North America - Southwest (Geographic Keyword)
226-250 (899 Records)
This paper explores the unintended consequences of recycling and solid waste disposal practices, both informal and programmatic, on nineteenth and twentieth century historic sites in the American West. Recycling or re-use of items of material culture has been around since time immemorial. However, it was not until World War I that recycling emerged on an industrial scale with the establishment of the Waste-Reclamation Service. Similarly, efforts to establish protocols for garbage (solid waste)...
Discovering Hidden Layers with X-Ray Vision: New Applications of pXRF to Rock Art Studies (2015)
Exploring new applications of portable X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy to the study of rock art, we report the determination of paint layer stratigraphy based upon measured elemental levels. In Lower Pecos rock art, we were able to discern when red and yellow paints superimpose black paints based on elevated levels of manganese. This ability to see underneath paint layers with "X-ray vision" shows great promise in answering stratigraphic ambiguities, complimenting Dino-Lite digital microscopy....
The Distinctive Archaeological Landscape of the El Malpais National Monument Lava Flows (2015)
El Malpais National Monument, located at the edge of the Colorado Plateau near the southern boundary of the San Juan Basin, was established to protect the rich diversity of volcanic geologic features that produced one of the longest sequences of volcanic activity in the United States – from about 700,000 to 3,000 years ago. Known collectively as the Grants Lava Flow, there are over nine lava flows each creating a new land surface with lava-influenced environmental conditions. The interaction...
The Distribution of Articulated Animal Remains: An Analysis of Household and Community Ritual in Chaco Canyon (2015)
Chaco Canyon is thought to have been a regional center during the Pueblo II period. Its identity as such makes it a particularly interesting locale at which to compare the relationship between public community-based and more exclusive household-based rituals. In this paper, the nature of articulated animal remains and their deposition are examined in order to elucidate social relationships at both the community and household scale, particularly at the largest and most well-studied site, Pueblo...
DNA Identification of Prehistoric Puebloan Quids (2015)
Quids are small wads of fiber that were chewed or sucked by prehistoric Native Americans and then spit out. To identify the plants used for making a selection of quids from Antelope Cave, we extracted DNA from 10 quids, used polymerase chain reaction to amplify a 250-base section near the chloroplast trnL gene, and determined the sequence of the amplified fragment. DNAs from the 10 quids had identical base sequences, and these matched corresponding sequences from authentic samples of Yucca ...
Documentation Of Lithic Artifacts Using An Inexpensive Reflectance Transformation Imaging System (2015)
Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) creates a relightable virtual image of an artifact, allowing interactive manipulation of the light direction and light curve characteristics to bring out details difficult to impossible to see with the naked eye or in a photograph. One potential use of RTI is in the visual documentation of lithic artifacts, traditionally done using line drawings because of the difficulty in recording their features using still photographs. Techniques for enhancing lithic...
Documenting Ancient Hohokam Irrigation Systems along the Middle Gila River and the Social Organization of Irrigation (2015)
The Gila River Indian Community’s Cultural Resource Management Program has conducted a long-term study of canal irrigation along the middle Gila River in south-central Arizona. The work has been conducted in conjunction with the Pima-Maricopa Irrigation Project with funding by the United States Bureau of Reclamation. These efforts have provided a wealth of information on prehistoric Hohokam canal systems, which were used between A.D. 450 and 1450. Principal contributions of these studies are a...
Documenting Lithic Landscapes of Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona (2015)
Archaeological lithic landscapes can encompass a broad range of geographic settings – local to regional – where lithic procurement activities by people have left indelible evidence of lithic resource use. The Petrified Forest National Park (PEFO), Arizona on the Colorado Plateau is best known for its massive exposure of late Triassic period petrified logs in the park. Petrified wood lithic debitage and tools dominate the lithic assemblages of prehistoric sites at the park. However, the park also...
