Archaeologists Document Oldest Known Footprints in North America

Archaeologists Document Oldest Known Footprints in North America
A team of Canadian scientists from the University of Victoria and the Hakai Institute has found fossilized human footprints of at least three different sizes impressed into a 13,000-year-old paleosol beneath beach sands on Calvert Island, off the Pacific coast of Canada. http://bit.ly/2IjOiuC – Sci News

Heritage Tourism Revenue Continues to Support Colorado’s Montezuma County
Tourism is trending upward in Montezuma County, according to revenues from a lodgers tax and Mesa Verde National Park.  The revenues from the county lodgers tax revenues increased by almost 10 percent in 2017. The 1.9 percent tax generated $171,138 in 2017, compared with $156,000 in 2016, members of the lodgers tax committee reported Monday to the Montezuma County Board of Commissioners. http://bit.ly/2Il60hq – Cortez Journal

Audioblog: Planet Chaco
We head south of the Colorado border with guest host Bruce Bookout for this month’s archeo-astronomy subject – Chaco Canyon. The earliest inhabitants of this region were skywatchers of immense sophistication.  Down just below the southern Colorado border is a major center of culture for the ancient Pueblo Peoples.  It is focused in the Chaco Culture National Historical Park in northern New Mexico. The Chaco Canyon area contains the most sweeping collection of ancient ruins in the Southwest. http://bit.ly/2H27y09 – KRCC.org

Bears Ears: A Worst Case Scenario for Our Heritage
Shanna Diederichs crouches in a shallow, circular depression in the floor of a Puebloan ruin, a clear and all-too-familiar sign that looters were here, scouring for pottery and other valuable Native American artifacts. On the cliffside above her, stunning pictographs dating back to the 1200s — colorful stick figures and a silhouetted handprint that the Anasazi created by blowing paint over the backs of their hands — pop in the morning sun. Diederichs, an archeologist with Cortez, Colorado-based Woods Canyon Archaeological Consultants, leans forward to take a close look at a large hole in the wall of this historic kiva, a room used by Pueblo peoples for religious ceremonies. With her hand, she takes a crude measurement of the damage, then sits back. A dejected look washes over her face. “What a disaster,” she whispers, making a note on her clipboard. http://bit.ly/2GNCnbw – Huffington Post

Three New Exhibits at the El Paso Museum of Archaeology
With three new exhibits spanning the entire Southwest, from Hopi lands to the Mission Valley, the El Paso Museum of Archaeology invites the public to to view the new artifacts. http://bit.ly/2GNtVco – El Paso Herald

Are “Treasure Hunts” Really a Wise Practice for State Parks?
The parks – Kodachrome Basin State Park, Anasazi State Park Museum and Escalante Petrified Forest State Park – are holding the “Treasure by the Canyon” event, during which gold tokens redeemable for prizes will be hidden along park trails. Prizes include prepaid cards of up to $250, camping gear, a 55-inch smart TV and other items. The event will run Friday and Saturday and again April 6-7. Contestants must register and sign a waiver online. http://bit.ly/2IhOkmY – St George News

The Romero Ruin Trail: A Fine Hike to Some Places of the Past near Tucson
The site of a prehistoric Indian village — dating to A.D. 500 — and the historic ruins of a rancher’s mid-1800s dwelling are preserved along the Romero Ruin Trail at Catalina State Park. “It’s a very special place,” said Jack McCabe, assistant manager of the park north of Tucson. “The significance of this location for the Hohokam people, who lived here for a thousand-year period, is remarkable.” http://bit.ly/2IkW7QG – Arizona Daily Star

Reminder – Archaeology Café (Tucson): Spanish Colonial and Mexican Period Life in Tucson
On Tuesday, April 3, 2018, historical archaeologist Homer Thiel will help café attendees become better acquainted with Spanish Colonial and Mexican Period Life in Tucson. Tradition says that on August 20, 1775, Regular Spanish Army Lt. Colonel Hugo O’Conor, of Irish decent, chose what is now downtown Tucson as the site of the historic Presidio San Agustin del Tucson. From that point until 1856, when the Americans took over the region following the Gadsen Purchase, Tucson was first part of the Spanish colonies, and later a piece of Mexico. We meet at The Loft Cinema (3233 E. Speedway Blvd) after 5:30 p.m. The program takes place at 6:00 p.m. in theatre 1, which can accommodate up to 375 guests. You can pick up your free tickets from The Loft Cinema box office anytime the day of the Café. (Limit two tickets per person.) This program is made possible, in part, by The Smith Living Trust and Arizona Humanities. http://bit.ly/2DThZAi – Archaeology Southwest

Lecture Opportunity – Cave Creek
Desert Foothills Chapter – AAS  presents on April 11 from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM at no charge, Wayne Ranney. In spite of being one of the “Seven Natural Wonders of the World,” humans have not always seen the Grand Canyon in a positive light.  First seen by Europeans in the year 1540, the canyon was not comprehended easily.  Throughout the entire exploratory era (lasting nearly 320 years) conquistadores, explorers, trappers, and miners viewed the canyon as an obstacle to travel or even useless.  None of these early visitors ever returned a second time.  However, when the first geologist laid eyes on it in 1857, he issued a siren call to humanity that it was something quite special on our planet.  Every geologist who followed returned again, announcing to the world that the Grand Canyon was to be revered.  The meeting is held in the community building (Maitland Hall) at The Good Shepherd of the Hills Episcopal Church, 6502 East Cave Creek Road, Cave Creek, AZ 85331 (near the Dairy Queen). http://www.azarchsoc.wildapricot.org/desertfoothills -Desert Foothills Chapter of the Arizona Archaeology Society

