Patrick Lyons Selected as Director of the Arizona State Museum

Patrick Lyons Selected as Director of the Arizona State Museum
In the midst of its 120th year, Arizona State Museum (ASM) has named Patrick D. Lyons, Ph.D., as its new director. Lyons, an archaeologist, is ASM’s seventh director since its founding by the territorial legislature in 1893. Lyons replaces Dr. Beth Grindell, who was named director following the death of Hartman H. Lomawaima in 2008, pending a national search. Lyons will assume the directorship on June 1, 2013.  http://bit.ly/Y97KhR

NPS Publishes Fact Sheet on Valley Fever
The National Park Service Office of Public Health has created a fact sheet on Valley fever for archaeologists. Archeologists are at risk for contracting Valley fever (also known as coccidioidomycosis), a fungal infection caused by inhaling Coccidioides spores that live in soil and are disturbed by digging, screening, and wind and dust storms. The disease is common in certain areas of the Southwest and Western United States. About 30% to 60% of people who live in these areas are exposed to the fungus at some point in their life.  http://1.usa.gov/YPf02p – (PDF) National Park Service

Panther Cave Recorded in Three Dimensions
High above the Rio Grande river in a towering wall of  limestone cliffs lies Panther Cave, named after the giant panther at the far end of the rockshelter. Here a nomadic people painted fantastic scenes consisting of human and animal figures, leaving a story that resists modern interpretation. The cave contains Pecos River and Red Linear style pictographic imagery dating back approximately 4,000 years with figures ranging in size from less than 6 inches to over 10 feet  ( more than 3 metres) in height. The larger Pecos River style figures are the most prominent, and include colourful human- and animal-like figures. http://bit.ly/10yTVNN – Past Horizons

CO Senator Udall Introduces Legislation to Create the Sangre de Cristo National Park
Mark Udall, who chairs the U.S. Senate National Parks Subcommittee, introduced legislation today to establish the Sangre de Cristo National Historic Park to preserve historically significant cultural resources and to foster heritage tourism and job creation in the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range-San Luis Valley region of southern Colorado. Udall’s bill is based on a lengthy comment period he led starting in July 2012 and underscores his commitment to a bottom-up approach on public-lands legislation. “Southern Colorado and the San Luis Valley are home to some of the most important Latino and Hispano heritage sites in the region. That’s why I am proud to stand with the residents of the San Luis Valley and southern Colorado and introduce legislation to protect and preserve these sites and boost the local economy,” http://1.usa.gov/Y8Y8DP

Preservation and Conservation Problems Cause Closure of NPS Museum
The National Park Service quietly shuttered a museum at Grand Teton National Park this week, removing a world-class collection of ancient Native American artifacts donated by the Rockefeller family nearly four decades ago. The Indian Arts Museum had been housed inside the park’s Colter Bay Visitor Center since 1972, containing a priceless array of rare artifacts representing the cultural ancestry of more than 100 American Indian tribes from virtually every region of the country. http://nyti.ms/13NGCcV – New York Times

Lecture Opportunity – Santa Fe
Southwest Seminars presents Dr. Bruce Bernstein, Former Executive Director, Southwestern Association for Indian Arts and former Assistant Director for Research and Collections, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian and Author, Modern By Tradition: American Indian Painting in the Studio Style, who will give a lecture on March 25 at 6 pm at Hotel Santa Fe, San Ildefonso Pottery: A Social History of a Pueblo Community as part of the Ancient Sites Ancient Stories II Lecture Series held each spring to honor the important work of The Archaeological Conservancy. Admission by subscription or $12 at the door. No reservations are necessary and refreshments are served. Contact Connie Eichstatedt, Southwest Seminars at Tel: 505 466-2775 Email: southwest seminar@aol.com Website: http://bit.ly/YhJddr – Southwest Seminars

Lecture Opportunity – Tucson
The Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society is pleased to present Paul E. Minnis on Monday, March 18 at 7:30 PM at the DuVal Auditorium (1501 N. Campbell Ave. inside University Medical Center) to discuss The Boring Side of Paquime. Minnis will discuss ongoing research conducted at Paquime that looks beyond the impressive architecture and trade goods. The study of farming, humble outlying villages, groundstone, turkeys, and even barely visible charred plant remains paint a fuller understanding of this remarkable society, Contact Jon Boyd @ 529 444-6385 with questions about this, or any other AAHS program.

Lecture and Auction – Tucson
On Saturday March 23 from 6 to 9 p.m. Dr. Donald C. Johanson, the anthropologist who discovered the 3.2-million-year-old “Lucy” australopithecine skeleton in Ethiopia, comes to the Arizona State Museum (University Blvd. and Park Avenue, Tucson), to present “Human Origins: The View from Africa” at the “Art for Archaeology Featuring Dr. Donald C. Johanson” fundraiser to benefit the nonprofit Old Pueblo Archaeology Center’s education programs. At this gala event you can meet with Dr. Johanson, hear him discuss scientific views of our human ancestry, and support Old Pueblo’s education programs by contributing an entry fee and bidding on beautiful southwestern ethnic arts and western U.S.-themed art donated by famous artists. Tickets are $75 each or 2 for $125. For tickets or more information call 520-798-1201, email info@oldpueblo.org or visit http://bit.ly/Yly4Ct – Old Pueblo Archaeology Center

Thanks to Jim Royle for contributing to this week’s newsletter.