Dog Burials and Healed Cranial Lesions: Exploring the Human-Dog Bond in the American Southwest (2016)
Since the initial domestication of the dog, humans and their canid companions have maintained a close connection. Dogs have been employed as hunters, beasts of burden, mousers, refuse disposers, ritual guardians, and emotional support. Also, given their physical size and profile, dogs have often been considered an animal underfoot. Despite dogs’ myriad working conditions, zooarchaeological research illustrates a non-random pattern of cranial lesions to prehistoric domesticated dogs from many...
Dogoszhi-Style Ceramics as Markers of Elite Status within the Chacoan Regional System (2017)
Dogoszhi-style ceramics are prevalent throughout the Ancestral Puebloan world during the 11th-13th centuries, and have been suggested as a marker of elite status within the Chacoan World. The replication of the style across different wares and media, occurrence on special forms, and in some cases highly skilled painting, suggests a shared social significance at the regional scale. We investigate this proposition by examining the distribution of the style across the Chacoan World using the...
Dr. Fay-Cooper Cole and His Father, Rev. Dr. George L. Cole: A Forgotten Chapter of Early Archaeological Explorations in the American Southwest (2016)
In the history of American archaeology, Fay-Cooper Cole (1881-1961) at the University of Chicago was instrumental in implementing standardized archaeological field methods and training a generation of archaeologists through his Illinois field schools in the 1930s and 1940s. In recent years, there has been some debate about the origins of the “Chicago Method” of excavation, for it has been stated that “Cole had no previous training in archaeology” (Browman 2002). Yet before he began his...
The Dragonfly Petroglyph Site: A teaching place for us all (2016)
The dragonfly is a subject of intrigue around the world and many different cultures have ascribed unique meanings to its behaviors. The Dragonfly petroglyph site located on the Gila National Forest represents an interesting teaching place for cultural preservation and traditional values and beliefs. It also demonstrates the collaborative opportunities for the interpretation of this special place. Collaborative efforts between the Gila National Forest, Aldo Leopold High School, New Mexico...
Dressing the Casas Grandes Person: Medio Period Clothing and Ritual (2016)
Casas Grandes Medio period (A.D. 1200-1450) human effigies are unique in the North American Southwest in that they depict primary and secondary sexual traits, making determination of sex possible. We consider the importance of depicted clothing (e.g., belts and sashes), personal adornments (e.g., necklaces and bracelets), facial decorations, and other aspects of dress. We find that Medio period symbolism for males and females was based on gender complementarity that combined the productive,...
Drought variability and the robustness of agrarian social networks (2017)
How robust were agrarian social networks to drought? Social networks can absorb climate shocks by facilitating resource flows to afflicted nodes and population flows away from them. Because this property of social networks depends on their ability to connect regions with negatively correlated rainfall, we expect the interaction between landscape connectivity and drought spatio-temporal covariance structures will select for particular network configurations. To test this hypothesis, we compare...
The Earliest Known Occupations of the Globe Highlands in Central Arizona (2015)
Excavations along Pinal Creek north of the Town of Miami in the Globe Highlands of central Arizona have identified a lengthy settlement history extending several thousand years from the Archaic period to the historical Apache occupation. The focus of this paper is on the earliest known periods of occupation identified by excavation. A preceramic component consisted of a structure fragment and a pit from which maize was recovered that produced a date of 790-415 B.C. E. (calibrated two-sigma),...
Early Agricultural Period Cerros de Trincheras on the Upper Gila River, Arizona (2016)
Early Agricultural Period (EAP) occupations in the Upper Gila River in southeastern Arizona indicate that EAP cerros de trincheras are more widespread than previously thought. Recent fieldwork evaluates evidence from these sites to address issues related to chronology, agriculture, and warfare. Sites include both cerros de trincheras (hilltop sites) as well as valley sites. The site of Round Mountain contains 1.9 km of berm walls and terraces, 16 rock rings, and was built on a 640 foot hill...
The Early Agricultural Period on the Upper Gila River, Arizona (2017)
Recent excavation and survey documents substantial use of the Upper Gila River Valley in Arizona during the Early Agricultural period. We have identified at least two classes of Early Agricultural period sites in the Duncan region, cerros de trincheras and river terrace sites. Both contain residential architecture and evidence of a diversity of activities. Round Mountain, a cerro de trincheras, contains 1.9 km of walls and terraces and 16 rock rings and was constructed on a 640 foot hill during...
