Southwest Archaeology Today for Jan. 14, 2008

Southwestern Archaeology Making the News – A Service of the Center for Desert Archaeology

– Repatriation of Human Remains Still a Problem at Berkeley Museum: The remains of about 12,000 Native Americans lie in drawers and cabinets in the gym’s basement. Most of them were dug up by university archaeologists and have been stored under the pool since at least the early 1960s. Now the bones are at the center of a dispute between Native Americans, who want to rebury their ancestors, and university officials, who have been slow to hand over the remains. Some tribal leaders contend that the university is violating a federal law that governs the repatriation of artifacts and remains.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/g1li – Los Angeles Times (Site may require registration)

– National Trust for Historic Preservation Accepting Nominations for 2008 National Preservation Honor Awards: he National Trust for Historic Preservation is now accepting nominations for the 2008 National Preservation Honor Awards. The coveted annual awards recognize singular success in preserving, rehabilitating, restoring or interpreting America’s architectural and cultural heritage. Winners will be announced at the 2008 National Preservation Conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which will run from October 21-25.
http://www.centredaily.com/business/story/326886.html

– Arizona State University Asks Scottsdale to Delay Historic Designation on Kerr Cultural Center: Scottsdale’s Historic Preservation Commission on Thursday reluctantly gave in to Arizona State University’s request to postpone designating the Kerr Cultural Center as an historic property. On her death in 1977, composer and arts patron Louise Lincoln Kerr bequeathed her home and performance hall at 6110 N. Scottsdale Road to the university so famed concerts and programs could continue there. ASU had asked that the proposal be withdrawn but came up with a compromise at the 11th hour. If the city withheld an historic zoning overlay, the university would draw up an easement, a legal document that preservation experts said would give the buildings greater protection.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0110kerr0111.html

– Reminder: Southwest Symmposium Starts Jan 17. The 2008 symposium will begin with a session that honors our 20th anniversary. In this opening session, the topics from the first Southwest Symposium (foraging, mobility and migration, social power and interaction, the protohistoric, and the history of Southwest archaeology) will be revisited by leading scholars in the field. They will look back over the last two decades of our accomplishments and forward toward new directions. The relationships among people and between people and their landscapes, both social and physical, dominate Southwest archaeological research. Archaeologists of varied theoretical perspectives share an interest in understanding human movement, landscape change, and the connections among groups at local and pan-Southwestern scales. These topics are the focus of the three additional sessions of this year’s Southwest Symposium.
http://www.public.asu.edu/~ndwilso1/