Preservation Archaeology Today

Preservation Archaeology Today (PAT) is a free, weekly e-mail news digest. In addition to sharing regional archaeology news, events, opportunities, and publications, PAT connects readers with news and commentary on U.S. public lands policy, global heritage protection and preservation, and the peopling of the North and South American continents. Review our submission guidelines here.

If you have news, announcements, or events, let us know.

Banner image: Paul Vanderveen

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Protecting the Chaco Protection Zone

Hi Friends, As promised, here’s the video/audio (opens at YouTube) of Paul Reed’s recent interview with Four Corners KSJE host Scott Michlin, in which my friend and colleague fiercely defends the 10-mile protection zone around Chaco Culture National Historical Park. The zone was created throu...

Chaco Zone in Jeopardy, Again

Hi Folks, Paul Reed here, filling in for Steve this week. One of our most beloved places—Chaco Culture National Historical Park—is once again threatened. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is moving quickly revoke the mineral withdrawal in the 10-mile zone of protection around Chaco Park....

Precontact Yup’ik Place Badly Impacted by Typhoon Halong

Dear Friends, I write to you aboard a flight to my beloved hometown, Chicago. I’m headed back to the Field Museum, where I worked from 1997 to 2006, to engage in discussions with their new curator of North American archaeology about collaborating on a field- and collections-based project foc...

BREAKING: Interior Plans to Cut More Than 2,000 Jobs

Dear Friends, With heavy hearts and our thoughts going out to our many friends and colleagues in service at Interior, we are saddened and frustrated to bring you today’s headline article on looming cuts at the department. The news broke yesterday, and this is a developing story, still in the co...

Archaeologist Receives MacArthur Genius Grant

Dear Friends, Last week, we welcomed friends and colleagues to the Corona Room at our Bates Mansion headquarters in downtown Tucson not once, but twice! The first was Tuesday, October 7, when preservation archaeologist Paul Reed presented “A Very Special Landscape: Trails and the Lava Fields...

National Parks and Public Lands in Turmoil

Good morning, Friends, Here is your Preservation Archaeology news of the week. Please send us news stories; interviews, podcasts, publications, and jobs; notices of upcoming events and webinars; info about forthcoming tours and workshops; and anything else you’d like to share with this group. T...

Continuing Coverage & Commentary: Imminent Threats to Public Lands, Parks, and History

Dear Friends, Another week, another road trip or two. Honestly, I’m still getting used to the post-Labor Day change in cadence here in Tucson. The extreme heat and the lack of students and snow birds in town really do mean that life is slower in summer. This past weekend, in order to make ti...

Celebrate Public Lands Day This Weekend

Dear Friends, This week, I bring greetings from northern New Mexico! Yesterday, I drove my favorite blue highways through southeastern Arizona and west-central New Mexico, to ultimately arrive in Albuquerque and then Santa Fe for a couple days’ work with the Department of Cultural Affairs. O...

Tribal Leaders Push for Chaco Protections

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....

Continuing Coverage: Smithsonian’s Initial Response

Dear Friends, This past weekend, I drove to Cortez, Colorado, to attend a beautiful celebration of Dr. William (Bill) Lipe’s life. Bill passed away on April 9, 2025, about a month shy of his 90th birthday. He lived a remarkably full life, as a person and an archaeologist. The event took plac...

Tucson’s Big Block Party Was a Big Success

Dear Friends, On Saturday, August 23, thousands of people gathered in downtown Tucson to celebrate Tucson’s 250th anniversary. The air was hot and the mood was festive. Vendors and exhibitors in and around the Presidio San Agustín del Tucsón showcased the myriad cultures, religions, nationali...

Erasing History at US Museums and Parks

Dear Friends, The assault continues. On August 12, the White House announced an unprecedented review of exhibitions at the Smithsonian Institution’s 21 museums. Political appointees and administration loyalists—many of whom have little to no museum experience, much less expertise in the sc...

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