Understanding When and How the Americas Were Populated

Understanding When and How the Americas Were Populated
Most archaeologists would now agree that there were widely scattered, small but culturally diverse groups of people living in the Americas at least one or two millennia before the emergence of Clovis spear points. That estimate, then, placing people in the Americas roughly 15,000 years ago, is among the most conservative. http://bit.ly/2Lj0hgs – Sapiens

Experts Protected Tonto National Monument Cliff Dwellings from Wildfire
The two Salado cliff dwellings display the connection between the Salado and their environment. They constructed the dwellings 700+ years-ago using local wood including: ponderosa pine, juniper, saguaro ribs, and many other southwestern species. In the summer of 2019, the impending Woodbury Wildland Fire in the nearby Superstition Wilderness threatened the preserved wood. Protecting these cliff dwellings from the fire was a major priority for Tonto National Monument. The Integrated Resources staff decided to cover the cliff dwellings in a fire resistant aluminized structure wrap to shield the prehistoric wood, and preserve the dwellings as a whole. http://bit.ly/2ZPhYrX – Tonto National Monument (nps.gov)

Controversial Changes Proposed for Management of National Forests in Utah
Heavy equipment use on fragile desert landscapes threatens to escalate erosion, encourage flammable invasive species, and destroy biomes already compromised by climate change, scientists say. Archeologists found the earliest evidence of wild potato use in North America near Grand Staircase, where less than 10 percent of the ground has been surveyed. In Utah, such projects endanger irreplaceable cultural artifacts and fossils that remain buried and unmapped. The BLM also plans to use chaining—a controversial practice in which two bulldozers drag an anchor chain that upends everything in its path—to fell trees in Grand Staircase, even though its own management plans found the method irreparably harms the landscape. https://on.natgeo.com/2Ll5dBB – National Geographic

Commentary: Border Wall Construction Will Devastate Quitobaquito Springs
This destructive wall will slice through and destroy places that have been internationally recognized and protected to ensure the conservation of the natural and cultural heritage of our nation. This can only be called destruction. Quitobaquito Springs is a desert oasis on the U.S.-Mexico border at Organ Pipe and is designated an UNESCO International Biosphere Reserve and is also on the National Register of Historic Places. The site contains human cultural artifacts dating back 12,000 years, making it one of the oldest inhabited places in North America. It is exceptionally rich in biodiversity and harbors the only U.S. populations of the Quitobaquito Springs pupfish and Sonoyta mud turtle, both federally listed endangered species. http://bit.ly/2ZKnpZ7 – Myles Traphagen (Wildlands Network) in the Arizona Daily Star/Tucson.com

New Lawsuit over Recreational Target Shooting in Sonoran Desert National Monument
The expanse is also filled with archaeological sites containing rock art and other historic artifacts. It is believed that the Hohokam and tribes in present-day Mexico used one of its washes, Vekol Wash, as a corridor for trade. All of these species and objects, the [monument] proclamation declared, needed to be protected. But if you go to Sonoran Desert National Monument today, you’ll find areas stripped of plants and vegetation, shot-up TVs and litter scarred about, and shotgun casings left behind. http://bit.ly/2LjnSNQ – Phoenix New Times

Continuing Coverage: Ethics Questions Surround New BLM Acting Director
The Bureau of Land Management’s recently named acting director, William Perry Pendley, remains the attorney of record for two Utah counties seeking to intervene in opposition to a lawsuit aimed at restoring the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, one of the two expansive monuments President Donald Trump reduced. Pendley, a Colorado attorney, is the former head of the nonprofit Mountain States Legal Foundation, which has a long history of challenging federal oversight of the West’s public lands. In that role, Pendley filed petitions and declarations on behalf of Kane and Garfield counties whose leaders want to keep the Staircase monument small and to allow “multiple use” on the parts that Trump carved out. He also filed a similar petition on behalf of San Juan County to oppose environmental and tribal groups’ lawsuits seeking to restore Bears Ears National Monument. http://bit.ly/2ZO8yNp – Salt Lake Tribune

Scholarship Opportunity
The PaleoWest Foundation is pleased to offer graduate student scholarships in anthropology. Applications are due October 1, 2019. Information and applications can be found here at https://www.paleowestfoundation.org/scholarship.

Publication Announcement: Pottery Southwest
The Summer issue of Pottery Southwest is now available online at potterysouthwest.unm.edu. Included are articles on Tabira Polychrome, Ceramic Analysis at Kuaua (LA 187), Blue Pigment from LA 6387, Current Exhibits and Events, and the Southwest Kiln Conference.

Book Events, Albuquerque and Santa Fe NM
David Roberts will be signing and reading from his new book Escalante’s Dream, which retraces the 1776 expedition of Dominguez and Escalante through the Southwest. The events will be held on September 16 at Bookworks in Albuquerque (4022 Rio Grande Blvd. NW) at 6:00 p.m., and on September 27 at Collected Works in Santa Fe (202 Galisteo St.) at 6:00 p.m. More about the book: http://bit.ly/2ZN8UUC

2019–2020 Season of Archaeology Café, Tucson AZ
Archaeology Southwest will hold seven cafés in Tucson on the first Tuesday evening of the month. We begin in October 2019 and run through May 2020. Due to a scheduling conflict in November, the Loft Cinema is not available on the regularly scheduled café evening, however. Instead, we scheduled a book release event at the Loft Cinema on November 19. Each of the seven café events this season will be livestreamed on Facebook, and each will be posted a week or so afterward on our YouTube channel. This season, we and our speakers will be providing you with information about places you can go to experience aspects of what the speakers will be sharing in their presentations. http://bit.ly/2Lk6j07 – Archaeology Southwest

Lecture Opportunity, Phoenix AZ
The Phoenix Chapter, AAS, invites you to hear Chris Loendorf, Gila River CRM Program, talk about “The Hohokam to Akimel O’Odham Continuum: The Transition from Prehistory to History.” While many changes occurred between the prehistoric Hohokam culture and the historic Akimel O’odham, extensive archaeological research provides compelling evidence for continuity in cultural practices over time, and Akimel O’odham cultural knowledge provides considerable insight into their past. Join us at Pueblo Grande Museum at 7:00 p.m. on September 10 for snacks & refreshments. Talk begins about 7:30 p.m. Call PGM at 602-495-0901 for more info. https://azarchsoc.wildapricot.org/Phoenix

Lecture Opportunity, Durango CO
Sponsored by the San Juan Basin Archaeological Society and the Fort Lewis College Anthropology Department, Dr. Linda Carnes-McNaughton will present “Blackbeard’s Sunken Prize: Excavation and Analysis of the Pirate’s Flagship, Queen Anne’s Revenge” at the Fort Lewis College Ballroom in Durango on Saturday, September 14. Tickets are on sale at the Durango Welcome Center or online at durangoconcerts.com for $10 plus a $3 convenience fee; they will be $15 at the door. The event starts at 6:30 p.m. with a reception, and the presentation begins at 7:00 p.m. http://www.sjbas.org

Lecture Opportunity, Santa Fe NM
The Santa Fe Archaeological Society (SFAS) is pleased to announce a presentation regarding the archaeology at El Rancho de las Golondrinas, Santa Fe’s living history museum, by Daniel Goodman, the Museum Director. The presentation will start at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday, September 17, 2019 at Pecos Trail Café (back room), 2239 Old Pecos Trail.

We’re happy to help get the word out, but we’re not mind readers! Please submit news, book announcements, and events at this link for consideration: https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/submit-to-sat/

Questions? sat-editor@archaeologysouthwest.org