Arizona Archaeological Society

 

 
 

2022-2023 MEETING SCHEDULE


Sept. 13

Linda Gregonis, Research Archaeologist

Birds, Lizards, and Bighorns: The Hohokam and their Animal Icons

Oct. 11

Dick Ryan

Ice Age Arizona: Plants, Animals & People

Nov. 8

Ryan Arp, MA, RPA

The Archaeology of Oversized Structures in the Phoenix Basin

Jan. 10

Chris Loendorf, Sr. Project Manager, GGRIC

Middle Gila Platform Mounds

Feb. 14

NOVA DVD on "Nazca Desert Mystery"

Discoveries of long-hidden lines and figures etched into the Peruvian desert that offer new clues to the origins and purpose behind the Nazca Lines

Mar 14

Christopher Caseldine, PhD, ASU

Longevity and Social Change among Ancient Farmers along the Lower Salt River

Apr 11

Todd Bostwick, Director Emeritus of Archaeology, VVAC

The Great Murals of Baja California: A Glimpse into the Spirit World of Ancient Hunter-Gatherers

May 9

Chris Loendorf, Sr. Project Manager, GGRIC

Eastern Pueblo Immigrants on the Middle Gila River

Click here to download Phoenix Chapter Membership Form








March 2023 Chapter News:

Our speaker will be Chris Caseldine, Ph.D., ASU, who will present Longevity and Social Change among Ancient Farmers along the Lower Salt River. Ancient farmers in the lower Salt River Valley, Phoenix Basin, central Arizona, identified as the Hohokam by archaeologists, practiced large-scale irrigation for nearly a millennium. Despite operating the largest network of canals in the Americas north of Peru, a lack of clear political hierarchy has confounded archaeologists for almost a century. He will approach this supposed anomaly by analyzing their canals. Beginning with the largest-scale detailed reconstruction of lower Salt River Valley Hohokam irrigation, he will provide an updated narrative of ancient irrigation which includes a previously underappreciated extremely large flood ca. A.D. 900 and a highly connected network of canals. This refined narrative shows that their irrigation system was well attuned to both environmental and social changes and difficulties for generations, and thus challenges prevalent Hohokam collapse models. He will then turn to one of the major irrigation systems within the valley, Canal System 2, to challenge the assumption that political hierarchy is required to manage large-scale irrigation systems.

Chris Caseldine is the Curator of Collections and an Assistant Research Professor in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University. In addition to the study of the social organization   of ancient irrigation systems, his academic and research interests include the archaeology of central Arizona, travel in the past, Indigenous inclusion in collections management practices, and repatriation.

Our Feb. 14th Chapter Meeting was supposed to feature a talk by Matt Peeples, Ph.D., ASU School of Human Evolution and Social Change, on Mapping and Counter Mapping the Zuni World. It was cancelled at the last minute out of an abundance of caution due to a comment from a Zuni tribal member that may have been misinterpreted. In its place we viewed a 2022 PBS NOVA program on “Nazca Desert Mystery” about the recent “discovery of hundreds of long-hidden lines and figures as well as evidence of ancient rituals” that provided clues to the “origins and motivations behind the giant desert symbols.” It was a very interesting program that went far beyond the exploration of the long-known Nazca Lines.

Feb. 4th Field Trip (from Lee Chandler): After a long delay, 16 members of the chapter met at the Deer Valley Petroglyph Center in Phoenix to view some of the 1500 Hohokam, Patayan and Archaic petroglyphs that can be seen on some 500 basalt boulders. The Center also has an excellent shop/bookstore and a museum. Current exhibits on display include: The Rock Art and Archaeology of Deer Valley; A Research Display of the Roosevelt Platform Mound Study; Southwest Ceramics, Manos, Metate and the Agave; and The Art and Archaeology of Perry Mesa.

Upcoming Chapter Meetings:

April 11:  Todd Bostwick, VVAC, The Great Murals of Baja California: A Glimpse into the Spirit World of Ancient Hunter-Gatherers

May 9:     Adrianne Rankin, Archaeologist, Prehistoric and Historical Period Agricultural Strategies in the Western Papagueria: Archaeological and O’odham.

Upcoming April 16th Field Trip (already full): Members of the Phoenix and San Tan chapters of AAS will be visiting the recently renamed Las Mujeras Pueblo on Perry Mesa. A 4wd high clearance vehicle is required for this trip; the drive in can be a bit challenging. The parking area is about 6.5 miles in from the Bloody Basin Road. The last stretch of road to the ruins gets a little bumpy, so we will most likely park at a location about 6 miles from the actual site and glyphs. In the event of rain within a week of the trip, it will most likely be canceled or rescheduled. Group size will be capped at 15 people or 5 vehicles.

