Southwest Archaeology Today for May 15 2006

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

– Grave Robbers Digging for Billy the Kid Face Possible Prosecution:Authorities currently are considering whether to charge Sullivan and Sederwall with a felony for removing some remains of Miller and of another man buried in an unmarked grave next to him. “This is a simple, straightforward, open-and-shut grave-robbing case,” said David Snell, a Billy the Kid junkie from Tucson. In March, Snell wrote a letter to Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk that sparked a police investigation into the exhumation. In the letter, he called unearthing the graves a “sordid and reprehensible affair.”
http://www.azstarnet.com/dailystar/metro/129086.php

– Excavations to Begin at Hayden Flour Mill:The Hayden Flour Mill could become closer to becoming a usable historical site this month, after years of holdups that have blocked redevelopment of downtown Tempe’s most recognizable icon. A Tempe company, Archaeological Consulting Services Ltd., will begin digging May 22 around the mill and silos to search for artifacts. Its archaeologists expect to find remnants from the years the site was actively used as a flour mill, along with traces from when the area was a settlement for the ancient Hohokam tribe.
http://tinyurl.com/fupt3– Arizona Republic

– Colorado Archaeology and Historic Preservation Month Celebrations: Several activities are scheduled Saturday at Boggsville Historic Site to help celebrate the state’s Archaeology and Historic Preservation Month. The ninth annual event will kick off Saturday morning. Don Headlee, a living history interpreter and Corps of Engineers ranger, will present a tour of “Pike’s First View,” a site and a living history program on Zebulon Pike.
http://www.chieftain.com/metro/1147528807/17

– Hopi Elder Graduates with Anthropology Degree: When Ferrell Secakuku was a boy growing up on the Hopi reservation, his elders encouraged him to get a modern education as a way to preserve his tribe’s culture. Now Secakuku, 68, is graduating from Northern Arizona University with a master’s degree in anthropology to do just that.
http://tinyurl.com/l2rlv – Northern Arizona University

– Heard Museum to Open a New Branch Museum in Surprise, AZ: For Surprise, the Heard Museum West was a dream tied to the economic development hopes of the city. Now the Heard Museum West is almost a reality as it prepares to open in Surprise on June 24. The new location, in Surprise’s city center, will feature a classroom for children’s hands-on activities, tours, adult programs and continuing education. A museum shop will sell artwork purchased directly from Native American artists.
http://tinyurl.com/nabm4 – Arizona Republic

– Innovative Museum Shares the Archaeology of Jamestown: The Archaearium, pronounced ark-ee-air-ee-um, gets its name from a blending of the words “archaeo,” which means “old” or “archaeology,” and “arium,” which means “place.” As its newly coined name, it is a new concept in archaeological museums that links history, archaeology and place to help visitors easily grasp Jamestown’s story and its impact on the development of our nation.
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/052006/05122006/190754

– Edge of the Cedars Museum’s Extraordinary Objects: Found in 1955 in what would become Canyonlands National Park, this macaw-feather sash is made of pi