Arizona State Museum Research on the Ancient Trincheras Overlooking Downtown Tucson

Arizona State Museum Research on the Ancient Trincheras Overlooking Downtown Tucson
Tumamoc Hill, the large peak west of downtown Tucson and to the north of A Mountain, is familiar to many Tucsonans. Hikers trek up Tumamoc’s paved road to the University of Arizona’s Desert Laboratory. The rough-hewn stone lab itself has been in operation for more than a century under various owners. But long before then, Tumamoc was prime real estate for local residents. http://uanews.org/node/43812

Recent Doctoral Graduate to Continue Studies in Social Responses to Change
Can a study of our past provide insights into present-day social changes? That is the goal of Matthew Peeples, who graduates this December with a doctorate in anthropology and a concentration in archaeology. “Archaeology can provide long-term perspectives on how people in the past have navigated periods of dramatic social, environmental and demographic change,” says Peeples. http://asunews.asu.edu/20111213_grad_peeples

ACHP Adopts Traditional Cultural Landscapes Plan
The Native American Traditional Cultural Landscapes Action Plan emphasizes consultation early in project planning and identification of areas of cultural sensitivity as key steps to the protection of these important historic properties. ACHP staff will now begin to implement specific actions under the plan. If you have any comments or questions, please send an email to native@achp.gov. http://www.achp.gov/news10102011.html

Arizona State Museum Zooarchaeologist Barnet Pavao-Zuckerman and her Students Study Faunal Remains from Early American President’s Estate
Arizona State Museum archaeologists are looking through historic table scraps in an effort to find out more about the kitchen of America’s fourth president and author of the U.S. Constitution. For about a decade, Barnet Pavao-Zuckerman and her students from the University of Arizona have been part of ongoing excavations at Montpelier, the home of James and Dolley Madison.

Lekson’s Blog Examines the Impact of French Social Philosophy in Archaeology
Theory does not require Delphic obscurantism. Many useful thinkers think clearly and write clearly. I list several below – a quick, short list with only a few works for each. Some are old and some not so old. You must judge if their thinking is useful (I find it so). http://www.stevelekson.com

Lecture Opportunity – Tubac
Engineer Jerry Cannon and Planner Patricia Morris will give a presentation to the Santa Cruz Valley Chapter of the Arizona Archaeological Society on January 12, 2012, 7 PM, at the North County Facility at 50 Bridge Road in Tubac. Their topic will be “”Historic Bridges in Arizona and Their Engineers.” The presentation is free and open to the public. For more information about the Santa Cruz Valley AAS Chapter and its activities, call Alan Sorkowitz at 520-207-7151 or inquire via e-mail at asorko@cox.net. The Arizona Archaeological Society web site, at www.AzArchSoc.org

Lecture Opportunity – Tucson
Roger Anyon will present “Excavations at the Historic Alameda-Stone Cemetery in Downtown Tucson” at the monthly meeting of the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society, 730 Pm, Dec 19th (Tonight) at the UMC Duval Autitorium, 1501 N. Campbell. Please note that Joshua Reuther’s scheduled presentation has been postponed. Http://www.az-arch-and-hist.org/

Lecture Opportunity – Cortez
The Hisatsinom Chapter of the Colorado Archaeological Society is pleased to present Shawn Collins to discuss “Raising the Roof: Challenges in Preserving and Protecting Hawkins Pueblo” on Tuesday, January 3 at 7:00 PM at the Cortez Cultural Center. In her presentation, Dr. Collins will discuss the challenges posed in providing both strict preservation and public access to this privately owned and managed Pueblo II archaeological site located within the city limits of Cortez, Colorado. Shawn is the Executive Director of the Cortez Cultural Center. As an archaeologist and paleoethnobotanist, much of her previous work focused on agricultural innovation and the impact of agriculture on prehistoric cultures and environments. Contact Bob Bernhart @ 970-739-6772 with questions about this, or any, program.

Training Opportunity – The Art and Archaeology of the Lower Pecos Valley
SHUMLA’s research team and Dr. Jim Keyser have launched a comparative study of scratched and incised imagery evidenced in the rock art of the Lower Pecos Canyonlands and the Columbia Plateau. This year, participants in Pecos Experience have the unique opportunity to join these experts as they investigate this promising new avenue of rock art research. This is your chance to explore the canyons of the Lower Pecos, to expand your vision of the meaning and function of rock art, and to experience the excitement of making connections through discovery. For more details, visit our Web-site http://www.SHUMLA.org/, contact the office at programs@SHUMLA.org or call (432) 292-4848.

Possible Foundation Offering Found at Teotihuacan
Archaeologists announced Tuesday that they dug to the very core of Mexico’s tallest pyramid and found what may be the original ceremonial offering placed on the site of the Pyramid of the Sun before construction began. The offerings found at the base of the pyramid in the Teotihuacan ruin site just north of Mexico City include a green serpentine stone mask so delicately carved and detailed that archaeologists believe it may have been a portrait. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=143687620

Yale Repatriates Incan Collection to Peru
High in the Andes Mountains, Peruvians have been lining up to see a collection of antiquities that have finally returned home. The objects from the Inca site of Machu Picchu spent the past 100 years at Yale University in Connecticut, where they were at the center of a long-running international custody battle. http://www.npr.org/2011/12/18/143653050/finders-not-keepers-yale-returns-artifacts-to-peru?ft=1&f=1008

News From the Archaeology Channel
In the December 2011 installment of the Video News from TAC, we bring you a magnetometer survey of vanished Ohio earthworks and a stunning look at Malta’s megalithic temples that were old before the Egyptians built the pyramids. See these stories in the December 2011 edition of this monthly half-hour show, available now on our nonprofit streaming-media Web site, The Archaeology Channel(http://www.archaeologychannel.org) as well as on cable TV in cities across the US.

Thanks to Cherie Freeman for contributing to today’s issue of Southwest Archaeology Today.