--Ellie Large

February 2023 Phoenix Chapter News

Feb. 14th MeetingDue to unforeseen problems, the presentation by Dr. Matt Peeples scheduled for our Fen. 14th Phoenix Chapter Meeting had to be cancelled. In its stead, we will view a presentation via DVD from NOVA on the Nazca Desert Mystery regarding discoveries of long-hidden lines and figures etched into the Peruvian desert that offer new clues to the origins and purpose behind the Nazca Lines. 

Jan. 10th Meeting: Chris Loendorf, Sr. Project Manager, Gila River Indian Community Cultural Resource Management Program, explained that current research shows that there were substantial shifts in settlement patterns over time alternating between the Gila River and Salt River valleys. The rise and fall of platform mound communities in these two valleys were likely in response to changes in precipitation and water flow in the rivers whose headwaters are in slightly different areas upstream.

Feb. 4th Field Trip (from Lee Chandler): After a long delay, the Phoenix Chapter is ready to get out again for a field trip. We will meet at 10 am at the Deer Valley Petroglyph Center in Phoenix. It is located on a 47-acre nature preserve and features over 1,500 Hohokam, Patayan and Archaic petroglyphs that can be viewed on some 500 basalt boulders. It also boasts an excellent shop/bookstore and a museum. Current exhibits on display at the museum include: The Rock Art and Archaeology of Deer Valley, A Research Display of the Roosevelt Platform Mound Study and an exhibit on Southwest Ceramics, Manos, Metates and the Agave. And for the Perry Mesa enthusiast among us, there is currently an exhibit titled The Art and Archaeology of Perry Mesa.

Upon arrival, we will receive a 15–20-minute presentation on the Center and museum from an employee with a background in anthropology/archeology. After the presentation members may take a self-guided tour of the petroglyph trail, museum, and bookstore. Comfortable walking shoes, water and perhaps a little spending cash are the only packing suggestions for this trip. The petroglyph trail is a flat pathway that is approximately a quarter mile long. For more info, go to https://deervalley.asu.edu/

This trip is intended to be a more casual, local outing that is accessible to everyone. It will be a great time to meet new members or reconnect with old members. For newer chapter members, the preserve provides an excellent introduction to Rock Art and for our veteran members the preserve provides an opportunity to brush up on prior knowledge and support a local archeological resource.

--Ellie Large

Dec. 13th Meeting: The December meeting is our Holiday Potluck. We will need to start setting up the room around 5:30 pm so that we can start by about 6 pm, followed by a short business meeting and annual election about 7 pm. If joining us for the potluck, please bring a side dish or dessert to share; meats, rolls and beverages will be provided by the chapter. Everyone who attends the potluck will receive a raffle ticket, and after the presentation we will draw tickets for the table decorations.

The slate for next year's board is:

President:    Ellie Large                       Dir/Newsletter:          Nancy Unferth

Exec VP:    Mary Grant                      Dir/Field Trips:          Lee Chandler

Treasurer:    Gail Williams                   Dir/Membership:        Phyllis Smith

Secretary:    Katja Lehmann                Archivist/Cert Rep    Marie Britton

The presentation, which will begin about 7:15 pm, will be on Rock Imagery of Southern Arizona by Aaron Wright. Indigenous petroglyphs of southern Arizona have been the subject of Euro-American confusion and curiosity for more than 300 years. And while subjected to professional study and scrutiny for nearly a century, anthropologists still know little about them. This presentation reviews the history and current status of rock imagery research across southern Arizona, with particular attention given to the delineation of regional and cultural styles, behavioral significance, and avenues of future investigation.

Aaron joined Archaeology Southwest as a Preservation Archaeologist in 2015 after receiving his PhD at Washington State University. His dissertation was based on research conducted with the City of Phoenix and ASU on the South Mountain Rock Art Project published in the book Religion on the Rocks: Hohokam Rock Art, Ritual Practice, and Social Transformation. He is currently focused on the Hohokam and Patayan traditions across southwestern Arizona and specifically interested in the cultural landscape of the lower Gila River, renowned for a unique mixture of Patayan and Hohokam settlements, dense galleries of world-class rock art, and numerous enigmatic geoglyphs. Aaron is the lead researcher on Archaeology Southwest’s long-term goal of establishing a Great Bend of the Gila National Monument. In that effort, Aaron has collaborated on a cultural resource study of the area’s significance, as well as a cultural affiliation study outlining the ethnohistory and contemporary tribal connections to this remarkable landscape.

