Dear Friends,
I hope you are having a wonderful summer! Here at Archaeology Southwest things have been quiet but productive.
Preservation archaeologists Karen Schollmeyer and Allen Denoyer are in Silver City, New Mexico, leading our field school. The students are continuing to catalog and analyze artifacts excavated decades ago by the NAN Ranch Archaeological Field School. They are also conducing experimental archaeology and learning how to do pedestrian survey to find and record archaeological sites. As you may have seen on our social media feeds, they recently enjoyed field trips to cultural wonders in northwestern New Mexico, including Acoma Pueblo, Zuni Pueblo, and Chaco Canyon. (And their blog posts keep rolling in…check those out here.)
Director of Outreach Sara Anderson is gearing up to produce another amazing Archaeology Café series, hosted this year at our very own Historic Bates Mansion headquarters in downtown Tucson. Due to popular demand, the lectures will again be broadcast live via Zoom.
VP of Collaboration & Preservation John Welch is out of town, as well, teaching a summer course at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he has been on the faculty for almost two decades. PAT editor and VP of Communications Kate Sarther is busy preparing the 2024 annual report and working on the next issue of Archaeology Southwest Magazine on last year’s Café theme, Dogs (shout-out to patient guest editor R. E. Burrillo and patient contributors who may be reading this!), both of which will be available in the coming months.
Late last month, we posted our second Preservation Archaeology blog update from our Tribal Working Group (TWG). Coordinated by Director of Tribal Collaboration Sky Begay (Diné, Mandan and Hidatsa), the post includes contributions from Lyle Balenquah (Hopi), Garrett Briggs (Southern Ute), Wade Campbell (Diné), VP of Research Jeff Clark, cyberSW Native American fellow Caitlynn Mayhew (Diné), and Ritchie Sahneyah (Hopi). All reflect on the TWG’s efforts over the last three years, which have been nothing short of extraordinary—thoughtful, caring, insightful people sharing their time, energy, and knowledge with cyberSW Manager Josh Watts and others to make a research database even more useful and accessible to all. I encourage you to read their essay, and I know you will understand how vital the TWG is for achieving our mission.
We’ll be back in two weeks. Until then, take care!
Steve Nash
President & CEO, Archaeology Southwest
Banner image: Abo Mission and Kiva, courtesy of the National Park Service
P.S. from Kate: Remember to send us notice of upcoming events and webinars, tours and workshops, and anything else you’d like to share with the Friends. Thanks!
Censorship at NPS Gift Shops?
[Officials] have directed staff at national parks to review all items in gift shops for anti-American content, according to an internal directive reviewed by The Washington Post. The move is part of the administration’s wider campaign to scrub federal institutions of “corrosive ideology” recognizing historical racism and sexism.
The directive instructs park staff to report by Friday any retail items that have content that “inappropriately disparages Americans past or living” or that includes “matters unrelated to the beauty, abundance or grandeur” of a natural feature in its description. Jake Spring, Hannah Natanson, and Anusha Mathur for the Washington Post | Read more »
Interview and Commentary: “The National Parks Are Not OK”
Stories of struggle flow unceasingly from our public lands—here, a senior botanist pulled from invasive species removal to check campgrounds for unattended fires; there, a trail crew fired, leaving backcountry areas inaccessible after timber blowdowns. Elsewhere, fire crews are bracing for destructive wildland blazes without the necessary backup from extra personnel certified to help. … And yet, on the surface, many national parks and even Forest Service campgrounds appear to be managing business as usual. …
“But there are two halves to the National Park Service mission. One half is preserving the resources for future generations, and they are taking away the emphasis on preserving the resources.” Christine Peterson with Jeff Mow in High Country News | Read more »
Fire Mitigation Protects Archaeology at Salinas Pueblo Missions
El Malpais National Monument fire management staff, Bandelier National Monument fire management crewmembers, and Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument staff, completed a 9.5-acre thinning project within the Quarai Unit at Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument in early June 2025.
The project, known as the Quarai Museum Defensible Space Thinning Project, reduced potential wildfire risk to historic and archeological resources and park infrastructure. The project also reduced wildfire risk to visitors and park staff near the park’s visitor center complex, which also houses some of the park’s irreplaceable museum collection. … This project was made possible by funds available through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. National Park Service | Read more »
Here’s a free PDF download of the Archaeology Southwest Magazine issue on the Salinas Pueblo Missions guest edited by Dr. Katherine Spielmann »
Show Your Support for the Chaco Protection Zone
The Department of the Interior is threatening to consider using protected public lands for energy development. Tell Secretary Burgum this cannot be justified as an energy strategy, when millions of acres of surrounding public land are already open to oil and gas development. National Parks Conservation Association | Take action »
Continuing Coverage: Oak Flat
When the U.S. Supreme Court turned down a request by the grassroots group Apache Stronghold in May to hear a long-standing lawsuit over a planned copper mine in Arizona, the refusal—and the blistering rebuttal by Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch—reverberated throughout the faith community. …
Social archaeologist John Welch believes the reluctance to acknowledge and accord Native religions the same protections given to other religions can be explained like this: “We as a country, as a nation, the people of the United States of America, occupy Native nations’ lands, effectively without permission. … Because of that, it’s not possible for us to do anything except to continue to find ways, implicitly and explicitly, to deny that prior ownership,” he said. Debra Utacia Krol for the Arizona Republic | Read more »
Experimental Archaeology and Maritime Migration
Some 30,000 years ago, humans sailed 140 miles from Taiwan to Japan’s southern Yonaguni Island, navigating the Pacific Ocean’s powerful Kuroshio currents. But how exactly did they manage to complete such a difficult voyage?
