Utah Professional Archaeological Council

 Thanks to everyone who participated in this year's UPACElections- both the candidates and those who voted.  The election closed last Sunday and theresults are in:

• UPAC President: Byron Loosle
• VP for Membership and Ethics: Mark Karpsinski
• Treasurer: Gena Huffman

 Please welcome them when you have a chance.  Our thanks for their willingness to serve.

 Best,

 Arie Leeflang

UPAC [Outgoing] VP for Membership and Ethics

The September 2011 issue of UPAC News is now available. 

Way back in 2007, the UPAC President Matt Seddon established a new blog that related some of the more intersting reports and research that crossed his desk in his postion of deputy Utah SHPO for archaeology.  However, since that time, almost no new entries have been posted and it has become fodder for comment spam.  As such, I have discontinued the blog.  In an effort to preserve the informaiton that was posted on the Utah Archaeology Exchange, I have copied the entiries below. 

2008-02-19  Noteworthy Research - January 2008

I'm (Matt Seddon) a bit behind in these posts, I apologize. Here's a few prehistoric/historic sites that came across my desk in the past quarter or so.

Prehistoric:

• The No Lease Area Project U-05-FS-1218 turned up great settlement pattern information and a large number of Ancestral Puebloan sites in the Manti-La Sal forest. Of particular note is 42Sa26298 which appeared to be a possible observatory or ceremonial site. For more info contact the archaeologist for the agency, US Forest Service, Manti-La Sal, Monticello District. 
  
• The Hatch Point 3D Seismic survey (U-06-MQ-1476) turned up 42Sa26919 which looks like a point source quarry for the Summerville Formation. Along with 42Sa26979 and 42Sa26981, also found on the project, this would make a good set of sites to explore Summerville Chert procurement and reduction. For more info contact the archaeologist for the agency, Bureau of Land Management, Moab.

 Historic

• The El Dorado Canyon Survey U-07-ST-0348 resulted in the documentation of a small but rather interesting mining complex (the El Dorado mining complex, particularly the main sites 42To3075 and 42To3077. The complex would make a nice comparative study with other larger mining areas, even if one only used the existing documentation. For more info contact the archaeologist for the agency,US Army, Dugway Proving Ground.

2007-08-22 Prehistoric Work of Note - August 2007 SHPO

Here's a few more interesting sites and projects that have rolled in in the past few months:

• The Telephone Hollow Timber Sale (U-06-FS-1397) turned up an interesting high altitude quarry site, 42WA389.
• The US89 Kanab Creek to Kanab Creek Bridge Project (U-06-MQ-1700) provided a lot of data about a pretty interesting (pretty, and interesting) canyon, including numerous Formative (Anasazi/Ancestral Puebloean) sites.
• The Butler Wash Survey (U-05-BL-0429) greatly expanded our understanding of occupation in Butler Wash, in particular our understanding of small open-air outlier sites, field houses, etc. Small sites of note are 42Sa7403, 42SA7404, 42SA9985, and 42SA26150. A large habitation complex was also recorded, 42SA5313. If you're interested in Formative (Anasazi/Ancestral Puebloan) occupations in the Cedar Mesa area, check this project out!
• The Yellow Knolls Hiking Trail U-07-BL-0338 project turned up a number of very interesting rock shelters, roasting pit sites, etc. in Washington County, including a large one, 42Ws5008.
• The Keely Trail Survey (U-06-RM-1653, or maybe 1053, I can't read my own notes), turned up a very unsusual Hovenweep-class P-III roomblock with a tower, 42Sa27010. Unlike other Hovenweep tower sites, this tower is not visible from other towers, is on a canyon bottom, simply wierd and interesting in terms of models of tower sites.
• The Lower and Middle Arch Canyon Survey, U-06-C1-0548, provided a great deal of information on the relationship between road access and human impacts to nearby sites. Plus, it expands our understanding of occupations in the Arch Canyon area and turned up a very interesting "ceremonial" (looks like what would be called an isolated Great Kiva, if only it were a bit bigger) site, 42Sa26615.

