Bipartisan Effort to Expand Casa Grande National Monument

Toward a Grander Casa Grande
The boundaries of Casa Grande Ruins National Monument could be expanded if Congress adopts legislation introduced Tuesday by U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz.The Casa Grande Ruins is one of the finest examples of 13th century Hohokam culture in the American Southwest, Kirkpatrick said. Known to Spanish explorers as the Great House, it was proclaimed the first archaeological preserve in the United States in 1892, then called the Casa Grande Ruin Reservation. In 1918, it was redesignated as Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. – http://bit.ly/118Vpzb – TriValleyCentral, http://1.usa.gov/159yy5J – Representative Ann Kirkpatrick & http://bit.ly/19NlrZ2 – Archaeology Southwest

Erasing the Rock Art of Nine Mile Canyon, One Scratch at a Time
It cost $2.1 million over the past two years to protect the ancient Native American art and artifacts in Nine Mile Canyon during road building. That’s close to 10 percent of the total project cost, according to Brian Barton of Jones & DeMille Engineers. That being the case, it could be argued that the damage done by Joe, Blaze, Nancy, Amber and others at the First Site archaeological spot might be calculated in the millions.  http://bit.ly/11TeiES – Sun Advocate

Challenging Preservation Efforts at Bandelier 
Many Americans tend to describe any structure that’s survived more than a century or so as “old,” and by those standards, Alcove House in Bandelier National Monument is positively ancient. These remains of homes for the Ancestral Pueblo people date back to the 14th century, so it’s not surprising that some repairs are needed. The challenge, however, was how to get the necessary supplies to the site, safely and efficiently. http://bit.ly/128LPWV – National Parks Traveler

Site Stewards Experience Solstice at Sears Point
A few years back, the Tonopah site stewards began to visit sites in southwestern Arizona that might be considered places from which the summer solstice sunrise could be observed. What we were looking for are locations in which the features would align with 60 degrees east of true north. Todd Bostwick, current Director of the Verde Valley Archaeology Center, reported in 2002 that this is the point at which summer solstice sunrise will occur in the Salt River valley. http://bit.ly/13gu0wx – Archaeology Southwest

Lecture Opportunity – Cortez
The Hisatsinom Chapter of the Colorado Archaeology Society presents Dr. Mary Gillam and Dr. Lillian Wakeley on Tuesday, July 2, at 7:00 PM at the Methodist Church, 515 Park Street, Cortez, CO to discuss Are Utah’s Sand Island “Mammoths” Late Pleistocene? A Geologic View. Two petroglyphs on a cliff near Bluff have been interpreted as images of living mammoths and thus late Pleistocene in age. Evidence for erosion of the cliff is not consistent with this age interpretation. Mary Gillam is a consulting geologist with specialties in geomorphology, young sediments, and surface soils. Lillian Wakeley is a consulting geologist with world-wide research experience in near-surface soil properties, desert and river geomorphology, specialty geo-materials, interpreting paleo-environments, and science for the public. Contact Diane McBride, 970-560-1643, with questions.

Lecture Opportunity – Tucson
Where Pen Meets Trowel: Archaeology Southwest welcomes all to a special evening with Coronado Expedition scholars and Archaeology Southwest Research Associates Richard and Shirley Flint as they reflect on how archaeology and historiography may best inform each other. Join us on Tuesday, July 23, 2013, 6:30 p.m., at the Murphy-Wilmot Branch Library, 530 N. Wilmot Rd., Tucson, AZ 85711. For more information, call 520-882-6946 or follow the link. http://bit.ly/10tCBbr – Archaeology Southwest

Lecture Opportunity – Tucson
The Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society is pleased to present William H. Doelle on Monday, July 15 at 7:30 PM at the DuVal Auditorium (1501 N. Campbell Ave. inside University Medical Center) to discuss Tucson Underground: The Archaeology of a Desert Community. Doelle will explore important tenets of Preservation Archaeology as it relates to Tucson’s downtown area: archaeological resources are nonrenewable, and when there is broad community awareness of the meaning and values of places of the past, then the protection of those places becomes a priority. Some examples of the responses to community members to losses as well as preservation successes will be considered using examples from downtown. Contact Jon Boyd @ 520 444-6385 with questions about this, or an other AAHS program.

Raise the Roof (on Camp Naco)
Please help the Friends of Camp Naco and Archaeology Southwest stabilize ten or twelve of these historic adobe buildings right now. Removal of the asbestos roof tiles that have protected the buildings since 1919 is well underway. Grant funding will enable us to put plywood on the roofs, but we are short about $7,500 to put rolled roofing in place. Such roofing is essential for protecting the fragile adobe walls and the ultimate integrity of these buildings. http://bit.ly/12flhnU – Archaeology Southwest