Stephen E. Nash

Signal strength in sub-annual tree-ring chronologies from Pinus ponderosa in northern New Mexico

Abstract The creation of chronologies from intra-annual features in tree rings is increasingly utilized in dendrochronology to create season-specific climate histories, among other applications. A conifer latewood-width network has recently been developed for the southwestern United States, but considerable uncertainty remains in understanding site and species differences in signal strength and sample depth requirements. As part of the 22nd annual North American Dendroecological Fieldweek, the first Pinus ponderosa earlywood-width (EW) and latewood-width (LW) chronologies were developed for the Jemez Mountains in northern New Mexico. The aim was to extend an existing total ring-width (TW) chronology and to assess the potential for creating long LW chronologies. Analysis of chronology signal strength suggests that large sample size requirements remain a considerable hurdle for creating P. ponderosa LW chronologies longer than 400 years. At the Cat Mesa site, twenty-three sample trees were required to capture a statistically acceptable common signal in adjusted latewood (LWa), whereas only four samples were required for EW. This is significantly higher than sample depth requirements for LWa from the few other chronologies in the region where this statistic has been reported. A future priority should be to develop a conceptual guide for site and tree selection in order to maximize the potential for enhancing LW signal and for creating a robust network of multi-century LW chronologies.

Re-evaluating the Mimbres Region Prehispanic Chronometric Record

Many decades of archaeological research in the Mimbres region have resulted in hundreds of chronometric dates obtained from contexts dating prior to A.D. 1450, but until now these data have not been compiled into a single database. Using dendrochronological, radiocarbon, and archaeomagnetic dates, we analyze each of the chronometric data sets to identify patterns and biases that help us better understand the tempo and duration of fundamental transitions in the Mimbres archaeological record. We also identify critical gaps in our knowledge of the chronometric record that provide new research opportunities.

Civic Engagements in Museum Anthropology: A Prolegomenon for the Denver Museum of Nature and Science

Over the course of the 20th century, advocates and activists have sporadically argued that museums provide an ideal platform for engagements of civic life. Into the 21st century, the social roles and responsibilities of museums are actively being renegotiated, particularly with the blossoming of new collaborative and community-based programs and projects, from local tribally run ecomuseums to the National Museum of the American Indian. Through this case study of work at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science—focusing on two new enterprises, the Collections Synthesis Project and the Indigenous Inclusiveness Initiative—the challenges and opportunities for museum anthropology to contribute to the agenda of civic engagement are examined.

The Changing Mission of Museums

This chapter discusses what the current “missions” or goals of anthropology and archaeology museums are today and, in the authors’ experiences, how these goals have changed during their respective careers. The authors discuss in this organizational or funding obstacles that have emerged and that they have overcome, and especially the logistics and “politics” of work in this field. Nash discusses these issues in particular reference to the Field Museum, Chicago and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science (DMNS); O’Malley in particular reference to the William S. Webb Museum of Anthropology at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. The authors identify in closing three currently disparate entities toward a common goal for museum-based archaeology: (1) the public’s inherent interest in our subject; (2) the often unseemly amounts of disposable income produced by Western-style capitalism; and (3) a preservation, conservation, and (most importantly) dissemination ethic amongst archaeologists such that museum archaeology again returns to a central position in the discipline and in society.