Southwestern Archaeology Special Interest Group (SASIG) "Got CALICHE?" newsletter Subscription info @ Sunday June 11, 2000 ****************************************** EDITOR'S NOTE I've returned from a month of business in the UK, the European Union, and Eastern Europe. While in the UK, I had an opportunity to visit with the archaeology staff of the Finds Service of Chester Archaeology . The very next day, I returned to Chester to tour the Roman archaeology of the area. [ Go see it if you can! ] Later, I was able to compare the ruins of Chester with the Roman archaeology along the Tiber River in Roma. It is really quite interesting to see Roman cultural and material culture adaptations in two differing environments. I have extended an invitation to the Chester staff for a tour of our sites and facilities in hopes that they visit the American Southwest when traveling on business or holiday in the USA. The SWA newsletter "Got CALICHE?" is up and running again! Enjoy! PECOS CONFERENCE UPDATE Announcing the Fifth Pecos Conference Beer Brewing Contest, Mesa Verde National Park, 19 August 2000, 5:00 PM. Archeobrewers get busy! There is still time to brew a batch of that "Kidder Bitter" or "Hovenweep Helles" before the conference! As usual, organization will be minimal and fun will be maximal. Just bring your homebrew and share it with other brewers and conference participants. After dinner, trophies will be awarded for the most popular brews in the usual light/amber/dark/other categories, but this year we will also be awarding a special brewers choice award judged by the brewers themselves (sorry, you can't vote for your own brew!). If you want to enter, it's no big deal No registration forms. No entry fees. Just bring enough of your home brew to share (2-4 quarts?) and we'll get organized on Saturday afternoon at about 2:00-3:00 PM. Questions? Suggestions? Relax, have a homebrew and contact: Tim Seaman at 505.476.1277 or . OPPORTUNITY New job opportunities have been posted at: (CO) (AZ/NM) A complete list of job postings is available at . TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGY See the latest USFS "Heritage Times" at . From: Neal Ackerly Bottle Index: Dos Rios Consultants, Inc. is pleased to provide a computerized index of patent medicine labels taken from Fike (1987). This index can be searched on letter strings from bottle fragments to allow faster identification of possible product makers. This file can be accessed at and clicking on the "mines" link. At the bottom of the page, you will find a "computerized index" link containing primary bottle labels. From: Tom Baker Aerial archaeology in Armenia -- There's a small group of archaeologists in Armenia led by a Dr. Hayk Hakobyan who are determined to do aerial archaeology there. He has contacted me about it, and says that there are many archaeological sites in his country to photograph from the air, and probably a lot more to find. However, their main problem at the moment, a serious one, is that they have no aircraft. They have located a 2-seat motorized paraglider, but so far are put off by the $9000 price tag. Until they find the money to buy it somewhere, they are practicing with an unmotorized glider, which sounds like a hang glider to me. They are probably fluttering down hills under one like I used to do when I was young and foolish. Hykobian has contacted me asking for advice of any sort, which I'm happy to give of course, for whatever it's worth, but which won't do them much good without an airplane. I wonder if we can point him toward any sources of funding, so they can buy their motorglider. Got any ideas? These guys are practically paralleling my own experience in aviation: from hang gliders to home-made airplanes to factory-made ones. In fact, I suggested that they build their own airplane, but Hyak said that no one has ever done such a thing in Armenia, because such activities always resulted in a visit by the KGB. And the KGB, I take it, is an even worse version of our FAA in these matters, with the result that there is no one in Armenia who has ever built an airplane. The KGB is practically disbanded now, Hayk says, making civil aviation easier (at least until the new government creates an FAA), and the photo of a home-built plane that I sent him got some of his group excited, but he still thinks that the motor-paraglider is the way for them to go right now. The two airplanes I built myself took about three years each to make, and even though a group-built plane project would go much faster, I have to admit that the do-it-yourself route is a slow way to go when you're anxious to get into the air. I never played the grant game. Do you know any likely source of grant money that Dr. Hakobyan and his group could apply to? Best, Tom Baker, Aerial Archaeology Web site . TEXAS From: Becky Hart The Center for Big Bend Studies at Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas will hold its 7th Annual Conference on October 20 & 21, 2000. Papers will be presented relating to the diverse prehistoric, historic, and modern cultures of the borderlands region of the U.S. and Mexico with emphasis on the area encompassed by Trans-Pecos Texas and north-central Mexico. Visit or email for more details. COLORADO http://www.cortezjournal.com/1news551.htm With a stroke of his pen, President Bill Clinton placed Canyons of the Ancients National Monument on the