Lecture Opportunity – Grand Junction
Colorado Archaeological Society hosts Dr. Chris Fisher, an archaeologist from Colorado State University for a lecture Saturday, April 7, 6:30 PM at the Tomlinson Library meeting room on the Colorado Mesa University campus.  Dr. Fisher will talk about his work with sophisticated remote sensing radar in the jungles of Honduras. His work is the basis of the book ‘Lost City of the Monkey God’.  The lecture is free and open to the public. Saturday evening parking is free on the CMU campus.  For more information go to http://www.meetup.com/CAS-GJ/events/248963439/ or call 970-514-3719 or 503-505-8521

Lecture Opportunity – Grand Junction
Colorado Archaeological Society hosts a lecture by Dr. Mark Stiger from Western State Colorado University in Gunnison. Dr. Stiger will speak Monday, April 9, 6:30 PM at Redlands United Methodist Church, 527 Village Way. Doors open at 6:30 with the lecture at 7 PM. Dr. Stiger will talk about his work in the Gunnison area and specifically on the easily recognized “W” Mountain above town where Stiger and his students have been working on a 10,000 year old Native American village site.  The lecture is free and open to the public. A small donation is requested to pay for the meeting location and speaker expenses.  For more information go to http://www.meetup.com/CAS-GJ/events/245124475/ or call 970-250-7402.

Lecture Opportunity – Taliesin West
As Frank Lloyd Wright’s enduring legacy continues to influence innovators to create a more beautiful and sustainable world, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation presents Taliesin Next, a new speaker series that explores how Wright’s legacy can inform the future. The speakers of Taliesin Next present their ideas through a variety of perspectives as diverse as the great architect’s multifaceted legacy. http://bit.ly/2GNBFuS – Taliesin West

Lecture Opportunity – Taos
The Taos Archaeological Society is pleased to present Matthew Barbour, Regional Manager of Coronado and Jemez Historic Sites, who will lecture on “Battle of Glorieta Pass Confederate Mass Grave, 1862.” This battle represents the turning point in the Civil War which led to the retreat of the Confederate Army, never to threaten Union supremacy in the American West again. This event will take place on Tuesday April 10, 2018 at 7:00 pm at Kit Carson Electric Board Room, 118 Cruz Alta, Taos and is free and open to the public. Contact Rebecca Quintana 575-770-7460 for more information or questions.

Lecture Opportunity – Tucson
The Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society (AAHS) is pleased to present Benjamin A. Bellorado on Monday, April 16th at 7:30 pm in the University Medical Center’s Duval Auditorium (1501 N Campbell Ave, Tucson 85724), who will discuss, “Dressing up in the Ancient Southwest: The Fashions of Fancy Footwear in the Chaco and Post-Chaco Eras.” Meetings are free and open to the public. For more information, please visit the AAHS website: http://www.az-arch-and-hist. org/, or contact John D. Hall at john.hall@terracon.com with questions about this or any other AAHS program.

Workshop Opportunity – Tucson
On Saturday April 28 from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. flintknapper Sam Greenleaf teaches an arrowhead-making and flintknapping workshop at Old Pueblo Archaeology Center, 2201 W. 44th Street, Tucson. Participants will learn how to make arrowheads, spear points, and other flaked stone artifacts from obsidian and other stone like ancient peoples did. The class is designed to foster understanding of how prehistoric peoples made essential tools, not to make artwork for sale. $35 fee ($28 for Old Pueblo Archaeology Center and Pueblo Grande Museum Auxiliary members) includes all materials and equipment. Reservations required by 5 p.m. Thursday April 26: 520-798-1201 or info@oldpueblo.org.

Lecture Opportunity – Santa Fe
Southwest Seminars Presents Dr. Stephen H. Lekson, Curator of Archaeology, Museum of Natural History and Professor of Anthropology, Jubilado, Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado; Editor, The Architecture of Chaco Canyon and The Archaeology of Chaco Canyon; Author, A History of the Ancient Southwest; Chaco Meridian: Centers of Political Power in the Ancient Southwest; and Archaeology of the Mimbres Region, Southwestern New Mexico, USA who will give a lecture Chaco, Cahokia, and Other Secondary City-States in Native North America on April 9 at 6pm at Hotel Santa Fe as part of the annual Ancient Sites Ancient Stories II Lecture Series held to honor and acknowledge The Archaeological Conservancy. Admission is by subscription or $15 at the door. No reservations are necessary. Refreshments are served. Seating is limited. Contact Connie Eichstaedt, tel. 505 466-2775; email: southwest seminar@aol.com; website: southwest seminars.org

Lecture Opportunity – Winslow
On Wednesday, April 11th, the Homolovi Chapter of the Arizona Archaeological Society presents Karen Berggren, with an introduction to the interactions between a culture and supernatural beings. Karen will address several aspects of the Katcinam including the cultures involved, the development of the religion, modern interpretations of the Katcinam, and the influence on material culture.  The meeting is at 7 p.m. at the Winslow Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center (Historic Lorenzo Hubbell Trading Post), 523 W. Second St in Winslow.  You can also join us and the speaker(s) for dinner at 5 p.m. at the Historic La Posada Turquoise Room (on your own tab).