Nov. 8th Meeting: Ryan Arp from the Environmental Planning Group (EPG) in Tempe reviewed larger than normal pithouses found in several Hohokam sites in the West Valley of the Phoenix Basin over the past five years including at the Cashion site and at Villa Buena. He explained their excavation approach and the documentation of each structure, discussed commonalities in form, assemblages and ranges of activities in and around these structures, and how this contributes to our understanding of the pre-Classic Hohokam. Previously large pithouses had been found at Snaketown but few elsewhere, perhaps due to different testing schemes.

--Ellie Large

**For chapter news from earlier this year, go to the bottom of this page.

Phoenix Chapter Officers

Office Office Holder Telephone Email
President Ellie Large 480-461-0563 elarge@cox.net
Exec VP/Field Trips Eric Feldman 480-296-5217 feldbrain@gmail.com
Treasurer/Membership
Gail Williams 480-855-7735 glwilliamsaz@yahoo.com
Secretary/Education Ellen Martin 480-820-1474 e13martin@hotmail.com
1-Year Director
Vacant


2-Year Director
Phyllis Smith 623-694-8245 76desert@gmail.com
3-Year Director Nancy Unferth 602-371-1165
nferth@aol.com
Archivist/Cert Rep Marie Britton 480-827-8070 mbrit@cox.net
Advisor Laurene Montero 602-495-0901 laurene.montero@phoenix.gov 


PGM STABILIZATION - PHOENIX CHAPTER

Pueblo Grande is a Classic Period Hohokam site located in downtown Phoenix at Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park. This archaeological site has been designated a National Historic Landmark. For the past thirteen years the Arizona Archaeology Society, Phoenix Chapter volunteers along with the Southwest Archaeology Team have participated in doing stabilization, reconstruction, and general maintenance on the platform mound and adjacent room structures.

After the Hohokam abandoned this site, it fell into a state of self-stabilization where walls become protected by the material that eroded from above. Early excavations, especially in the 1930's, exposed many of these walls again. These adobe walls have been subjected to constant erosion from wind and rain as well as other agents of deterioration. Consequently, new adobe mud must be applied periodically to keep these structures from melting away. Stone faced walls require repointing to keep the stones from falling from the wall. Exposed room walls are protected by applying a thin layer of mud to the wall surface. Monitoring these architectural features for erosion damage is an on-going task.

A dedicated group of volunteers, known as the PGM Mudslingers meet one Saturday a month except in July and August. The Mudslingers work is coordinated by Laurene Montero (Phoenix City Archaeologist). All work is documented by detailed field notes and photos.

This partnership between the Mudslingers and the City Archaeologist is a great benefit to Pueblo Grande Museum and is very much appreciated by the Museum Director and the Parks and Recreation Department staff.


LOCAL MUSEUMS

Museum

Location

Website

Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park

4619 E. Washington Street, Phoenix AZ 85034

(602) 495-0901

Pueblo Grande Museum

Huhugam Heritage Center

 21359 S Maricopa Rd, Chandler, AZ 85226

grichhc.org

Huhugam Ki Museum

10005 E. Osborn Road, Scottsdale, Arizona 85256

(480) 850-8190

Huhugam Ki Museum

Arizona Museum of Natural History

53 N. Macdonald St., Mesa, AZ 85201

(480) 664-2230

Arizona Museum of Natural History

Cave Creek Museum

6140 East Skyline Drive, Cave Creek, AZ 85331

(480) 488-2764

Cave Creek Museum

San Tan Historical Society Museum 

20425 S Old Ellsworth Rd., Queen Creek, Az

(480) 987-9380

 San Tan Historical Society Museum

Scottsdale's Museum of the West

3830 N. Marshall Way, Scottsdale, AZ 85251

(480) 686-9539

 Scottsdale's Museum of the West


February 2023 Phoenix Chapter News

Feb. 14th MeetingDue to unforeseen problems, the presentation by Dr. Matt Peeples scheduled for our Fen. 14th Phoenix Chapter Meeting had to be cancelled. In its stead, we will view a presentation via DVD from NOVA on the Nazca Desert Mystery regarding discoveries of long-hidden lines and figures etched into the Peruvian desert that offer new clues to the origins and purpose behind the Nazca Lines. 

