Southwest Archaeology Today for Aug. 21, 2006

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

– Musuem of the West Expanding Archaeology and Anthropology Program (Grand Junction): The Museum of the West is embarking on a new venture – a full-time department of archaeology and anthropology. As a designated federal repository for cultural materials, “It’s high time we recognized that responsibility with a staffing commitment,” said Mike Perry, executive director. Under new curator Kim Murray, the anthropology and archaeology department will pick up on a favorite program of the museum’s paleontology arm and take people on archaeological adventures.
http://tinyurl.com/muzol – Grand Junction Sentinel

– Archaeologists Question Utah’s Ability to Protect Prehistoric Sites: The state Division of Wildlife Resources – charged with managing Range Creek Canyon where the prehistoric Fremont people lived – is now in the unusual position of riding herd on pit houses and pictographs, rather than trophy elk and bighorn sheep. And that has made archaeologists nervous: DWR’s expertise is not in protecting antiquities.
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_4210329?source=rss

– National Park Service Seeking Two New Committee Members: The National Park Service is soliciting nominations for two members of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review Committee. The Secretary of the Interior will appoint one member from nominations submitted by Indian tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, and traditional Native American religious leaders. This particular appointee is not required to be a traditional Native American religious leader. The Secretary of the Interior will also appoint one member from nominations submitted by national museum organizations and scientific organizations.
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/E6-13589.htm

– Tucson Celebrates its 231’st Birthday: We like to say the Old Pueblo has a rich melding of cultures that interweave to create the colorful fabric of Tucson. The first residents we know of for certain (though they, too, doubtless had predecessors) were here 4,000 years ago in a small farming village near the base of “A” Mountain. Living in a dozen brush-and-mud pithouses, they dug a canal to bring water from the nearby river to irrigate crops they grew to supplement game and wild-gathered edibles.
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/23256.php