Woman Vandalizes 10 Western National Parks and Posts the Evidence on Instagram

Woman Vandalizes 10 Western National Parks and Posts the Evidence on Instagram
She calls it art, proudly signing her urban-influenced sketches and posting photos of them online, like a sort of Banksy in the wild. The National Park Service calls it criminal. The agency on Thursday announced it was investigating 21-year-old Casey Nocket’s recent cross-country jaunt during which she allegedly painted faces and sketches on rock formations in as many as 10 national parks, including Rocky Mountain National Park. http://dpo.st/1t6XKFi – Denver Post

Troubling Story on National Park Service Project That Apparently Ignored Archaeological Law at Effigy Mounds 
Imagine being able to drive an all-terrain vehicle right up next to a sacred earthen Native American burial mound. At Effigy Mounds National Monument, you can. Three million dollars’ worth of illegal construction projects went on for a decade at one of the nation’s most sacred Native American burial grounds in northeast Iowa. And it happened under the watch of the National Park Service. The park didn’t do the proper archaeological studies before installing an intricate boardwalk system that now encircles ancient burial mounds that are shaped like bears and birds. http://n.pr/1rHsCti – National Public Radio

Paul Reed Speaks about His Work in the Chuska Valley at Archaeology Southwest’s Archaeology Cafe (Tucson)
On November 4, 2014, Paul F. Reed will present “The Chuska Valley Revisited.” Paul will discuss recent work in this valley of northwestern New Mexico in light of research he undertook more than a decade ago. We meet at Casa Vicente, 375 S. Stone Ave., Tucson. Presentations begin after 6:00 p.m. It is best to arrive before 5:30 p.m., as seating is open and unreserved, but limited. http://bit.ly/ASW_Reed – Archaeology Southwest

Plunder of the Ancients Takes Readers on an Undercover Tour of Looting in the Southwest
“Laws protecting the cultural heritage of the world are being broken every day by smugglers who deliver ancient artifacts to private collectors. The lust for the possession of ancient objects increases the profits for looting archaeological sites; and thus our collective heritage is being destroyed.” Although this quote is from Zainab Bahrani’s 2004 article in Natural History on artifact looting from the Iraq Museum, the same results could apply to the Native American cultural artifacts of the Southwest. http://bit.ly/1wtQtkd – Albuquerque Journal

New Mexico Invests in Historic Preservation
A near record number of grants awarded by the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division resulted in more than $1.1 million being invested in preservation projects this year. The division says work was completed in September on 16 projects around the state. That work was paid for with more than $300,000 in grants earlier this year. Communities invested another $735,000 in matching funds and labor. http://bit.ly/1tbwI13 – KOB.com

National Park Service Trying to Address Drop in Visitation of Arizona Parks
Of the 20 national parks, monuments, recreation areas and trading posts in Arizona with visitation data on the National Park Service website, 15 saw fewer visitors in 2013 than they did in 1990, according to a review of the data. All told, attendance at Arizona national parks has declined by more than 18 percent – from 20.37 million to 16.66 million – over the past 24 years. Sunset Crater’s decline has exceeded 60 percent during that period. http://bit.ly/1ruYOz3 – KTAR

Genetic Evidence Supports Hypothesis of Ancient Polynesian Contact with South American Populations
The long and controversial debate over whether the early Polynesians managed to completely cross the Pacific Ocean and land in the Americas is supported by a genetics study of the indigenous Easter Islanders, which found that they share DNA sequences with Native Americans – suggesting close contact between the two populations. http://bit.ly/1oMnYOY – Science Daily

Take a Look at Water through an Archaeological Lens
It’s no secret that the current population of the American West uses a lot of water and goes to great lengths to get it where it’s most needed. The supply is finite, and the demand keeps growing At 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30, Crow Canyon archaeologists will be featured on “Living West: Water,” an episode of the Rocky Mountain PBS series Colorado Experience.

Historic Features of Environmental Blight – Charcoal Kilns 
Unless you like to tramp around in the backcountry, you may never have seen a charcoal kiln. They’re part of a nearly forgotten industry that, in the words of one expert, came to be thought of “almost like a criminal activity.” Retired U.S. Forest Service official Doug Page recently drove with KSL News through a pinyon-juniper forest — the kind used by charcoal kilns — on a road that’s barely a road, to a remote location in Beaver County. http://bit.ly/10upJWc – KSL.com

High-Elevation Clovis Site in Peru Highlights Remarkably Fast Settlement of the Americas
Paleo-Indian hunters ventured high into the Andes Mountains as early as 12,800 years ago, as much as two thousand years sooner than previously thought. The finding, reported Thursday in the journal Science, suggests that South America’s first inhabitants raced across the continent rather than spreading slowly to its remotest corners. http://bit.ly/12Lk3bl – National Geographic

Private Collector in Utah Forced to Return Peruvian Artifacts
Three artifacts looted in Peru and smuggled into the United States — including two pieces of pre-Columbian pottery seized from a Utahn — were returned Wednesday to the Peruvian general consul during a ceremony in Denver. The repatriated items were a Chancay statue from A.D. 1200-1450 and a funerary vessel from A.D. 100-1532 that a Salt Lake City area man admitted he had taken illegally from Peru, according to Andrew Muñoz, a public affairs for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). http://bit.ly/12LlyGr – Salt Lake Tribune

Lecture Opportunity – Santa Fe
Santa Fe Archaeological Society November meeting will feature Richard I. Ford on Tues. Nov 11, at 7:30 pm at the Pecos Trail Cafe meeting room (2239 Old Pecos Trail). Ford will examine the possible beliefs of Northern New Mexican cultures from Late Paleo Indian to Historic Tewa the Plains Indians through pecked or carved glyphs. Contact Diane Lenssen @ 505-6704001 or Tim Maxwell @ 505-820-1299 with questions. http://bit.ly/1vZQsn4 – SFAS

Lecture Opportunity – Santa Fe
Southwest Seminars Presents Stephen Fadden, who will give a Traditional Storytelling and Musical Performance on October 27 at 6pm at Hotel Santa Fe as part of the annual Mother Earth Father Sky Lecture Series held annually to honor The New Mexico Environmental Law Center. No reservations are necessary and admission is by subscription or $12 at the door. Refreshments are served and seating is limited. Contact Connie Eichstaedt at 505 466-2775; email: southwest seminar@aol.com;  http://bit.ly/YhJddr – Southwest Seminars

Lecture Opportunity – Santa Fe
Southwest Seminars Presents Dr. Gary Huckleberry, who will give a lecture Water Control in an Uncontrolled Environment: Lessons of the Ancient Hohokam on November 3 at 6pm at Hotel Santa Fe as part of the annual Mother Earth Father Sky Lecture Series held annually to honor The New Mexico Environmental Law Center. No reservations are necessary and admission is by subscription or $12 at the door. Refreshments are served and seating is limited. Contact Connie Eichstaedt at 505 466-2775; email: southwest seminar@aol.com; http://bit.ly/YhJddr – Southwest Seminars

Lecture Opportunity – Scottsdale
On November 12th, Steve Lekson will present End of the Anasazi: the Fall of Chaco Canyon and the Mesa Verde Migrations. The general public may attend an Arizona Archaeology Society – Desert Foothills Chapter meeting at no cost. There are refreshments available at 7:00 PM and the speaker begins at 7:30 PM. This special engagement is in the Holland Center (Foothills Community Center), 34250 North 60th Street, Building B, Scottsdale, Arizona 85366 (just south of Carefree Highway). http://bit.ly/1aYMEY2 – Desert Foothils Chapter of the Arizona Archaeology Society