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thearchcons.org
The Archaeological Conservancy
@thearchcons.org
410 followers 230 following 680 posts
Preserving the past...for the future!
We're the only National nonprofit dedicated to acquiring & preserving the most significant US archaeological sites, almost 600 sites in the past 40+ years. Linktree: https://linktr.ee/thearchcons
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thearchcons.org
MARYLAND: Recent reporting examines ongoing efforts to identify the chalcedony source area associated with Clovis-period lithic technology (ca. 13,000 years ago).

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#Archaeology #Clovis #Maryland #Lithics #StoneTools #NorthAmericanArchaeology
News - Inside the Search for a Clovis Quarry in Maryland - Archaeology Magazine
BALTIMORE COUNTY, MARYLAND—ABC News Baltimore reports that Maryland State Terrestrial Archaeologist Zachary Singer and State […]
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December 24, 2025 at 5:02 PM
thearchcons.org
CANADA: A new co-management arrangement between the Mi’kmaq of Nova Scotia and the Government of Canada marks a major step in shared stewardship of Parks Canada–administered places across the province.

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The Mi’kmaq of Nova Scotia and the Government of Canada Sign Co-management Arrangement - Canada.ca
The Toqi'maliaptmu'k Arrangement walks the path of shared management at Parks Canada administered places in Nova Scotia.
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December 24, 2025 at 1:01 AM
thearchcons.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. New federal legislation would help keep tribal sacred-site locations, cultural items, and traditional-practice information from being made public through FOIA, aiming to reduce risks of looting, vandalism, and misuse.

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Leger Fernández Introduces Bill to Protect Sacred Tribal Sites and Cultural Items and Practices from Public Disclosure
SANTA FE, NM — Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM) introduced H.R. 6206, the Protect Culturally Sensitive Information Act to make sure Native American Tribes, Alaska Native Entities, and…
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December 22, 2025 at 9:02 PM
thearchcons.org
FONES CLIFFS, VIRGINIA: Archaeologists working with the Rappahannock Tribe have identified the locations of long-lost riverside villages described by John Smith (1608), backed by more than 11,000 artifacts recovered in the area.

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News - Evidence of Native American Villages Unearthed in Virginia - Archaeology Magazine
ST. MARY’S CITY, MARYLAND—Live Science reports that artifacts unearthed in the Fones Cliffs area of […]
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December 21, 2025 at 5:03 PM
thearchcons.org
QUÉBEC: More than 60 Indigenous cultural items held in the Vatican’s collections for about a century, including a rare Inuit/Inuvialuit kayak, have been returned to Canada and are at the Canadian Museum of History as communities bring them home.

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AP News: buff.ly/OWeaSrX
The Vatican returns sacred artifacts held for a century to their Indigenous owners - NewsBreak
(CNN) — Indigenous leaders waited on the snowy tarmac at Montreal’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport Saturday as the precious cargo was unloade
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December 20, 2025 at 5:02 PM
thearchcons.org
MADISON, WISCONSIN: Archaeologists have mapped 16 submerged dugout canoes in Lake Mendota, evidence of a long-used Indigenous travel corridor.

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#IndigenousHistory #MaritimeArchaeology #Wisconsin #Archaeology #CulturalHeritage
Wisconsin archaeologists identify 16 ancient canoes in a prehistoric lake 'parking lot'
Archaeologists have identified more than a dozen ancient canoes that Indigenous people apparently left behind in a prehistoric parking lot along a Wisconsin lakeshore.
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December 20, 2025 at 1:01 AM
thearchcons.org
KANAB, UTAH: Utah officials are offering a $3,000 reward after a human skull was stolen from a protected ancient burial site and a photo was posted on social media. Authorities are asking for tips to help return the remains and protect the site.

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‘A violation of human dignity’: Skull stolen from 1,700-year-old Utah burial site
The Utah State Trust Lands Administration is offering a $3,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person who stole the skull.
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December 18, 2025 at 9:02 PM
thearchcons.org
WESTERN U.S.: National monument designations may be doing more than protecting scenic and cultural landscapes—they may also be safeguarding major watersheds. A new analysis suggests many waterways on public lands have no other protection beyond monument status.

