Dear Friends,
Some of you long-timers already know this history, so bear with me for the folks who don’t.
This weekly newsletter, Preservation Archaeology Today, has been around in some form or another for more than two decades.
Its earliest iteration was founded by archaeologist Brian W. Kenny, who compiled and disseminated it in the early years of the internet. The baton was passed to the Center for Desert Archaeology, which carried on the newsletter’s mission of sharing Southwest Archaeology news, events, job openings, and publication announcements under the name Southwest Archaeology Today.
Some years after the Center changed its name to Archaeology Southwest, this weekly compilation became Preservation Archaeology Today to better fit its expanding scope.
In March 2020, when the world went upside down, Bill Doelle started sharing weekly personal notes at the top of this newsletter to help us keep our spirits up. So many, myself included, felt connected through Bill’s notes and appreciated his insights on so many topics—including his reports on “when hawks attack!”
When I came on board early in 2024, now-VP of Communications & Outreach Kate Sarther offered me a range of options about how to communicate with you, our supporters and friends. I chose to continue sharing weekly notes for the time being. And it has been my honor and a privilege to be welcomed into your inboxes every week.
Going forward, I’ll be here to chat more intermittently, as I transition to sharing my musings every month in our other newsletter, This Month at Archaeology Southwest. What’s that, you ask?
Why yes, we have another e-newsletter that focuses solely on Archaeology Southwest’s news and activities! You don’t have to be a member of/donor to Archaeology Southwest to receive that, so please sign up today. We can continue our conversations, which I so look forward to, just on a slightly longer timeline.
This weekly e-news, Preservation Archaeology Today, won’t otherwise change at all—it will continue to serve and be powered by you, our Preservation Archaeology community. We’d appreciate your financial support to help underwrite this weekly newsletter, if you are able to give at this time. Keep sending us everything you’d like to share, and we’ll keep pinging into your inboxes most every week.
Until next time,
Steve Nash
President & CEO, Archaeology Southwest
Tribal Leaders Push for Chaco Protections
Suspended thousands of feet in the New Mexico skies Sunday, Pojoaque Pueblo Gov. Jenelle Roybal could see the indelible impressions of Pueblo Bonito nestled under Fajada Butte. … [R]ecent federal efforts to revoke a 10-mile buffer zone for oil and gas development around Chaco Culture National Historical Park threaten the sacred site for New Mexico Pueblos, the Hopi Indians of Arizona and the Navajo Nation. …
The flight, provided by volunteer pilots with the conservation organization LightHawk and the Acoma-based Native Land Institute, kicks off a week of advocacy during which at least 10 Pueblo governors are headed to Washington D.C. to meet with U.S. Congress members to press for further protections as the Trump administration vows to “unleash” oil and gas development. Danielle Prokop for Source NM | Read more »
This week, leadership from Tesuque, Santo Domingo, Santa Ana, Cochiti, Santa Clara, Acoma and Picuris pueblos will be visiting Washington to speak with various members of Congress and advocate for keeping the 10-mile buffer zone in place. Alaina Mencinger for the Santa Fe New Mexican | Read more »
Footage at KOB4 | Watch now »
Interior Moves to Rescind Public Lands Rule
The Department of the Interior is proposing to rescind the Bureau of Land Management’s Public Lands Rule, aligning with Secretary Doug Burgum’s commitment to restoring balance in federal land management by prioritizing multiple-use access, empowering local decision-making and supporting responsible energy development, ranching, grazing, timber production and recreation across America’s public lands.
The 2024 Public Lands Rule, formally known as the Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, made conservation (i.e., no use) an official use of public lands, putting it on the same level as BLM’s other uses of public lands. The previous administration had treated conservation as “no use,” meaning the land was to be left idle rather than authorizing legitimate uses of the land like grazing, energy development or recreation. However, stakeholders, including the energy industry, recreational users and agricultural producers, across the country expressed deep concern that the rule created regulatory uncertainty, reduced access to lands, and undermined the long-standing multiple-use mandate of the BLM as established by Congress. Now, the BLM proposes to rescind this rule in full. US Department of the Interior (press release) | Read more »
Counter-Statement: “The Public Lands Rule provides land managers with clear, commonsense tools to protect what Americans cherish most about public lands—clean water, abundant wildlife, cultural resources, recreation, and natural beauty. Its repeal dismisses science-based management and undermines the values of millions who depend on these lands for more than just extraction.
“Perhaps most troubling is the claim that conservation is not a valid multiple use under BLM’s guiding laws. That is blatantly false. The law explicitly requires that public lands be managed for a range of uses, including watersheds, wildlife habitat, fisheries, and scenic and recreational values—not just for development. Conservation is not a fringe idea; it’s a legal obligation. …” Jocelyn Torres, Chief Conservation Officer, Conservation Lands Foundation | Read more »
Commentary: In the end, the rule is essentially a reminder to the BLM that their job is not just to bend over for corporate and extractive interests, but to actually care for the land that belongs to all Americans. It is simply reinforcing the multiple-use charge Congress set forth when it passed the Federal Lands Policy and Management Act back in 1976.
