Southwest Archaeology Today for Feb. 7, 2007

– Crow Canyon: A Chicago college student combines archaeology and art at Crow Canyon.
http://teenink.com/Past/2007/February/20960.html

– Mesa Verde registers 11 percent visitor increase: Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado saw an 11 percent increase in visitations last year, the first increase in a number of years, according to the Cortez Journal.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/e29v (Rocky Mountain News)

– Archaeology gets $620K lift: Archaeology in Montezuma County received a boost Friday when the State Historical Fund awarded six grants totaling $620,200 to local groups to aid in archaeological education, excavation and documentation.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/bsr (Cortez Journal)

– Colorado parks may see largest share of proposed budget: Colorado’s national parks and Colorado and Dinosaur national monuments could reap huge benefits from President George W. Bush’s proposed 2008 budget, which, if it passes congressional muster, could send millions of extra dollars into the parks’ coffers.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/fnw6 (The Daily Sentinel)

– First Americans Arrived Recently, Settled Pacific Coast, DNA Study Says: DNA extracted from an ancient human skeleton found in Alaska suggests that the New World was first settled by prehistoric seafarers 15,000 years ago.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/bivy (National Geographic News)

– Southern Arizona’s Premier Indian Art Show and Market Features More Than 200 Artists, Performers: For collectors of top-quality Indian art, Arizona State Museum’s Southwest Indian Art Fair (SWIAF) means one-stop shopping. Rather than trekking across the region to seek out your treasures, 200 of the finest artists will be right here in Tucson!
http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=8574

– Then . . . and now: Thirty-five pairs of photos show Colorado as it was and is, through the eyes and lenses of two prominent photographers. John Fielder’s “Colorado 1870-2000: Then & Now II” exhibit opened Saturday at El Pueblo History Museum, 301 N. Union Ave., and documents the dramatic changes in the state since photographer William Henry Jackson worked here in the 19th century. The exhibit features photos …
http://www.chieftain.com/life/1170766801/1

Upcoming Center for Desert Archaeology Events

– Thursday, February 8 – Mesa Verde Booksigning and Lecture (Tucson)
Featuring David Grant Noble (The Mesa Verde World – SAR Press) and Arthur H. Rohn (Puebloan Ruins of the Southwest – UNM Press). Slide presentations, booksale, booksigning, and reception – event starts at 7 p.m.
http://www.cdarc.org/pages/articles.php?req=read&article_id=405

– Friday, February 9 – Archaeology Lecture (Portal, Arizona)
The 14th Century Population Collapse in the Southern Southwest: Insights from Recent Archaeological Research in the San Pedro River Valley – by William H. Doelle, President and CEO, Center for Desert Archaeology. Friday, February 9th, 2007, 7:00 p.m., Portal Rescue classroom, Portal, Arizona.

– Saturday, February 10 – Lecture – South Mountain Rock Art Project (Phoenix)
Aaron Wright, Preservation Fellow with the Center for Desert Archaeology, will be giving a lecture entitled: “The South Mountain Rock Art Project: Community-based Preservation Archaeology in Your Background” at the Deer Valley Rock Art Center.
http://www.cdarc.org/pages/articles.php?req=read&article_id=413

Job Announcement

From Gary Brown – Aztec Ruins National Monument is advertising for an Exhibit Specialist (Ruins Preservation). The position will be open for application for the next two weeks.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/k89e

Obituary

Word was just received that Stan Ahler passed away on Saturday. Stan was a prominent paleo-archaeologist who started the nonprofit PaleoCultural Research Group several years ago in Flagstaff. He brought many archaeologists and avocational archaeologists together to work in Montana, the Dakotas, Utah, and Colorado. He will be missed. No word has been received yet of funeral or memorial arrangments.