Southwest Archaeology Today

Southwest Archaeology Today (SAT) is a free e-mail news digest providing subscribers with information about current news and events in Southwest archaeology. Published weekly, SAT is maintained as a community networking tool for professional and avocational archaeologists in the American Southwest and Mexican Northwest. Review our submission guidelines here.

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

How to Honor Sacred Native American Sites: A Guide for Visitors

How to Honor Sacred Native American Sites: A Guide for Visitors Lyle Balenquah is a Hopi archeologist and river guide who spends a lot of time in Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument. Compared to many other national parks and monuments, Bears Ears is relatively unregulated, with few rangers to pro...

The Promise of Existing Collections

Bill Lipe: The Promise of Existing Collections The value (and excitement) of archaeological field work doesn’t end when the pits are backfilled, the artifacts are analyzed, and the reports written. At least that’s true if the collections are safely curated in a well-run museum. Specimens collec...

Chaco Canyon's Agricultural Potential Reappraised

New Appraisal of Agricultural Potential in Chaco Canyon Discussions of agricultural feasibility and its impact on local population levels at Chaco Canyon have been heavily influenced by studies of soil salinity. A number of researchers have argued that salinized soils severely limited local agricul...

Taking Stock at the 112th Anniversary of the Antiquities Act

Commentary: Taking Stock at the 112th Anniversary of the Antiquities Act Today, the nation benefits from roughly 160 national monuments—from Alaska and Hawaii to Maine and Florida—designated through the Antiquities Act. They are places where visitors explore, play, learn, and connect and serve ...

Update on Threats to Molen Reef

Threats to Utah’s Molen Reef In the past, Orr, Bailey, and other rock art enthusiasts have been able to persuade the BLM to defer leasing while they conduct field work to document petroglyphs, habitation sites, and geoglyphs that might be impacted by development. But in 2018, guided by the Trump ...

More News and Views on New Bill to Protect Greater Chaco

More News and Views on New Bill to Protect Greater Chaco The fight to preserve Chaco Canyon cannot take decades — too much would be lost — but passing this important legislation is a step in the right direction. Remember, too, that Chaco is not just a New Mexico treasure. Like Stonehenge in Eng...

New Mexico Senators Introduce Bill to Help Protect Greater Chaco

New Mexico Senators Introduce Bill to Help Protect Greater Chaco U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M) introduced the Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act, a bill to withdraw the lands around Chaco Canyon from further development by the federal government. The bill woul...

The Uncertain Fate of Bears Ears

PBS News Hour Considers the Uncertain Fate of Bears Ears In the rugged and remote canyons of Southern Utah, scientists say they've barely scratched the surface of discoveries that can reach back millions of years, or shed light on the last 10,000 years of human history. But their work in Bears Ears...

BLM Staffers Disallowed from Attending SAAs in DC

BLM Staffers Disallowed from Attending SAAs in DC The Bureau of Land Management blocked at least 14 of its staff archaeologists and other specialists from attending a major scientific conference this year, at a time when archaeological sites have become a flashpoint in the debate over public lands ...

Shocking Reversal on Chaco-Area Drilling Case

Shocking Reversal on Chaco-Area Drilling Case Environmentalists were shocked and dismayed this week after a federal court rejected their claims against oil and gas development near Chaco Canyon, N.M., just weeks after the judge partially sided with them. Judge James Browning issued an opinion Monda...

Important News about Southwest Archaeology Today

Important News about Southwest Archaeology Today Dear Friends: Southwest Archaeology Today (SAT) is undergoing an editorial transition and will resume publication on Wednesday, May 2. From then on, SAT will be delivered to your email inbox every Wednesday morning, though the occasional delay d...

Archaeology Southwest Is off to the SAA Meetings in Washington, DC

Bears Ears in DC: Two Forums Bears Ears, the Antiquities Act, and the Status of Our National Monuments, an SAA President-Sponsored Session, takes place Thursday, April 12, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., at the 83rd Annual Meeting of the SAA in Washington, DC. (Registered attendees only.) The paneli...

Show More