Southwest Archaeology Today for August 21, 2009

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

– Excellent Summary of Four Corners Looting Problem: The haul included everything from arrowheads to pots and pendants. There were woven sandals and ceramic figures. There was even a rare turkey-feather blanket and a female loin cloth. All told, undercover investigators purchased 256 artifacts worth more than $335,000. All were illegal.
http://sfreporter.com/stories/stealing_the_past/4962/1/

– Colorado Couple Turn Over Collection of Ancient Objects to Federal Authorities: A Colorado couple indicted along with 23 others in Utah as part of an investigation into illegal trafficking of ancient Puebloan artifacts have turned over an extensive relics collection to federal authorities, pending further legal action against them. Vern and Marie Crites, indicted June 10 for allegedly violating multiple felony laws protecting American Indian antiquities from looters, on Wednesday morning voluntarily surrendered a collection that court papers say includes prayer sticks, fire sticks, a bone scraper and “cloud blowers,” the ceremonial pipes that Hopi and their ancestors used in prayer offerings.
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13158523

– Utah Governor Acts to Protect Village Site from Rail Line Development: Gov. Gary Herbert had to make a tough call on Tuesday. And he made the right call. He chose to sign a conservation easement with an environmental group to protect archaeologically sensitive land in Draper where a proposed train station was to be built. The area was sacred ground to many Native Americans and held artifacts from past generations.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705324572,00.html

– Presentation on Acoma Culture to be Held at Anasazi Heritage Center (Delores): Connie Garcia of Acoma Pueblo will conduct a two-hour interactive activity at the Anasazi Heritage Center on Sunday, August 23 at 1:00 PM. Admission to the museum will be free all day. Garcia is the General Manager of the Sky City Cultural Center and Haak’u Museum at Acoma. Participation in the event is limited to 20 people on a first-come, first-serve basis. The presentation is recommended for adults due to the content. The Bureau of Land Management Anasazi Heritage Center is three miles west of Dolores on State Highway 184, and is open daily from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

– Findings from Lake Sediments Cast Doubt on Clovis Age Comet Impact Theory: After combing through layers of ancient lake sediments, paleoecologist Jacquelyn Gill of the University of Wisconsin-Madison says her team has found no evidence to support a controversial comet theory for an ice age extinction event. “There’s no physical trend to suggest that there was an impact event,” Gill said Tuesday at the Ecological Society of America meeting held here this week. “If there was an impact event…it’s not having the ecological effects [previously] suggested.”
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=comet-doubts

– Shrine to Eusebio Kino Constructed in the Ruins of Rio Nuevo: Sweat poured down the faces of Ra