[Aztlan] July Ancient Americas Lectures and Conferences

[michael ruggeri]

July 1-3
Institute of Archaeology 2009 Belize Archaeology Symposium
  “Ancient Maya Ritual and Religion in Belize” and “Archaeology in  
Belize: Current Research Investigations Results”
All abstracts are to be submitted via email (iaresearch57 at gmail.com)  
to the Program
Chair and must be limited to 250 words.  It should include the paper  
title, the name(s),
address(es), phone number(s) and e-mail address(es) of the paper  
presenter(s). April 30 Deadline.
Bliss Center for the Performing Arts
Belize City, Belize
http://sites.google.com/site/belizearchaeologysymposium/


Thurs., July 2, 6:45 to 9:00 PM
Smithsonian Seminar
“Oaxaca: Crossroads of a Continent”
Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley has a rich past that includes the Zapotec site  
of Monte Alban (600–800 A.D.) with its pyramids, platforms, temples,  
and ball court. The royal tomb excavated there, built by the later  
Mixtec (1200–1300 A.D.), is one of the richest archaeological finds  
ever made in North America.
Scholar George Scheper surveys the ancient to colonial periods in the  
Oaxaca Valley, beginning with the domestication of maize. The  
Zapotecs, builders of the Monte Alban site, also built the religious  
center of Mitla, noted for its beautiful mosaic stonework. From the  
13th and 14th centuries A.D., the Mixtec codices—the most lavishly  
illustrated history books of any pre- Columbian people—read like early  
examples of graphic novels.
6:45 to 8 p.m. The Zapotecs and the Mixtecs
The indigenous groups, builders of fascinating monuments and  
artifacts; the Zapotecs’ Monte Alban and carved stone stelae with  
enigmatic imagery; and the lavish Mixtec tomb and codices about their  
kings and queens.
8 to 9 p.m. Oaxaca, Spanish Colonial Capital, and Contemporary Arts  
Center
Now a World Heritage site, Oaxaca’s baroque churches and colonial arts  
make it one of the most beautifully preserved of all Spanish colonial  
capitals. Today, it is also a center for contemporary art, from fine  
arts to folk art and street art.
Scheper, director of a recent NEH Institute in Oaxaca, is a faculty  
associate of advanced academic programs at Johns Hopkins University.
CODE: 1J0-538
S. Dillon Ripley Center
1100 Jefferson Drive, SW
Metro: Smithsonian Mall Exit (Blue/Orange)
Washington DC
http://residentassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=217465


Friday, July 10
"Good Things in Small Packages: Cave Archaeology at Maax Na, Belize"
Pre-Columbian Society of Washington DC Lecture
Recent investigations in the prehispanic Maya area have emphasized the  
important role of caves in the Maya worldview. Caves were linked to  
creation myths of deities and humans alike and witnessed a variety of  
different rituals directed towards a sacred, animate Earth, towards  
propitiating water gods, and other concerns. Research has shown that  
they were not merely accidental features of the landscape, but a vital  
part of Maya cultural geography. A number of large and extensive caves  
have now been documented in the southern Maya lowlands, where the  
karstic environment is conducive to their formation. Many of these are  
directly associated with important sites. What happened in other  
areas, though, where large natural caves are rare or non-existent? If  
caves were so central to the Maya worldview, how did people express  
that view in “cave-poor” environments? The results of research at the  
large Maya site of Maax Na (or “Monkey House”) in northern Belize  
during spring 2007 offer some clues. There, a small cave in the main  
ceremonial center revealed unexpected insights into how the Maya  
thought, proving that, just as our mothers told us, good things do  
indeed come in small packages.
Dr. Eleanor King is an Assistant Professor in the Department of  
Sociology and Anthropology at Howard University. A long-time Mayanist,  
she has worked in Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. For the past ten  
years she has co-directed the Maax Na Archaeology Project with Dr.  
Leslie Shaw of Bowdoin College. Their investigations have included  
exploration and mapping of the settlement and neighboring sites as  
well as investigation of the “downtown” or ceremonial and  
administrative center of Maax Na. In addition to the Maya and  
Mesoamerica, Dr. King’s research interests include the history of  
archaeology and the development of complex societies. For something  
completely different, she is also presently directing a project  
examining the interaction between Buffalo Soldiers and Apache in the  
historic Southwest.
Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center
Meeting Room A 4805
Edgemoor Lane,
Bethesda, MD
240-777-8212
http://www.pcswdc.org/