Jan. 10th MeetingChris Loendorf, Sr. Project Manager, Gila River Indian Community Cultural Resource Management Program, explained that current research shows that there were substantial shifts in settlement patterns over time alternating between the Gila River and Salt River valleys. The rise and fall of platform mound communities in these two valleys were likely in response to changes in precipitation and water flow in the rivers whose headwaters are in slightly different areas upstream.

Feb. 4th Field Trip (from Lee Chandler): After a long delay, the Phoenix Chapter is ready to get out again for a field trip. We will meet at 10 am at the Deer Valley Petroglyph Center in Phoenix. It is located on a 47-acre nature preserve and features over 1,500 Hohokam, Patayan and Archaic petroglyphs that can be viewed on some 500 basalt boulders. It also boasts an excellent shop/bookstore and a museum. Current exhibits on display at the museum include: The Rock Art and Archaeology of Deer Valley, A Research Display of the Roosevelt Platform Mound Study and an exhibit on Southwest Ceramics, Manos, Metates and the Agave. And for the Perry Mesa enthusiast among us, there is currently an exhibit titled The Art and Archaeology of Perry Mesa.

Upon arrival, we will receive a 15–20-minute presentation on the Center and museum from an employee with a background in anthropology/archeology. After the presentation members may take a self-guided tour of the petroglyph trail, museum, and bookstore. Comfortable walking shoes, water and perhaps a little spending cash are the only packing suggestions for this trip. The petroglyph trail is a flat pathway that is approximately a quarter mile long. For more info, go to https://deervalley.asu.edu/

This trip is intended to be a more casual, local outing that is accessible to everyone. It will be a great time to meet new members or reconnect with old members. For newer chapter members, the preserve provides an excellent introduction to Rock Art and for our veteran members the preserve provides an opportunity to brush up on prior knowledge and support a local archeological resource.

--Ellie Large

Dec. 13th Meeting: The December meeting is our Holiday Potluck. We will need to start setting up the room around 5:30 pm so that we can start by about 6 pm, followed by a short business meeting and annual election about 7 pm. If joining us for the potluck, please bring a side dish or dessert to share; meats, rolls and beverages will be provided by the chapter. Everyone who attends the potluck will receive a raffle ticket, and after the presentation we will draw tickets for the table decorations.

The slate for next year's board is:

President:    Ellie Large                       Dir/Newsletter:          Nancy Unferth

Exec VP:    Mary Grant                      Dir/Field Trips:          Lee Chandler

Treasurer:    Gail Williams                   Dir/Membership:        Phyllis Smith

Secretary:    Katja Lehmann                Archivist/Cert Rep    Marie Britton

The presentation, which will begin about 7:15 pm, will be on Rock Imagery of Southern Arizona by Aaron Wright. Indigenous petroglyphs of southern Arizona have been the subject of Euro-American confusion and curiosity for more than 300 years. And while subjected to professional study and scrutiny for nearly a century, anthropologists still know little about them. This presentation reviews the history and current status of rock imagery research across southern Arizona, with particular attention given to the delineation of regional and cultural styles, behavioral significance, and avenues of future investigation.

Aaron joined Archaeology Southwest as a Preservation Archaeologist in 2015 after receiving his PhD at Washington State University. His dissertation was based on research conducted with the City of Phoenix and ASU on the South Mountain Rock Art Project published in the book Religion on the Rocks: Hohokam Rock Art, Ritual Practice, and Social Transformation. He is currently focused on the Hohokam and Patayan traditions across southwestern Arizona and specifically interested in the cultural landscape of the lower Gila River, renowned for a unique mixture of Patayan and Hohokam settlements, dense galleries of world-class rock art, and numerous enigmatic geoglyphs. Aaron is the lead researcher on Archaeology Southwest’s long-term goal of establishing a Great Bend of the Gila National Monument. In that effort, Aaron has collaborated on a cultural resource study of the area’s significance, as well as a cultural affiliation study outlining the ethnohistory and contemporary tribal connections to this remarkable landscape.

Nov. 8th Meeting: Ryan Arp from the Environmental Planning Group (EPG) in Tempe reviewed larger than normal pithouses found in several Hohokam sites in the West Valley of the Phoenix Basin over the past five years including at the Cashion site and at Villa Buena. He explained their excavation approach and the documentation of each structure, discussed commonalities in form, assemblages and ranges of activities in and around these structures, and how this contributes to our understanding of the pre-Classic Hohokam. Previously large pithouses had been found at Snaketown but few elsewhere, perhaps due to different testing schemes.