map Friday. Besides Canyons of the Ancients, west and northwest of Cortez, he established Cascade-Siskyou National Monument in southern Oregon, the Hanford Reach National Monument in south-central Washington, and the Ironwood Forest National Monument in southern Arizona. Environmentalists admit the designation will attract more attention to the sites and could bring more pot hunters. ARIZONA From: Allen Dart -- Following are texts of letters I wrote to the governor and the Arizona Department of Agriculture, urging that department to continue its efforts to protect and preserve archaeological and historical sites on state lands. I would appreciate it if you could publicize the department's actions so that others might be willing to write to the Department of Agriculture urging it not to cut its law enforcement personnel. Thanks, Allen Dart, Executive Director Old Pueblo Archaeology Center PO Box 40577, Tucson AZ 85717-0577 (520) 798-1201 office, 798-1966 fax aldart@azstarnet.com ***** May 19, 2000 The Honorable Jane Dee Hull, Governor State of Arizona 1700 W. Washington St. Phoenix AZ 85007 Dear Governor Hull: Enclosed is a letter that I wrote today to Mr. Sheldon Jones of the Arizona Department of Agriculture, urging that department to continue its efforts to protect and preserve archaeological and historical sites on state lands. Old Pueblo Archaeology Center and all professional and avocational archaeologists in Arizona would sincerely appreciate your office's assistance in helping the Agriculture Department continue these actions. Sincerely yours, Allen Dart Executive Director Enclosure ***** May 19, 2000 Mr. Sheldon Jones Arizona Department of Agriculture 1688 W. Adams Phoenix AZ 85007 Subject: Effect of proposed departmental budget/personnel cuts on Arizona's cultural heritage Dear Mr. Jones: It has come to my attention that the Arizona Department of Agriculture is proposing to end most of its field service operations, including discontinuing having your department's law enforcement officers investigate violations of the Arizona Antiquities Act on State Trust land. As an avid supporter of efforts to preserve Arizona's fragile cultural heritage, Old Pueblo Archaeology Center respectfully urges you to reconsider this action, as it would be disastrous to our state's cultural resources. In recent years Department of Agriculture law enforcement officers have been some of Arizona's best resources for combatting not only unauthorized removal of artifacts from state-owned lands, but also for stopping pot-hunting, rock art theft, and other vandalism at ancient archaeological and historical sites. In cooperation with the hundreds of volunteers affiliated with the Arizona Site Stewards, an organization coordinated through the State Historic Preservation Office, your department's officers have consistently provided immediate response to vandalism calls from the Site Stewards. Your officers have been invaluable because without them enforcement of vandalism on state lands would have to rely on local police and sheriff's departments. In my experience it is nearly impossible to get local law enforcement officers to respond to Antiquities Act violations because they are unfamiliar with the provisions of the Arizona Antiquities Act. Most of them don't even realize that it is a crime to disturb archaeological sites on state lands. Local authorities also seem to be reluctant to respond to calls from persons who are not directly associated with the Arizona State Land Department or other relevant jurisdictional agency. And unfortunately, the Arizona State Land Department and other state agencies do not have sufficient resources to respond to calls about Antiquities Act violations. Arizona's Site Steward program was developed because local and state agencies' shortage of law enforcement personnel available for dealing with vandalism at archaeological sites made it necessary to enlist trained volunteers to help monitor these heritage sites and ensure their preservation. If your department's officers are no longer able to respond to Site Steward calls, the destruction of Arizona's heritage sites will increase rapidly, and it will be necessary to establish an education program to bring local departments up to speed on what constitutes violations and how they should be addressed. In enforcing the Arizona Antiquities Act, your department's law enforcement staff provides a valuable and needed service to the state and to the Arizona Site Steward program. Old Pueblo Archaeology Center strongly urges the Arizona Department of Agriculture to continue its field operations in this area. Sincerely yours, Allen Dart Executive Director cc: Jane Dee Hull, Governor James Garrison, State Historic Preservation Office Mary Estes, Site Steward Program Coordinator, State Historic Preservation Office Valerie Conforti, Arizona Site Steward volunteer John Madsen, Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona Kenneth Rozen, Arizona State Land Department ****************************************** Thanks for reading SWA's 'Got CALICHE?' newsletter! Archaeology, Anthropology, and History of the American Southwest and Northern Mexico (an ethnographic look at applied scientific practices in the American Southwest). Southwestern Archaeology, Inc., a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. PO Box 61203, Phoenix AZ 85082-1203. Fax 603.457.7957; E-mail: