WAPA News Online Winter/Spring 1998 Issue

WYOMING ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL
ARCHAEOLOGISTS

"We dig deeper for the news but we don't screen it"

WAPA NEWS is a semi-annual publication of the Wyoming Association of Professional Archaeologists. WAPA NEWS is distributed free to members of the association. Membership dues of $20.00 per year should be paid to the Treasurer, Julie Francis, P.O. Box 3431, University Station, Laramie, WY 82071. Information, news items, or announcements for inclusion in the newsletter should be sent to one of the editors. The web page you see here highlights some of the information, news, and announcements found in our Winter/Spring 1998 issue.

Posted 5/1/98

FEATURE ARTICLES

Archaeology Awareness Month Poster Wins Two Awards

Project Archaeology

Frison Talks a Mile for a Camel

Three Generations of Bozovichs Work Site

UW Thesis Questions E-bot Assumptions

State Land Board Acts to Protect Archaeological Resources on State Lands

NEWS & NOTES

University of Wyoming Accepts WAPA Donation

WAPA received the following letter from Dr. Audrey Shalinsky, Chair of the University of Wyoming Anthropology Department: "The Department of Anthropology wishes to express our heartfelt thanks to you for your most generous contribution to the department. These funds will most certainly be put to good use in supporting our students and faculty in their research projects and in general departmental support. Please come visit the department at any time. We would like to see you and have you tour our facilities. Again, thank you."

State Archaeologist Compiles Speakers List

State Archaeologist Dr. Mark Miller has compiled a wide-ranging list of speakers and topics. The list features nine presenters talking about 18 different topics. The topics range from Wyoming prehistory and history to Paleolithic sites in the Russian Far East and are geared toward an interested lay audience. If you are interested in receiving a copy or being added to the list, please contact Dr. Miller at 307-766-5301.

Archaeology Awareness Month Planning

September 1998 will be Wyoming Archaeology Awareness Month, and this year's theme will be "Mysteries of the Past," according to Deputy SHPO Judy Wolf, the state coordinator of the planning committee. Keynote speaker Dr. Thomas Dillehay will discuss the newest research on the Peopling of the Americas in Casper on September 19. Dr. Dillehay is a professor of Anthropology at the University of Kentucky and is best known for his work at Monte Verde in Argentina. Monte Verde has yielded radiocarbon dates that are earlier than the accepted dates for Clovis. These dates, along with other early dates from both North and South America has forced the archaeological community to reevaluate the timing of human arrival in the New World. A reception will be held after the talk. More information about Wyoming Archaeology Awareness Month 1998 activities will be available soon at http://wyoshpo.state.wy.us/waamindx.htm.

Bibliography and Index of University of Wyoming Anthropology Theses Updated

The Bibliography and Index to Graduate Theses, Department of Anthropology, University of Wyoming, originally published in 1993 in the Wyoming Archaeologist 37(3-4):49-55 has been updated. As of summer 1997, 71 theses have been completed. The new version is available through the Department of Anthropology's web page at http://www.uwyo.edu/A&S/anth/thesis.htm.

WAPA Endorses Historic Trails Center

Past WAPA President Russ Tanner sent the following letter to Edna Kennell, Executive Director of the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center, dated November 19, 1997: "At our fall 1997 meeting, WAPA members voted to endorse the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center (NHTIC). WAPA believes the NHTIC has the potential to increase appreciation for the various historic trails within and across Wyoming. This appreciation in turn could bring both aesthetic and economic benefits to Wyoming. WAPA's endorsement is prefaced with the recognition that physical remnants of historic trails across Wyoming are the primary resource around which the efforts of the NHTIC will center. As such, it is our belief that the existence of the NHTIC should enhance, not diminish, the trail resource. That is to say, WAPA believes state or federal agencies should never be allowed to cite the existence of the NHTIC as a reason for allowing the physical trail resource to be destroyed."

WAPA Major Contributor to 6th Island in the Plains

WAPA received the following letter from Tim Cowan of the Island in the Plains Planning Committee: "The planning committee for the 6th Annual Black Hills Archaeological Symposium, "Island in the Plains", thanks you very much for your generous contribution. WAPA will be identified as a major contributor by placing the organization's name in the fine print (reserved for acknowledgements) at the bottom of this year's poster. I will leave some copies of the poster with Cher Burgess as soon as they are received from the printer. Additional posters will be available to WAPA members at a reduced price reserved for contributors. We hope many of your folks will attend this year's meeting in Belle Fourche and perhaps become involved with efforts to assure future meetings."