Noteworthy Historical Research - March 2007 SHPO

Here are some noteworthly historical period sites and projects recently reviewed by Matt Seddon, Deputy SHPO for archaeology

• If you like old uranium mines, the La Sal Creek AML (U-03-A1-0051) recorded 5 such sites, including the Pigmy/Firefly mine (42SA24562), the Vanadium Queen Mine (42SA24563) and the Black Hat and Blue Cap Mines (42SA24564).
• The San Rafael Mine Reclamation project (U-05-BC-0550) recorded a significant number of uranium mines from the San Rafael Swell area. Also recorded was the MK Tunnels site complex (42EM3491, 42EM3608, and 42EM3610), which appears to be an interesting Cold War feature. The site possibly consists of exploratory tunnels drilled by the Department of Defense to see if the area was suitable for a “Cheyenne Mountain” complex. Apparently, it wasn’t, but the site remnants are kind of an interesting left-over from the Cold War.

Noteworthy Prehistoric Research - March 2007 SHPO

Here are the interesting prehistoric sites and projects noted by Matt Seddon, Deputy SHPO for Archaeology:

• The Questar SSX Pipeline project(U-06-MQ-0944) found a Paleo site (42Cb2486) and a nice Fremont with habitation features (42Cb2580).
• The Delta Petroleum Joseph 2D Seismic project (U-06-LW-0586) found site 42SV2811, large Archaic-Fremont-Late Prehistoric, appears significant despite chaining; and found 42PI634, large, possibly with deep deposits, Fremont Complex site.
• Project U-04-BL-1259 – Long Hollow Treatment – found a Clovis point in far southern Utah – 42In2255.
• The Winter Ridge Pipeline and Bitter Creek Gas Plant Project U-04-ST-1278 in the Hay and Westwater Canyon area of the West Tavaputs Plateau, turned up a lot of sites, including many notable rock art sites ranging from Barrier Canyon style pictographs to historical inscriptions. Many of these sites had been previously recorded, but this project provided a recent update, with a lot of fine-grained recording and detailed photos and site forms.
• Several fire rehab surveys provided good block survey information and turned up a number of interesting sites north of Shivwits in the Beaver Dam Mountains area. (U-05-ES-1204, 1205, and 1206) Several open air Virgin Anasazi small occupations (42Ws4745, 4746, and 4757) were found, along with 42Ws4747, which had an oddly high groundstone/chipped stone ratio, and several small rockshelter sites (42Ws4752, 4759, 4761, 4765). Project U-05-ES-1206 turned up a very interesting large, multi-component site that included Great Basin Stemmed points and a large number of Pinto points. The Paleo component is noteworthy and the Pinto points continue to indicate what seems, to me at least, to be a “Pinto focus” (?) in the Beaver Dam Mountains area.
• Jacob Fire rehab (U-06-LI-0567) turned up a probable Early Archaic (Pinto) site on what appeared to be a Bonneville shoreline terrace (42Md2149).
• West Gilson Fire rehab (U-06-LI-0566) identified a multicomponent site (Humboldt point, formative stuff) that had two rather intriguing incised stones (42Jb1452).
• Canyonlands National Park recently surveyed and updated sites in the Horseshoe Canyon Unit of the park (Great Gallery area). They recorded or updated nine sites, ranging from new rock art sites, to open air artifact scatters, to rockshelters (42Wn376, 42Wn816, 42Wn2660-2665). These sites provide more contextual information for occupation in this area. Contact Chris Goetze of the National Park Service Southeast Utah Group for more information.
• The Seven-Mile Fuels Treatment project (U-06-BL-0790) identified an interesting site that appears Early Archaic but which includes numerous hunting blinds (42WN2685). This site looks like it has real possibilities for addressing Archaic period hunting, resource procurement, etc.
• The 2006 Parowan Seismic Program (U-06-LW-0656) identified a large number of very interesting Archaic-Late Prehistoric sites clustered around the Little Salt Lake in the Parowan Valley. These seem to have real potential to examine paleoenvironment-human interactions during the mid-late Holocene (when the lake was active).
• The Park Valley Fire Rehab U-05-PD-1098 project identified an interesting Formative (Eastgate/Rose Spring) open air habitation neatly situated just above the Provo Shoreline (42BO1223). The site looks like it has some potential to address questions of lakes, Formative occupations, etc. in this area. The project also turned up a Late Paleoindian and/or Early Archaic site (42BO1232).
• The Monument Canyon Fuels Reduction Project (U-05-NY-993) in the Montezuma Canyon area of San Juan turned up another huge wad of Anasazi sites, including some very interesting, small “one-room” rock shelter/boulder overhand thingys that look like little field house type occupations.