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Water across the West at risk as Trump targets national monuments - High Country News
A new study found that about 83% of water passing through public lands uses monument designation for its only protection.
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December 17, 2025 at 5:04 PM
thearchcons.org
PRESERVATION MILESTONE: The historic barn at our Jokumsen Archaeological Preserve has officially qualified for recognition as a Washington State Heritage Barn—a designation that celebrates barns that help tell Washington’s agricultural, economic, and cultural history.

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December 17, 2025 at 1:01 AM
thearchcons.org
SITE SPOTLIGHT: Western Regional Director Linsie Lafayette visited our Mojave Desert Archaeological Preserve in CA finding petroglyphs and grinding slicks on boulders eroding out of an outcrop. There is a historic component related to an early 20th-century homestead, walls and habitation debris.
December 15, 2025 at 9:02 PM
thearchcons.org
CONSERVANCY SITE SPOTLIGHT--The Archaeological Conservancy Midwest Region, in partnership with a team of local volunteers, installed snow fencing along vulnerable sections of the preserve to reduce erosion caused by wind and seasonal weather while also serving as a barrier from winter recreation.
A volunteer installed snow fencing along vulnerable sections of the preserve to reduce erosion caused by wind and seasonal weather. Midwestern Regional Director Lindsay Scott and a volunteer installed the barrier at Sumnerville Mound Preserve.
December 14, 2025 at 5:02 PM
thearchcons.org
LOWER PECOS CANYONLANDS—New research has securely dated Pecos River-style rock art to nearly 6,000 years ago, revealing the longest-lived known mural tradition in the Americas, maintained for 4,000 years by forager communities in Texas, Mexico.

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Study: buff.ly/xg6URkH
6,000-year old West Texas rock art influenced Mesoamerican cosmology
Pecos River rock art dates back 6,000 years and was created in planned single events. The murals use consistent symbols to express complex beliefs that later influenced Mesoamerican cultures.
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December 13, 2025 at 5:03 PM
thearchcons.org
TULSA, OKLAHOMA: Viola Ford Fletcher, one of the last known survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, has died at 111.
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Read about archaeology of the Tulsa Race Massacre in American Archaeology magazine: buff.ly/vdSyXDK
One of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre's last survivors, Viola Ford Fletcher, dies at age 111
One of the last known survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre in Oklahoma has died. Viola Ford Fletcher was 111.
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December 13, 2025 at 1:00 AM
thearchcons.org
ONLINE (TUCSON, AZ) Dec. 18 (7–8:30 p.m. MST): Archaeologist Dr. Hunter M. Claypatch presents on the precolonial Santa Cruz Valley and the Arizona–Sonora borderlands, exploring Hohokam and Trincheras communities and regional interaction (A.D. 700–1300). Free Zoom event.

Register: buff.ly/7L0QJeY
Third Thursday Food for Thought presents “Inhabitants of an Archaeological and International 'Frontier': The Precolonial History of the Santa Cruz Valley and the Arizona-Sonora Borderlands” - Old Pueblo Archaeology Center
Join Old Pueblo Archaeology Center’s “Third Thursday Food for Thought” online presentation on Thursday, December 18, 2025, featuring “Inhabitants of an Archaeological and International ‘Frontier’:…
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December 12, 2025 at 9:50 PM
thearchcons.org
FLORIDA—Archaeologists and conservation scientists are showing how ancient oyster shells can help restore modern reefs. A new study finds that including broken shell fragments from coastal middens, not just whole shells, changes how we interpret past harvesting pressure.

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When only the strong shells survive: Archaeology’s fresh approach to turn oyster shells into tools of conservation
Key Points As global oyster populations decline and fisheries collapse, archaeologists may be able to inform effective management with valuable, long-term perspectives of the human-oyster connections…
www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu
December 11, 2025 at 9:02 PM
thearchcons.org
PUERTO RICO—In a new compositional study of nearly 500 pottery sherds from sites across eastern Puerto Rico and nearby islands using neutron activation analysis to “fingerprint” clays, researchers found far more intra-island movement of ceramics than previously assumed.

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December 10, 2025 at 5:04 PM
thearchcons.org
MOBILE BAY—A collaboration between archaeologists and Choctaw Nation potters is reconnecting people to ancestral homelands. Researchers collected clays and shells from around Mobile Bay, then invited Oklahoma Choctaw artists to create new vessels.