Antiquities on State Lands

In 1935, Wyoming created a law addressing the protection of prehistoric sites, excavation permits, and violations. Statutes 36-1-114 through 36-1-116 detail how these issues will be dealt with on state lands. In 1997, amendments were passed for the penalty clause in 36-1-116. The new wording appears below. Also last year, a series of public hearings were held to take comment on rules revisions relating to subsurface resources and fossil removal permits. The rule-making process is moving along and is expected to take a few more months, the result of which will reflect statutory changes. According to the statute, if you want to remove archaeological resources from state lands, you need to contact the State Board of Land Commissioners for permission: State Land and Farm Loan Office, Herschler Building, Third Floor West, Cheyenne, Wyoming, 82002, 307-777-7331.

36-1-116. Protection of prehistoric ruins; penalty.

(a) Except as provided by subsection (d) of this section, any person violating any of the provisions of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) or more than one hundred dollars ($100.00), or imprisoned in the county jail not more than six (6) months, or by both fine and imprisonment, and shall forfeit to the state all articles and materials discovered by or through his efforts.

(b) Persons holding permits or leases on state lands may not sublease or subcontract archaeological or paleontological removal without prior written approval of the board.

(c) All state leases are subject ot inspection by state or county law enforcement agencies or their designees for violation of W.S. 36-1-114 and 36-1-115.

(d) Any person who, for monetary gain or for commercial or any other purpose, removes any archaeological or paleontological artifacts in violation of W.S. 36-1-114 or 36-1-115 with a cumulative value in excess of five hundred dollars ($500.00), shall be guilty of a felony and upon conviction shall be fined up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00), imprisoned for up to ten (10) years, or both.

--Dr. Mark Miller, State Archaeologist--

CURRENT & UPCOMING EVENTS

Meetings

Montana Archaeological Society/Wyoming Archaeological Society/WAPA Joint 1998 Spring Meeting. May 8-10, Billings, Montana. The meeting will be held at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Billings at North 27th St and First Avenue North. The WAPA Business Meeting is scheduled for Friday, May 8 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon in a third floor conference room of the hotel. The Saturday night Keynote Address will be given by Dr. Alice Kehoe, Professor of Anthropology at Marquette University, and is entitled "Trowel Scratches Paper: One Researcher's Experiences of the Overlap of Archaeology and History in Montana".

1998 Wyoming Archaeology Awareness Month Keynote Lecture. Saturday, September 19, Casper, Wyoming. Dr. Tom Dillehay, University of Kentucky at Lexington, will be speaking on Pre-Clovis Culture and the early peopling of the Americas. The lecture will be held at 7:00 p.m., Casper College, Wold Physical Science Building, Room PS 103.

The 55th Annual Plains Anthropological Conference. October 14-17, 1998, Bismark, North Dakota. The meeting will be held at the Radisson Inn, 800 S. Third St., Bismark, ND, 701-224-8212

The Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA) 1999 Conference will be held in Salt Lake City, Utah, January 5-10 at the Hilton Hotel. The theme of the conference is Crossroads of the West: 19th Century Transportation, Mining and Commercial Development in the Intermountain West. The deadline for submitting symposia, paper, and research report abstracts is June 1, 1998.

The 56th Annual Plains Anthropological Conference will be held in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in 1999.

1998 Field Season

The Office of the Wyoming State Archaeologist plans excavations at Sybille Canyon northeast of Laramie and along the North Fork of the Shoshone River west of Cody, and testing in Yellowstone National Park and at Camp Guernsey. Contact David Eckles, 307-766-5301.

Mike Bies, BLM Worland District archaeologist, says the University of Wyoming field school will again work at Black Mountain this summer.

Rock Art Recording at the Nature Conservancy Ten Sleep Preserve, third or fourth weekend in June 1998.

TRC Mariah will be completing additional excavations in the northwestern Black Hills near Aladdin this summer.

WYOMING ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL ARCHAEOLOGISTS