2007-03-26 Guidelines for Posting Noteworthy Sites and Projects

The first goal of this information exchange is to enable archaeologists to call attention to noteworthy sites or projects so that other researchers could access that information.

To post noteworthy sites and projects to this exchange, send your post via email to either (or all) of the following: UPAC Webmaster, UPAC President, UPAC Vice President for Research and Ethics.

We recommend posting short descriptions of interesting sites found and/or short summaries of interesting projects/research results in a way that will draw other researchers attention and enable professional researchers to find the information without giving away sensitive information such as site locations.

As this is a Utah-centric exchange, we recommend simply listing site numbers and/or relevant Utah project numbers, as these can be used by qualified and permitted archaeologists (and only such archaeologists) to find the projects or sites in state or agency files.

We also recommend helping us make this searchable. We can post with labels and keywords, and thus we recommend supplying things on a theme (e.g. Archaic sites, Historical sites) so we can apply the proper label. Help us out by telling the person doing the posting what the labels should be.

2007-03-26 Introduction to the Utah Archaeology Exchange

The Utah Archaeology Exchange is run by the Utah Professional Archaeological Council (UPAC) to facilitate exchange of information between professional archaeologists working in Utah and between professional archaeologists and the amateur community. It uses blog technology, but is not a blog in the "conventional" sense (i.e. a place for an individual to post musings, poorly edited rants, web-publish thoughtful essays on chocolate chip cookie recipes, etc.). Rather, the goal of the blog is to enable archaeologists to easily exchange information.Although we expect the uses for this to grow, it begins as a place to post short summaries of interesting projects or research results so that other archaeologists can find and use these results. An example will form the second post to this site.

In order to ensure that this information exchange remains professional, this will be a moderated blog. In other words, you will have to request permission to post to the blog and the webmaster for UPAC will review the submission. To post to this blog, send your post via email to the webmaster, the president, and/or the vice president for government affairs and research. 

As with all exchanging of archaeological information in a manner that can be easily accessed by the public, and in keeping with UPAC and Register of Professional Archaeologists ethical guidelines, we remind archaeologists to not provide information in a manner that encourages looting. Specifically, we do not condone the posting of any site locational information.

Dear UPAC members:

Voting for the new members of the Executive Committeeclosed last Friday and the results are in:

-VP Government Affairs and Research: Ken Cannon (USUArchaeological Services)
-Secretary: Heather Weymouth (EPG)
-Newsletter Editor: Kenny Wintch (SITLA)

Please welcome them when you have a chance.  Our thanks for their willingness to serve. The contact information for the current officers has been updated. 

The 2011 UPAC elections are now open.  If you are a UPAC member, please take amoment to vote through Survey Monkey.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/B6P98WK

Please forward this notice to other members you know ofwho don't currently access the UPAC Yahoo Group.  Voting will be open through Friday August 5thsince many members are in the field.  Ifyou have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Best,

Arie Leeflang

UPAC Vice President, Membership and Ethics aleeflang @utah.gov

Message from the BLM:

The minutes and information from the March 22 2011 BLM-hosted interagency meeting for cultural resource consultants are posted online (see links below, within this blob post).

Please submit your comments to Laurel Glidden by April 15th in order to incorporate your feedback into BLM's experimental guidelines for the upcoming field season.

