Southwest Archaeology Today for April 21, 2006

Archaeology Making the News – A Service of the Center for Desert Archaeology

– Reburial Ceremony to Take Place at Mesa Verde: The Hopi Tribe will bury the remains of more than 1,500 Ancestral Puebloans and associated funerary objects during a closed ceremony at Mesa Verde National Park. National Park Service employees gave conflicting dates for the burial, which could take place today at an undisclosed location within the park. Mesa Verde spokeswoman Tessy Shirakawa said the sacred burial would happen within the next week. But Sherry Hutt, program manager for the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act Program in Washington, D.C., said today, April 20, is the date for the ceremony.
http://tinyurl.com/luok3 – Cortez Journal

– Anasazi Heritage Center Opens New Exhibit: The Anasazi Heritage Center invites the public to celebrate the grand opening of a new exhibit, “Archaeology Grows Up: 1906-2006” from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, April 23, featuring artifacts and historic images. The reception will be co-hosted by the San Juan Mountains Association.
http://tinyurl.com/mwdxv – Cortez Journal

– Urban Sprawl & Mining’s Impacts on Vermillion Cliffs National Monument: The 3 million acres of federal land in the Arizona Strip have their remote geography to thank for preserving their spectacular red sandstone escarpments, slot canyons, rock art and ruins of ancient pueblos. One of the last places in the Lower 48 to be mapped, the strip, in the northwestern corner of the state, is today bypassed by major highways and mostly devoid of gas stations, hotels and other visitor services. As a result, more than 12,000 years of human history written on this rugged landscape has remained in place, undisturbed by tourism or development. That is about to change. Here at the backdoor of the Grand Canyon, two national monuments, Grand Canyon-Parashant and Vermilion Cliffs, are poised to absorb the effects of the explosive growth from Las Vegas to the west and St. George, Utah, to the north – two of the fastest expanding areas in the nation.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-na-monuments19apr19,1,6971353.story

– More Information on the Black Mesa Water Dispute:The C Aquifer for Din