Early Pithouse Period Ceramics in the Upper Gila: A Look from Winn Canyon (2015)
The Early Pithouse period (AD 200 to 550) is characterized by circular pithouse structures often located on isolated knolls, an abundance of undecorated brownware, and a small percentage of red-slipped ceramics generally associated with the end of the time period. Few studies have focused on these Early Pithouse period ceramics. To help fill this gap, a preliminary study was conducted on a sample of the ceramics from Winn Canyon, an Early Pithouse period site in the Cliff Valley in the Upper...
Early Pottery at Petrified Forest National Park (2017)
Petrified Forest National Park is notable for the diversity of its ceramic assemblages which encompass several major ware groups. The earliest ceramics sequence saw one of the most dramatic shift in pottery production techniques at any time in the park, from the paddle and anvil, micaceous tempered Adamana Brown Ware, to the coil and scrape, sherds and sand tempered white wares and grey wares that dominate the rest of the park’s ceramics assemblages. This poster presents a characterization study...
Early Pueblo Pit Structure Architectural Practice in the Southwest Cibola Region (2017)
Researchers studying architecture in the southwest Cibola region have generally focused on Pueblo II to Pueblo IV aggregated above-ground masonry pueblos. Although these structures provide abundant information about past lifeways, little research has been conducted on pit structure architecture in this region. As such, there is much to be learned from earlier structures dating to the Basketmaker and early Pueblo periods in the southwest Cibola. By characterizing early architectural practice in...
Early Puebloan, Late Puebloan, or Paiute? Using Luminescence Dating to Address Issues with the Virgin Branch Ceramic Chronology (2016)
The Virgin Branch ceramic typology is poorly defined. Definitions and chronologies of most types were established more than half a century ago, when little work had been conducted in the region. Further, because of an absence of tree-ring dates, the placement of most types has relied on cross-dating with Kayenta pottery styles. These situations can create problems when using ceramics to date archaeological contexts, as illustrated by recent excavations at the Pete’s Pocket site. This site,...
Earth Oven Facilities of the Sheep Range in Southern Nevada (2015)
Since 2012, nearly 200 earth oven facilities have been recorded within the Sheep Range on the Desert National Wildlife Refuge in southern Nevada. The identification of these features was aided by the use of Google Earth due to a chemical reaction that occurs in the local limestone when exposed to extended periods of heat. Also known as roasting pits, the widespread use of these features in southern Nevada has not been previously addressed, resulting in a dearth of knowledge regarding their...
Earthwatch at the Valles Caldera National Preserve: Building a Successful Volunteer Research Partnership with Obsidian, Quarries, Soil, and More! (2015)
Since 2012, the Valles Caldera National Preserve has partnered with Earthwatch Institute to bring volunteer-scientists into the field to participate in archaeological research. Volunteers stay overnight on the Preserve for 11 days and work side-by-side with Preserve archaeologists to excavate a large obsidian quarry in the heart of the caldera. The volunteers gain skills in applying archaeological methods, while living and working in one of the most spectacular landscapes of northern New Mexico....
The Edge of Humanity: Why Commonsensical Notions about Nature Impede our Understandings of Structural Violence in the Arizona Desert (2015)
Since the 1990’s Border Patrol has employed a strategy known as "Prevention Through Deterrence." This policy emphasizes heightened security around urban ports of entry so that undocumented migrants will attempt to cross the border in more remote areas that are difficult to traverse but easy for law enforcement to patrol. Rather than deterring migration, hundreds of thousands of people each year now spend days in the desert attempting to walk across one of the most extreme environments in North...
Educating Children on Texas Archaeology (2015)
This paper will discuss the education of school aged children in the archaeology of early Texas. How to create a program that is easily condensed into a two hour time window that will engage children of all ages, be easy for teachers to follow up on, and will generate positive intellectual growth in the children. Steps include creating a proposal for schools which will meet the core state educational requirements, devising methods that will work in multiple environments, and achieve a goal set...