Southwest Archaeology Today for Feb 08 2010

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

– More Information on Ancient Southwestern Turkey Domestication: Today at Discovery News you can find out how Native Americans domesticated turkeys, not just once, but twice, well over 1,500 years before Christopher Columbus and other Europeans set foot on American soil. Native Americans were hardly starved for food. They had long before gotten their farming act together. They instead raised turkeys for their feathers, which were “used in rituals and ceremonies, as well as to make feather robes or blankets,” according to Simon Fraser University’s Camilla Speller, who led the recent research project on North American turkey domestication. Her team’s paper is in the latest Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
http://tinyurl.com/yhfmbjs – Discovery News
http://tinyurl.com/yb69oly – National Academy of Sciences

– Center for Desert Archaeology Settling Down in New Location: The Center for Desert Archaeology has moved downtown. The nonprofit, which is dedicated to research and preservation of archaeology, has moved to 300 N. Ash Alley, on the property of the Bates Family House and Mountain Oyster Club on North Stone. The 138-year-old adobe brick building is the former home of the ranch culture-oriented Mountain Oyster Club, which moved in 2003 to its current home at 6400 E. El Dorado Circle.
http://tinyurl.com/ya9zkql – Arizona Daily Star

– In the Aftermath of Park Closure, Northern Arizonans Attempt to Save Riordan Mansion: After 106 years of a mostly happy storyline, the tale of Riordan Mansion, including its almost 30 years as an Arizona state park, may take on an element of tragedy Feb. 22 when the facilities are officially closed to the public, as mandated by a Jan. 15 decision by the Arizona State Parks Board. As the mansion hovers on the brink of its closing date, a growing band of concerned parties, including paid park staff, volunteers, historians, and various government and nonprofit agency officials, are rallying to raise money to keep this unique state treasure open.
http://tinyurl.com/ye7p3rs– Arizona Daily Sun
http://tinyurl.com/yba3jys – Arizona Daily Sun

Gila Cliff Dwellings to Reopen to Foot Traffic: Superintendent Steve Riley announced today that Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument will likely reopen the West Fork Bridge to foot and bicycle traffic next weekend. Beginning on Saturday, February 13th, visitors will be permitted to cross the bridge on a pedestrian gangway and make the 3-mile roundtrip hike to the Cliff Dwellings. Visitors must park their vehicles at Woody