?from_rss=1

– Snowbowl trial hears from tribes: As anthropology researcher Emory Sekaquaptewa began to recite a Hopi religious song into the microphone in the trial over snowmaking on the San Francisco Peaks, the court reporter quickly turned to the judge with a worried look. She asked if she should be attempting to transcribe the Hopi song into English. The judge replied no and the courtroom gallery chuckled. It was one of the few light moments in a day during which Hopis spent trying to explain their beliefs, their way of life and the importance of the Peaks to a judge and legal team charged with interpreting them under English law.
http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=11746

– On Foot: Stepping back in time in Walnut Canyon: I knew a side trip to Walnut Canyon would put me behind schedule on my drive from Prescott to Barstow on the way back to Chico. But I was willing to put in the extra hours on the interstate to stand just for an hour or two beside some of Arizona’s mysterious ancient ruins.
http://www.chicoer.com/features/style/ci_3126695

– Mexican museum shows off ancient game to be shown at World Cup: Some 3,500 years before Mexicans scored magnificent goals on football pitches before adoring crowds, their ancestors played a ritual ball game dedicated to the sun that ended with a human sacrifice.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051018/lf_afp/mexicoanthropologygame_051018071653

– Rome’s Forum as it used to be – in 3-D: ROME – Forget dusty guidebooks and crumbling ruins. An exhibition amid the Roman Forum invites visitors to don 3-D glasses and watch the dance of a slave who has been dead for two millennia, or stroll through the streets of ancient Rome with the click of a mouse.
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/index.php?page=business&story_id=101705d3_tech

– DIG FOR A DAY WITH OLD PUEBLO ARCHAEOLOGY CENTER
October 19, 2005-March 19, 2006 (Intermittent – not every day)
Archaeological tours & digs at Yuma Wash archaeological site, 7548 N. Silverbell Road. Tours: On dig dates, any time between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., no reservations needed. Free (tours do not include participation in the dig). Digs: On dig dates, 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., ages 14 and up, reservations required two days ahead. $38 instruction and artifact processing fee. Old Pueblo Archaeology Center offers guided tours and opportunities to participate in archaeological excavations at the Yuma Wash Hohokam Indian ruin in the planned Marana District Park alongside Silverbell Road, about 1/2-mile north of Ina Road (1/2-mile south of Cortaro Road), on the following dates:
October 19-23, 2005 (no tours; dig opportunities for Old Pueblo Archaeology Center members)
October 27-30, 2005
November 10-13, 2005
November 17-20, 2005
February 23-26, 2006
March 17-19, 2006
ADVANCE RESERVATIONS REQUIRED for dig participation. Contact Dr. Courtney Rose at 520-798-1201 for more information or to register. Old Pueblo Archaeology Center members at the Individual membership rate or higher can participate in excavations for free, fee for others is $38 per day. http://www.oldpueblo.org

– Old Pueblo Archaeology Center MULTI-DAY TOUR – Southeast Utah Ruins, Rock Art, and Rivers, Wednesday, March 15 – Sunday, March 19, 2006. On this Old Pueblo Archaeology Center fundraising multi-day van tour, we’ll stop at the historic Hubbell Trading Post near Ganado en route to our base at the quaint and rustic Recapture Lodge along the San Juan River in Bluff, Utah. Bluff (population 350) has about a dozen restaurants and probably boasts the highest per capita concentration of archaeologists, geologists, naturalists, writers, and artists of any small town in the country. Recapture offers a cash continental breakfast each morning, but has no telephones or televisions in the rooms, so bring your favorite Tony Hillerman mystery novel. On one day, Vaughn and Marcia Hadenfeldt of Far Out Expeditions in Bluff will guide us on an unforgettable all-day, back-road tour to remote petroglyph sites, cliff dwellings, and some of the most awesome geology in the United States. We will also visit Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Natural Bridges National Monument, the Muley Point overlook high above the San Juan River goosenecks, Newspaper Rock State Historical Monument, and museums in Blanding and Moab. On the return trip, we’ll visit the spectacular Meteor Crater near Flagstaff. It is necessary to take some short walks/hikes to get to some of the sites; participants can walk/hike as much or as little as they wish. Expect daytime high temperatures in the 60s, early morning lows in the 30s. Tour departs at 7 a.m. Wednesday, March 15 from Tucson International Airport Park & Save Remote Parking Lot at S. Tucson Boulevard and E. Corona Drive, where vehicles can be safely parked for $4 per day. We will return to the same location by 6 p.m. on Sunday, March 19. Limited to 10 participants. Guide: Stephen H. Buck, Ph.D.

$695 PER PERSON FOR NON-MEMBERS, $670 PER PERSON FOR OLD PUEBLO ARCHAEOLOGY CENTER AND PUEBLO GRANDE MUSEUM AUXILIARY MEMBERS.
Tour fee includes a donation to Old Pueblo Archaeology, lodging, transportation by van, and all entry and tour fees. CALL OLD PUEBLO ARCHAEOLOGY CENTER AT 520-798-1201 TO SIGN UP. See http://www.oldpueblo.org or e-mail info@oldpueblo.org