Southwest Archaeology Today for June 7, 2006

Archaeology Making the News, A Service of the Center For Desert Archaeology

– Job Announcement: Project Director to carry out diverse tasks related to establishing a Little Colorado River Valley National Heritage Area. The Center for Desert Archaeology has a two-year grant from the Arizona Heritage Fund to prepare a Feasibility Study for the Proposed Little Colorado River Valley National Heritage Area. The Center seeks to hire a full-time Project Director to carry out this grant. The selected individual will be responsible for the day-to-day operations related to the grant, community relations activities, and coordination with the project partners and subconsultants. Complete details and application instructions are available at:
http://www.cdarc.org/pages/articles.php?req=read&article_id=296

– Lecture Series (Phoenix) Images of a Storied Land: The lecture series focuses on key Phoenix area archaeology and current research, and will conveniently be held at both the Mesa Southwest Museum and Pueblo Grande Museum. The first lecture of the series is this Saturday, June 10th at 2 PM, in the Mesa Southwest Museum theater. Dr. Jerry Howard of Mesa Southwest Museum and Dr. Todd Bostwick of Pueblo Grande Museum will offer their perspectives on the platform mound sites that defined the many large villages that lined the canals of the Gila and Salt river valleys. Why were Pueblo Grande and Mesa Grande platform mounds so large? And how did the residents of these communities relate to one another and to the many other communities with smaller mounds that were once common? What needs to be done to ensure that these mounds are preserved for the future? This and other upcoming lectures are listed on the Center’s Events page at:
http://www.cdarc.org/pages/how/events.php

– US Forest Service’s Passport in Time Program: When vacation time rolls around, Mary Ann Gabriel sets off for the canyons and mountains of Colorado for adventures as a volunteer archaeologist. The Indiana Jones bug bit her about eight years ago, when she first participated in a U.S. Forest Service program that uses volunteers for everything from digging up dinosaur bones to repairing historical cabins.
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_3902755?source=rss

– Historic Preservation in Pima County: Hohokam farmers, Spanish explorers, Mexican ranchers and Anglo entrepreneurs all have left their mark on Canoa Ranch. Pima County now owns 4,800 acres of that history, but what parts of it will be restored for future generations and what will lie dormant has not been determined. Public meetings will be held tonight and Thursday to present three possible visions for a Canoa Ranch master plan. All the options restore the ranch buildings, but some do more to explore earlier settlement in the area south of Green Valley and develop the site for tourism.
http://www.azstarnet.com/dailystar/dailystar/132317.php

– Another Possible Southwestern Recording of the Supernova of 1006:Prehistoric Native Americans may have carved a record of a supernova explosion that appeared in the skies a millennium ago into a rock in Arizona, US. John Barentine, an astronomer at the Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico, came across the carving while hiking in the White Tank Mountain Regional Park in Arizona.
http://tinyurl.com/k2w53 – New Scientist

– Navajo Residents of Canyon de Chelly Seek Legal Help to Clarify Rights of Access to the National Park: Members of the Canyon de Chelly/Canyon del Muerto Residents Association went before the Resources Committee Friday seeking $40,000 to retain legal counsel to help clarify the right of Navajos to use Canyon de Chelly without interference from the National Park Service.
http://www.gallupindependent.com/2006/jun/060506npscnyn.html