The Making Archaeology Public Project

 

2016 will mark 50 years since grassroots preservationists successfully worked with Congress to pass the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), a United States law that acknowledges the importance of our national heritage instructs federal agencies to be good stewards of that heritage. One effect of this law has been a massive expansion of publicly funded archaeological work carried out in advance of construction projects.  This work, in turn, has resulted in tremendous new understandings of Native American and immigrant histories in the United States and its territories.

 

The Making Archaeology Public Project (MAPP) is a nationwide effort to highlight just a few of the many significant insights that have come to light since the passage of the Act. Archaeologists in each state are working within their communities to select one of the many engaging stories that have come to light and to share them with the public to celebrate the last fifty years of archaeological investigations. The ultimate goal is a website that includes links to videos that exemplify the ways that NHPA has changed our understanding of the past.

 

On Thursday evening, January 14, 2016, from 7 to 9 pm, Lynne Sebastian (an archaeologist and historic preservation enthusiast) will host a panel discussion with MAPP leaders to share the national and state projects, which range from finding the first farming settlements in North America in the Tucson Basin to the way thousands of tiny projects in New Mexico tell big stories about the ancient past.  

 

This event will be held at the Scottish Rite Temple in downtown Tucson, at 160 S. Scott Avenue and is open to the public. 

The Scottish Rite Temple has two parking lots immediately north and south of the building, with the south lot the larger. Please obey parking restrictions and do not use spaces 13, 40, or those with signs that say "Royal Elizabeth Bed and Breakfast." Metered street parking is available within one to two blocks, and the venue is one block south of the Modern Street car route.