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Tempered by time, Choctaw pottery connects ancestral past with living present
Key Points Archaeologists rely on pottery artifacts to understand the everyday lives of the people who made them. Analyzing the artifact’s composition, technique and decoration can help scientists…
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December 10, 2025 at 1:00 AM
thearchcons.org
HOW TO HELP—This year’s FIRST LEGO League “UNEARTHED” season is asking kids across the country to tackle problems in archaeology, from site protection and looting to how we use new technology in the field. Many teams are still looking for archaeologists to talk with.

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Archaeology in Action: Inspiring the Next Generation Through LEGO - SaveHistory.org
First LEGO League students learn about protecting archaeological sites from the Save History team!
savehistory.org
December 8, 2025 at 9:01 PM
thearchcons.org
BELIZE—Underwater excavations at the Paynes Creek Salt Works have revealed a well-preserved Late Classic Maya salt-making compound, with wooden building posts, salt-making pottery, and household items beneath mangrove peat on the seafloor.

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Primary study: bit.ly/4iN8B6k
Ancient Maya submerged landscapes and invisible architecture at the Ch'ok Ayin residential household group, Belize | Ancient Mesoamerica | Cambridge Core
Ancient Maya submerged landscapes and invisible architecture at the Ch'ok Ayin residential household group, Belize
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December 7, 2025 at 5:01 PM
thearchcons.org
TAKE A TOUR—From Mission San Diego de Alcalá to “the king of missions” at San Luis Rey and the stone arches of San Juan Capistrano, our March 9–14, 2026, California Missions and Archaeology Tour blends architecture, archaeology, and the desert landscapes of Anza-Borrego.

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December 6, 2025 at 5:00 PM
thearchcons.org
GUATEMALA--A new study of three jade-inlaid teeth from a museum collection shows the inlays were drilled into the front teeth of children as young as 7–10 years old—while the teeth were still developing.

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Primary study: buff.ly/Hk9CK2n
December 6, 2025 at 1:00 AM
thearchcons.org
Colonial Williamsburg’s 78th Annual Antiques Forum (virtual or in-person) is coming up Feb. 19–25, 2026. The theme “That the future may learn from the past” ties into the 250th anniversary of American independence and Colonial Williamsburg’s 100th anniversary.

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Governors Palace, North & South Elevation, Drawing # 5, David Hayes, October 30, 1931.Credit: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Upholstery Conservator Leroy Graves examines an easy chair in the Conservation Lab.Credit: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Portrait of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller (Mrs. John D. Rockefeller); Robert Brackman, New York, New York; Oil on canvas; Gift of the Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund through the generosity of John D. Rockefeller 3rd, his wife Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller, and their four children; 2019-82, A&B. Credit: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
December 5, 2025 at 1:00 AM
thearchcons.org
ONLINE—There’s still time to join a free lecture that follows scarlet macaws, metals, and ritual networks across northern Mesoamerica and the greater US Southwest/Northwest. In “Macaws for Metal?” by Michael Mathiowetz.
PCSWDC: www.pcswdc.org/events
Register: bit.ly/4iDxDEJ
EVENTS — Pre-Columbian Society of Washington DC
The Pre-Columbian Society of Washington, D.C. (PCSWDC), is an educational organization dedicated to furthering knowledge and understanding of the peoples of the Americas before the time of Columbus.…
www.pcswdc.org
December 4, 2025 at 11:14 PM
thearchcons.org
ASIA TO PATAGONIA—Whole-genome sequencing of 1,537 people from 139 Indigenous groups has traced the longest human migration on Earth, from North Asia to southern South America.

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Science article: buff.ly/NiDYQX1
Humans reached southern South America by 14,500 years ago, genomes from 139 Indigenous groups reveal
A large-scale genome study shows that Indigenous peoples in the Americas split off several times, resulting in loss of important genetic diversity.
livescience.com
November 16, 2025 at 5:01 PM
thearchcons.org
CAHOKIA REGION—A 4-ton bald cypress marker post from the Mitchell site has now been precisely dated to A.D. 1124, the political and economic peak of Cahokia. New analyses show the tree was hauled in from bottomland forest.

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PLOS ONE article: buff.ly/ls3ThyE
Giant wooden marker post dates Cahokia's political and economic peak
Dr. Nicholas Kessler and his colleagues examined the largest known marker post from the ancient North American city of Cahokia. Their study is published in PLOS One.
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November 16, 2025 at 1:00 AM