Laurel Glidden, District Archaeologist
Cedar City District Office
176 E. DL Sergeant Drive
Cedar City, UT 84721-9337

Tel: 435-865-3066
Fax: 435-865-3058
Email: Laurel_Glidden@blm.gov

Anonymous comments: www.surveymonkey.com/s/2kpdxzy

BLM Files (All files are in pdf format):

• Utah BLM Proposed Data Standards March 2011
• Utah BLM Standards for Preparing BLM Annual Cultural Resource Reports
  
• BLM Repository Receipt for Collections

• Interagency Cultural Programs Meeting for Cultural Consultants, March 2011: Meeting Minutes
• Interagency Cultural Programs Meeting for Cultural Consultants, March 2011: Meeting Agenda
• PowerPoint presentation by BLM: Utah BLM Proposed Digital Standards

• BLM Archaeologists in Utah: Contact List

The final schedule for this weekend's UPAC Winter Meeting is now posted and will include:

• The BYU Wolf Village site excavation and the SITLA Jackson Flat projects are among the paper topics scheduled to be presented.  Other topics include discussion of a Visual Impacts Assessment Method, Digitizing Clear Creek, Promotory Caves, High Altitutde Fremont Sites, and many other papers.
  
• The UPAC Business Meeting will include a variety of reports and discussions on current events, such as an update on the the Blanding ARPA case (including a BLM law enforcement individual to answer questions) and recent issues associated with Nine Mile Canyon.
• Finally, the BYU Museum of Peoples and Cultures will be hosting an open house reception on Friday evening.

      
Images from the BYU Museum of Peoples and Cultures.

Dear archaeolgocial consultat working in the state of Utah:

On Tuesday, March 22, 2011, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Governor’s Public Lands Policy Coordination Office, along with other state and federal agencies, will host a workshop for archaeological consultants working in Utah.  The meeting is scheduled to begin at 9:00 am and is expected to last most of the day.  We will be meeting in the Auditorium on thefirst floor of the State Office Building at the Utah State CapitolComplex.  Information regarding publicparking and directions to the State Capitol can be found on the Capitol Preservation Board’s website.  You are encouraged to attend as we will discuss some important issues and forthcoming changes in the BLM’s reporting process.

We are currently developing an agenda with the other agencies, but planf or the meeting to last most of the day. The BLM is in the final stages of developing a new national programmatic agreement with the Advisory Council.  The next stages of this process will require a new statewide protocol or agreement and revision of our handbooks.  We will begin to incorporate some of the changes this year as we attempt to integrate new technologies and procedures into our permitting and reporting requirements.

Please contact Byron Loosle at Byron_loosle@blm.gov or 801-539-4276 or Kelly Beck at kellybeck@utah.gov or 801-537-9046 if you have questions.

Sincerely,

SuzanneGarcia

ActingDeputy State Director,

NaturalResources

BUREAU OF LANDMANAGEMENT

Utah State Office

P.O. Box 45155

Salt Lake City, UT 84145-0155

http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en.html

Visit the newsletter section to read the latest issue of UPAC News. 

The 2011 UPAC winter meeting will be held Friday February 25th and Saturday February 26th in Room 309 of the Provo City library, which is located at 550 North University Avenue in Provo. The business meeting will be Friday afternoon, with the remaining time reserved for research reports and project updates. The BYU Museum of Peoples and Cultures will also host an open house/reception Friday evening.

The winter meeting provides a rare opportunity for the archaeological community to discuss recent findings and current issues in Utah archaeology. Please plan to attend, and, if possible, come ready to talk about the work you have been doing. I can promise an update on BYU's recent excavations at Wolf Village, a large Fremont site in Utah Valley. I hope we will get a good turnout and have the opportunity to discuss the full range of archaeological research, preservation, and education projects that people are working on.

To get on the schedule to make a presentation, contact Jody Patterson (jody.j.patterson@gmail.com). Contact me (jallison@byu.edu) if there is something you think should be on the agenda for the business meeting.

James R. Allison