A city committee of archaeologists has recommended that Santa Fe leaders avoid building a new civic center on a downtown site because of concerns that construction could ruin an undisturbed Indian village buried there.
The group's recommendation Thursday follows the same recommendation from Museum of New Mexico archaeologists this week, who, during excavations last fall, found what appears to be a relatively undisturbed village dating to between A.D. 1350 and 1400. The settlement, possibly a Tewa village, is concentrated in the area around the Sweeney Convention Center, City Hall and federal buildings across the street to the north.
This: One idea floated during Thursday's meeting was to build a section of the civic center that keeps intact any unearthed pueblo village remnants in a public viewing area -- might be kind of a neat idea, though who knows if it's architecturally feasible or not. One would think a convention center with a set of preserved ancient buildings displayed within would be a big draw.
Also from Albuquerque. . . Groups sue over Paseo extension
Work hasn't started on pushing Paseo del Norte through Petroglyph National Monument, and a lawsuit seeks to keep it that way.
A coalition of environmentalists, activists and archaeologists filed a lawsuit against the city of Albuquerque, Mayor Martin Chavez, the City Council and the city Department of Municipal Development seeking to halt all work on the controversial project.
It is the latest skirmish in a battle extending over years, pitting developers and traffic-weary West Side residents against groups seeking to preserve the 1.4-mile stretch of Petroglyph National Monument from potentially damaging effects of the commuter route.
Yes, do it Peoria weighs hiring own archaeologist
The city will consider hiring a part-time archaeologist and will explore other ways of protecting ancient Native American cultural sites turned up as development invades desert areas.
At a City Council study session Tuesday, city staff agreed to research various strategies, such as having trained volunteers watch the sites and arranging for storage of items found there.
Items could be stored with archaeologists who survey the sites, at the Arizona State Museum in Tucson or at a city-owned site.
Hot issue: Who gets access to artifacts in Alabama's rivers?
One of the hottest debates at the Alabama Legislature has nothing to do with taxes, budgets or pay raises. It's about access to the artifacts submerged in the muddy rivers throughout the state.
The battle pits divers and amateur collectors against historical groups and descendants of Alabama's earliest residents.
It's so hot that a hearing Wednesday on the issue drew about 100 people to the Statehouse_ far more than attended a hearing the same day on a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages.
This:
"No group of bureaucrats ought to have the right or authority to shackle private people," said Archie Phillips, host of an outdoors TV show in Birmingham and no relation to Steve Phillips.
George Ewert, director of the Museum of Mobile and a member of the Historical Commission's maritime advisory council, said the public wouldn't want someone with a metal detector digging up state parks to look for old coins, and the same standard should apply to state-owned waters.
seems to slam-dunk the issue if, in fact, rivers and what not are actually state property.
Good for them Italians and Iranians Join to Save Bolaghi Ancient Sites
A joint team of Italian and Iranian experts will start next week to explore the ancient cemeteries and settlements of Bolaghi gorge, behind the Sivand Dam, as part of the project to save the archeological site.
Bolaghi little valley, located 84 kilometers from the world heritage site of Pasargadae, in Fars province, has once been, according to some experts, home to the King Road. The Road is considered the major ancient road of Iran which connected Pasargadae to Persepolis and Susa, and includes some remains as old as the time that human beings were cave dwellers, to the prehistoric era, up to the Islamic times.
Update on Mexican pyramid sub-atomic physics project Cosmic Rays to Solve Ancient Mexican Mystery
Sub-atomic particles created by cosmic rays from space are to be used to probe a giant Mexican pyramid and solve one of the world’s greatest archaeological mysteries.
Investigators are to install detectors beneath the Pyramid of the Sun that look for muons – charged particles generated when cosmic rays hit the atmosphere which continuously shower the Earth.
They hope the rate at which muons pass through the pyramid will reveal any hidden burial chambers inside.
Archeologists discover St Paul´s tomb
Vatican archeologists believe that they have identified the tomb in Rome´s St Paul Outside the Walls basilica, following the discovery of a stone coffin during excavations carried out over the past three years.
Catholic World News reports that a sarcophagus - or stone coffin - which may contain the remains of St Paul has been identified in the basilica, according to Giorgio Filippi, a archeology specialist with the Vatican Museums.
"The tomb that we discovered is the one that the popes and the Emperor Theodosius (379- 395) saved and presented to the whole world as being the tomb of the apostle," Filippi reports.
More later.
We promise this time.