To answer that question, a team of Japanese researchers recreated the trip. In 2019, they made a 25-foot-long canoe from a cedar log and launched it from eastern Taiwan. Navigating only by the wind, sun and stars, they made it to Yonaguni in 45 hours. Sonja Anderson for Smithsonian Magazine | Read more »
What Archaeological Research Gets Picked Up by the Media?
Mass media represents a primary avenue for research to reach diverse publics, but relatively few peer-reviewed scientific papers become popular science news. Numerous gatekeepers determine which research manuscripts complete this dissemination pathway, and the resulting media landscape influences public understandings of scientific fields. Here, we compare scientific and popular publishing of archaeology about different geographic regions. Bridget Alex, Jenny Ji, and Rowan Flad in Science Advances | Read more »
Gateway to Bears Ears Is Now a Certified Dark Sky Community
The small town of Bluff in southeastern Utah—near several national monuments including Bears Ears—has been granted a new international dark sky designation. … To achieve the designation, the Bears Ears Partnership, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the natural and cultural landscapes of Bears Ears National Monument, agreed to provide at least two dark-sky educational programs per year, as well as conduct sky quality monitoring on a seasonal basis. Salt Lake Magazine | Read more »
Navajo Rug Honors Irish Friendship
During the gathering, the delegation presented a traditional cultural gift—a Navajo rug by weaver Florence Riggs—honoring a bond that spans centuries and oceans, linking the Choctaw Nation, the Irish people, and the Navajo and Hopi nations. … [Cassandra Begay, deputy director and co-founder of the Navajo & Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief Fund] described the rug as a tribute to the Choctaw Nation’s 1847 gift to Ireland during the Great Hunger—and to the Irish people who, more than 170 years later, responded with generosity during the COVID-19 pandemic to support Native communities in crisis. Krista Allen in the Navajo Times | Read more »
Southwest Center Welcomes Dr. Jennifer Jenkins as Director
Jenkins holds advanced degrees in American literatures and cultures and Information Science. Her work focuses on the archival and community-based histories, literatures and visual cultures of the Southwest and Mexico, with special emphasis on the cinema history of the region. Southwest Center (University of Arizona) | Meet Dr. Jenkins »
Position Announcement: Director, Center for Archaeological Research (San Antonio TX)
We have an opening for a midcareer or higher CRM archaeologist who would like to expand their impact to become the Director of the Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). CAR has been training archaeologists and students in a university setting for over 50 years and is a leader in conducting research and compliance work in central and south Texas. The director has substantial latitude to shape the future of CAR with opportunities to conduct fieldwork in the region and teach if desired. There is substantial potential for research into the archaeology of hunters and gatherers as well as Spanish Colonial archaeology. There is excellent support for radiocarbon dating, stable isotope work, graphics, travel, work with curated collections, and comparative faunal material, etc. CAR is part of the Department of Anthropology and its graduate program with over 75 MA and PhD students with a focus on environmental anthropology. The ideal candidate will have strong organizational and leadership skills as well as CRM, research, and administrative experience and an M.A. or Ph.D. We are seeking to fill this position rapidly. The University of Texas at Antonio | Learn more »
July In-Person Lectures (Santa Fe NM)
July 21, Thatcher Seltzer-Rogers, Mimbres Classic Pottery in Transition; July 28, John Haworth, Triumphs & Challenges of Contemporary Native Art. 6:00 p.m., Hotel Santa Fe, $20 at the door. Southwest Seminars | Learn more »
REMINDER: July 22 In-Person (Phoenix AZ) and Online Event: Pre-contact Agave Domesticates: Living Legacy Plants in Arizona’s Landscape
With Wendy Hodgson. Learn about agaves and human connections to the plants in Arizona and at the Agua Fria National Monument. 11:00 a.m. MST, BLM Phoenix District Office, 2020 E. Bell Rd. Bureau of Land Management | Learn more and register for online presentation (free) »
Aug. 7–10 In-Person Event (Blanding vicinity, UT): 2025 Pecos Archaeological Conference
The 2025 Pecos Conference will be held at the same location as in 2014: the Blue Mountain Boy Scout Camp on the Manti-La Sal National Forest, about 12 road miles north of Blanding, Utah! This year’s conference will start off with an opening social/registration packet pickup at Edge of the Cedars Museum State Park in Blanding. Pecos Conference | Learn more and register »
Aug. 7 Online Event: Nuwu Astronomy Views
With Autumn Gillard. This presentation will explore the connection to the night sky as a Southern Paiute, including the importance of preserving the night sky. Autumn will discuss southern Paiute astronomy views and the recognition of how the sky can also be subjected to Indigenous cultural appropriation. Crow Canyon Archaeological Center | Learn more and register (free) »
Aug. 9 In-Person Event (Jemez Springs NM): Pueblo Independence Day Celebration
The celebration begins early Sunday morning with a 13-mile run from the plaza in Jemez Pueblo up Highway 4 to Jemez Historic Site. The run symbolizes the efforts made by runners over three centuries prior to bring word of the revolt to far-flung pueblos. Beginning at 10 a.m., visitors will have the opportunity to see traditional Pueblo-style dances and shop arts, crafts, and food vendors. Additionally, visitors can tour Gisewa Pueblo, an ancestral site of the present-day Jemez Pueblo, and San José de los Jémez Mission. Jemez Historic Site | Learn more »
Aug. 21 Online Event: Copper Networks in the U.S. Southwest, Mexican Northwest, and Mesoamerica
With Dr. José Luis Punzo Díaz. He will show how metal artifacts, especially copper, emerged in western Mesoamerica 1,000+ years ago and quickly got into exchange networks extending thousands of kilometers from there to the southwestern US. Third Thursday Food for Thought series (Old Pueblo Archaeology Center) | Learn more and register (free) »