--Ellie Large


APRIL 2022 CHAPTER NEWS

April Meeting: Our April 12th Zoom Meeting will feature Aaron Wright, PhD, who will present Hohokam, Patayan, or ? - Unmixing the Archaeology of the Lower Gila River. With its varied topography and stark contrast between riverine and desert environs, western Arizona witnessed the flourishing of multiple cultural traditions that followed related yet unique historic trajectories. Archaeologists learned long ago that, in places, the material remains of these distinct traditions overlap on the landscape. This scenario is quite evident along the lower Gila River, where elements of Patayan and Hohokam material culture are often found together or in close proximity. How to explain the “mixing”? Aaron reviews the preliminary findings of a four-year survey and documentation of over 150 archaeological sites in the Dendora Valley and surrounding area that show what the archaeological record looks like when worlds collide.

Aaron is a Preservation Anthropologist with Archaeology Southwest, a Tucson-based non-profit organization dedicated to studying, protecting, and respecting the Southwest’s rich archaeological landscape. He is author of Religion on the Rocks: Hohokam Rock Art, Ritual Practice, and Social Transformation (University of Utah Press, 2014) and editor of the forthcoming Sacred Southwestern Landscapes: Archaeologies of Religious Ecology.

March meeting: The speaker for our March 8th Zoom meeting was Christopher Schwartz, Ph.D., ASU, who talked about Long-Distance Trade Relations and Interaction Between the US Southwest, Northwest Mexico, and Mesoamerica: While today people rapidly exchange goods and information over great distances, in the past, long-distance exchange required the mobilization of vast networks of interaction. Vibrantly colored scarlet macaws, native to the Gulf Coast of Mexico and Central America, were the most engaging and challenging items that were transported through these networks over hundreds of miles. He explained what we now know about the long-distance acquisition, circulation, and use of scarlet macaws in the pre-hispanic U.S. Southwest and Mexican Northwest, including the reasons for procuring these multifaceted animals, their significance in place-making and widespread social transformations, and their continued importance to descendant communities in this region.

Field Trips: Although the Phoenix Chapter has not organized any field trips since the pandemic began, the Rim Country and San Tan chapters have been quite active and several of our chapter members have joined them on their field trips.

Upcoming Meetings: We will continue to use Zoom for our remaining meeting in May and plan to resume in-person meetings at the Pueblo Grande Museum on Sept. 13th. I will send out the info on the May meeting as soon as possible.

 --Ellie Large



JANUARY 2022 CHAPTER NEWS


January Meeting: The speaker for our Jan. 11th Zoom meeting will be Christopher R. Caseldine, Ph.D, ASU, who will talk about Tonto Basin: An Outpost, Boundary, Cultural Crossroads, or Something Else in Central Arizona. The waiting room will open at 7:15 for those who want to enter early. There will be time for Q&A after the talk. The link has already been sent out to all Phoenix Chapter members as well as those who have Phoenix listed as their second or third chapter. If you didn’t receive it, please contact me at elarge@ox.net.

The Tonto Basin in central Arizona was central to the archaeological development of the Hohokam as well as in the debates that raged around the Salado concept. Research sponsored by the Bureau of Reclamation and the Arizona Department of Transportation in the 1980s and 1990s pushed the study of Tonto Basin archaeology lightyears ahead, but what came before and after Salado remains understudied. In this talk, I will present a summary of archaeological research in the Tonto Basin and then discuss avenues of research for moving forward.

Christopher (Chris) Caseldine is the Interim Curator of Collections in the Center for Archaeology and Society Repository, School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University. His research has  focused on reconstructing ancient irrigation systems in the lower Salt River Valley (the Phoenix Basin) to provide insight into the relationship between water availability and sociopolitical change among the Hohokam. Chris also studies the Tonto Basin and neighboring areas below the Mogollon Rim, and is interested in Hohokam identity and the transition period between Hohokam and Salado.

December Meeting: Our Dec. 14th Zoom meeting, which was to feature Pearce Paul Creasman, Ph.D., Director, American Center of Research, Amman, Jordan, talking on Introduction to the Archaeology of Jordan, from Jordan, was cancelled the day before it was scheduled due to a family medical emergency. We will reschedule it as soon as possible.