Saturday, July, 11, 7:00 PM
"New Perspectives on Pottery Mound Pueblo"
Polly Schaafsma, author of "New Perspectives on Pottery Mound Pueblo,"
Ancestral Puebloan peoples inhabited the Pottery Mound site on New  
Mexico’s Rio Puerco River from the late 14th to the late 15th  
centuries, when Archaeologist Frank C. Hibben began excavating Pottery  
Mound 50 years ago, archaeologists were paying relatively little  
attention to Ancestral Pueblo sites.
Hibben found that Pottery Mound was home to diverse Puebloan  
characteristics evident in both Rio Grande Pueblos and the Western  
Pueblos. Hibben also discovered an abundance of pottery styles and  
layers of murals in eleven kivas that are a magnificent archive of  
religious iconography of the period.
Despite its importance to the study of Southwestern archaeology,  
Pottery Mound remains poorly studied, under published, and largely  
neglected.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920
e-mail: cgonzal at unm.edu
Petroglyph National Monument Visitors Center,
4735 Western Trails NW.
(No URL)


July 16, 7:30 PM
Old Pueblo Third Thursdays Lecture
“Archaeological Excavations at the Whiptail Ruin”
Linda Gregonis
Old Pueblo Archaeology Center,
2201 W. 44th Street
Tucson, Arizona
(Tucson Unified School District’s Ajo Service Center, just west of La
Cholla Blvd., ½-mile north of John F. Kennedy Park)
http://www.oldpueblo.org/


July 18, 2:00 PM
“Chichen Itza and Tula, Hidalgo: Tales of Two Cities”
Illustrated Presentation
Which came first, Chichen or Tula? This question has vexed  
archaeologists for generations and answers reflect the century in  
which the question is asked. Museum director Marc Thompson will  
present an illustrated lecture and discuss the latest explanations and  
why opinions have varied since the site of Tula, Hidalgo, México was  
recognized as the Toltec capital. This program is held in conjunction  
with the temporary exhibit Temple of the Warriors: Rebuilding a Maya  
Monument.
For more information: (915) 755-4332 or guidamr at elpasotexas.gov
http://www.elpasotexas.gov/arch_museum/events.asp


July 19-July 24
53rd International Congress of Americanists (ICA)
"The peoples of the Americas: Change and Continuity"
Centro Histórico in Mexico City
The Organizing Committee of the 53rd International Congress of  
Americanists (ICA) extends a warm greeting to the national and  
international academic community working in the field of studies of  
the American Continent. Whether the research is carried out from the  
perspective of a single discipline, or using a multi-disciplinary  
approach
El Paso Museum of Archaeology
El Paso, Texas
ica53.secretariageneral at gmail.com
http://www.53ica.com/


Jul 20, 7:30 PM
Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society Lecture
"History, Households and Power in the Ancient Hohokam World"
William Graves, Statistical Research
Duval Auditorium,
University Medical Center,
1501 North Campbell Avenue (north of Speedway)
Tucson, Arizona
http://www.statemuseum.arizona.edu/aahs/lectures.shtml


July 26, 1:00 pm
FOUR CORNERS LECTURE SERIES
Sally Cole:
"CHANGING PERSPECTIVES ON COLORADO PLATEAU ROCK ART"
Sally Cole
ANASAZI HERITAGE CENTER
27501 Highway 184,
Dolores, Colorado
(970) 882-5600
http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/ahc/exhibits_and_events.htm