But Burgum’s and the Trump administration’s entire raison d’etre a la public land policy is to bend over for corporate and extractive interests, so I guess they’ve got to throw this rule out along with all of the other environmental protections. Jonathan P. Thompson at The Land Desk | Read more »
In Memoriam: Bill Deaver
A celebration of the life of Bill Deaver (1957–2025) will be held in Tucson on September 28. Bill passed away on August 25, 2025, after fighting cancer for many years. Bill’s friendship, his knowledge, and certainly his wit will be missed in the SW archaeology community. RSVPs requested. Learn more »
ASU Archaeology Students Recognized at Pecos Conference
Two graduate students from Arizona State University’s School of Human Evolution and Social Change received recognition for their outstanding research at the Pecos Conference last month in Utah. The Cordell/Powers Prize competition celebrates the legacies of pioneering archaeologists Linda S. Cordell and Robert P. Powers. …
Emily Thurman, a graduate student pursuing a PhD in anthropology, was awarded the Cordell Prize for her research presentation this summer. … Her presentation, titled “Cross-Continental Connections: Spondylus Harvest and Use in the Ancestral O’odham Region,” looked at how the marine shell Spondylus was harvested, traded and used across the U.S. Southwest, Mexican Northwest and South America.
Babalola Jacobs, a graduate student studying anthropology, also received an honorable mention for the Cordell Prize. His presentation, titled “Farmer Power? Contrasting Lithic Economies at S’edav Va’aki and the Emergence of Extractive Institutions,” examined how everyday tool use and production reflect broader political and economic shifts in Arizona, and whether farming communities may have resisted the rise of more extractive political institutions. Arizona State University News | Read more »
Call for Papers: Archaeology of the Middle Rio Grande
NMAC is hosting its annual meeting/conference at the UNM Hibben Center on November 8. This year’s theme is Archaeology of the Middle Rio Grande. This is a reminder of the conference and a call for abstract submissions for presenters. We have several invited speakers already lined up and are looking to fill out the schedule. Presentations are currently scheduled to be 20-minute talks. For prospective speakers, please submit an abstract of up to 125 words by September 30 to hseltzer@chonicleheritage.com. More information about the annual meeting’s registration will be forthcoming. New Mexico Archaeological Council | Learn more about NMAC »
Tucson’s Iconic Anita Street Market Receives Preservation Grant
When Gracie Soto became the sole owner of Anita Street Market during the COVID-19 pandemic, she had no idea what it would take for the longtime family business to stay afloat. “She’s been through a lot,” said Soto, who regularly refers to the store as “she” and “her” in conversations. “I feel like this little tiendita has a soul.”
Now, Anita Street Market is now on the first ever list of Endangered Latinx Landmarks, an initiative by the Latinos in Heritage Conservation to highlight Hispanic or Latin historic sites that are at risk of demolition, gentrification or the ramifications of climate change.
The market just north of Downtown was one of 13 sites throughout 10 different states to be selected. In August, the corner market got a $50,000 grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation for upgrades to the store’s exterior. Mia Kortright for the Tucson Sentinel | Read more »
“Eating Bitterness” and the Legacy of Chinese Railroad Workers
Against a vast wash of sagebrush and volcanic rock in Utah’s West Desert, Chris Merritt, an archaeologist with the State Historic Preservation Office, took me on a tour of the old Transcontinental Railroad’s route through Promontory Summit, from Corinne to Umbria Junction. The line was replaced during World War II by the Lucin Cutoff, which now runs straight through the Great Salt Lake, shearing off some of the original line’s distance and allowing its iron tracks to be recycled for war munitions. That change turned all of the Promontory Summit settlements into ghost towns.
I was visiting those sites throughout 2018 and 2019 as research for a poem commissioned by The Spike 150 committee to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the Transcontinental’s completion in 1869. … As I thumbed a rice bowl shard, a phrase returned to me, one common to Chinese and Chinese Americans households: Chi ku—“to eat bitterness”—a stark reminder that we all must suffer life’s injuries without complaint. Paisley Rekdal in High Country News | Read more »
APPLY NOW! Executive Director (AZ), Arizona Deserts National Park Partnership
From Bill Doelle (Archaeology Southwest President Emeritus), who serves as co-chair of the Partnership, which was founded in 2021:
“Arizona Deserts National Park Partnership (ADNPP) is seeking a full-time Executive Director. ADNPP partners with a dozen National Park Units that are located in central and southern Arizona within the Gila River Watershed. It’s a great opportunity to help support these wonderful parks—especially the smaller, lesser-known ones.” ADNPP | Learn more »
September In-Person Lectures (Santa Fe NM)
Sept. 22, Alan Osborne, After Coronado & Before Oñate: The ‘Rediscovery’ of New Mexico; Sept. 29, Wayne Ranney, A Virtual River Trip in Grand Canyon. $20 at the door. Southwest Seminars | Learn more »
REMINDER: Sept. 17 In-Person Event (Tucson AZ): Whiskey is for Drinking, Water is for Fighting Over
With Michael M. Brescia. Drawing from his scholarly research and professional experiences as an expert witness, ASM ethnohistorian Michael Brescia will share a few vignettes as a way to understand the living legacies of old Spanish colonial property law and water rights in the American West. Whiskey del Bac, 2106 N Forbes Blvd #103, 6:00–8:00 p.m. Arizona State Museum | Learn more »
Sept. 18 Online Event: Geographical and Political Implications of Indigenous Visualities in National Parks
With Cassidy Schoenfelder. This talk centers around Indigenous visual sovereignty in national parks. Schoenfelder approaches this work by looking closely at land management cooperative agreements (memorandums of understanding, co-management, and co-stewardship) between tribal governments and federal agencies like the National Park Service. Forms of visual representation have critical geographical and political implications for land management, including legal determinations and frameworks for how the land is cared for and by whom. A citizen of Oglála Sioux Tribe and of Irish, German, and French Canadian-descent, Cassidy is an art historian and geography PhD candidate at the University of Arizona. Crow Canyon Archaeological Center | Learn more and register (free) »
REMINDER: Sept. 18 Online Event: A Cat’s Tale: How Domestic Cats Came to the Americas
With Martin Welker. The domestic cat is one of the least studied domesticated animals. Variably portrayed as cute and fuzzy pets, mousers, or contributor to smaller species’ extinctions, cats were among the earliest domesticated animals to reach the Americas. Third Thursday Food for Thought series (Old Pueblo Archaeology Center) | Learn more and register (free) »
Sept. 27 Online Event: One Sherd at a Time: Seriating Ceramics from Paloparado
With Hunter Claypatch. The archaeological site of Paloparado in present-day Santa Cruz County, Arizona was excavated in the 1950s by Amerind’s Charles Di Peso. Although fundamental for reconstructing the occupational history of the Arizona-Sonora borderlands, the excavation was conducted with little prior knowledge of regional ceramics or culture chronology. Dr. Claypatch, a ceramicist who has worked extensively with pre-Colonial pottery on both sides of the U.S. and Mexico border, applied ceramic insights that were unknown in the 1950s to conduct a systematic reanalysis of Paloparado’s pottery. Coupled with previously unpublished site data, his research reconstructs the site’s occupational history and demonstrates the presence of largely unmixed pre-1150 CE archaeological deposits in Paloparado’s houses. Amerind Museum | Learn more and register (free) »
Oct. 4 In-Person Workshop (Tucson AZ): Arrowhead-Making and Flintknapping
With Sam Greenleaf. 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 early peoples made essential tools, not to make artwork for sale. Reservation and $45 payment (which includes all materials and equipment) required by 5:00 p.m. Thursday, October 2. 9:00 a.m. to noon, 2201 W. 44th St., Tucson. Old Pueblo Archaeology Center | Learn more »
Oct. 7 Online and In-Person Event (Tucson AZ): A Very Special Landscape: Trails and the Lava Fields of El Malpais National Monument
With Paul F. Reed. The cultural landscape of El Malpais National Monument holds great significance for Indigenous groups of the Southwest. Within this amazing landscape lie many kilometers of specially constructed trails that allow access to remote parts of the area. In this presentation, Paul will paint a picture of this phenomenal geography and the trails that connect it. Archaeology Café (Archaeology Southwest) | Learn more and register for online » | Learn more about attending in person »
Video Channel Roundup
Here’s a fun explainer on site formation processes from our friend Jason Ur, an archaeologist who works in Southwest Asia. Jason shows us how tells (very large mounds) form. It’s part of a general education series he created called “Can We Know Our Past?” Watch now »
Catch up on some presentations that we might’ve missed, too! A simple click on any of the links to the YouTube channels of our Partners and Friends should catch you up. (And please do let us know if your channel isn’t in this list but should be.)
Albuquerque Archaeological Society
American Rock Art Research Association
Amerind Foundation
Archaeology Southwest
Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society
Arizona State Museum
Aztlander
Bears Ears Partnership
Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA
Crow Canyon Archaeological Center
Grand Canyon Trust
Grand Staircase Escalante Partners
Mesa Prieta Petroglyphs Project
Mission Garden (Friends of Tucson’s Birthplace)
Museum of Indian Arts and Cultures
Museum of Northern Arizona
Old Pueblo Archaeology Center
Pacific Coast Archaeological Society
San Diego Archaeological Center
School for Advanced Research
SHUMLA Archaeological Center
Southwest Seminars
The Archaeological Conservancy
Verde Valley Archaeology Center
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!