February Meeting: As of now live in-person meetings in the Pueblo Grande Museum’s Community Room are currently scheduled to resume in February with a limit of 30 attendees. To help out the museum, we will start earlier – at  6:30 pm - so that we can close no later than 8:30 pm. Details on how to get on the list to attend the meeting will be send out with the meeting announcement.

 --Ellie Large

DECEMBER CHAPTER NEWS

December Meeting: Our Dec. 14th Zoom meeting, which will start at 8 pm, will feature Pearce Paul Creasman, Ph.D., Director, American Center of Research, Amman, Jordan who will talk on Introduction to the Archaeology of Jordan, from Jordan. The last time that Dr. Creasman spoke to our chapter he drove up to Phoenix from Tucson and told us about the challenges of re covering data from a submerged pyramic in the Sudan. In January 2020, he was apponted as the new Director of the American Center of Oriental Research in Amman, Jordan, so he will be talking to us via Zoom.

Dr. Creasman had been a professor at the University of Arizona since 2009, where he was an Associate Professor and Curator in the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research with joint/affiliate appointments in the School of Anthropology, Department of Classics, Department of Religious Studies, and Arid Lands Resource Sciences, Since 2012 he had also served as Director of the University of Arizona’s Egyptian Expedition, focusing on the heritage, archaeology, and environment of the Middle East and North Africa. Having worked in several countries in the region, his most recent archaeological project was directing excavations at the pyramids and royal necropolis of Nuri, Sudan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

He received his B.A. in Anthropology and Philosophy from the University of Maine in 2003, his M.A. in Anthropology from Texas A&M University in 2005, and his Ph.D. in Anthropology & Nautical Archaeology from Texas A&M University in 2010. He is the author or co-author of more than fifty scholarly articles and six edited volumes, including Pharaoh’s Land and Beyond: Ancient Egypt and Its Neighbors (Oxford University Press). He is actively involved in several initiatives to apply scientific methods to long-standing problems in Egyptology, using new data to improve the resolution of our collective knowledge in areas such as ancient climate change and chronology.

November Meeting: Our Nov. 9th Zoom meeting featured Steven R. James, Ph. D., who talked about Zooarchaeology at Pueblo Grande: Late 1930s WPA Excavations and Recent Studies of Hohokam Hunting and Fishing Patterns. Among other interesting facts about the earlier excavations, he reexamined the artifacts recovered in the early excavations at PGM and found that the “bison” bone was actually from a cow, and that a bone originally identified as a macaw bone was actually a domestic chicken bone.

Dr. James is an anthropological archaeologist with over 45 years of research and experience primarily in California, the Great Basin, and the American Southwest, but also in Hawaii. His research interests are diverse and include zooarchaeology, human impacts on the environment, pueblo architecture and use of space, and the history of anthropology and archaeology, including 1930s New Deal archaeology in California and the American Southwest.

He has authored many peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. His publications include a co-edited book titled The Archaeology of Global Change: The Impact of Humans on Their Environment published by the Smithsonian Institution Press as well as a book chapter on prehistoric hunting and fishing patterns in the American Southwest in an edited volume as a Smithsonian Contribution to Knowledge. His recent research involves archaeological investigations in the Flagstaff and Sedona areas of the Colorado Plateau and Verde Valley, in the San Bernardino Mountains of the Mojave Desert, and excavations at a Millingstone Horizon site in Southern California with field classes from Cal State Fullerton.

Upcomoing Meetings (via Zoom):

Jan. 11: Christopher R. Caseldine, Ph.D., Tonto Basin: An Outpost, Boundary, Cultural Crossroads, or Something Else in Central Arizona

--Ellie Large

NOVEMBER 2021 CHAPTER NEWS


November Meeting: Our Nov. 9th Zoom meeting will feature Steven R. James, Ph. D., who will talk about Zooarchaeology at Pueblo Grande: Late 1930s WPA Excavations and Recent Studies of Hohokam Hunting and Fishing Patterns. Dr. James is an anthropological archaeologist with over 45 years of research and experience primarily in California, the Great Basin, and the American Southwest, but also in Hawaii. His research interests are diverse and include zooarchaeology, human impacts on the environment, pueblo architecture and use of space, and the history of anthropology and archaeology, including 1930s New Deal archaeology in California and the American Southwest.

He has authored many peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. His publications include a co-edited book titled The Archaeology of Global Change: The Impact of Humans on Their Environment published by the Smithsonian Institution Press as well as a book chapter on prehistoric hunting and fishing patterns in the American Southwest in an edited volume as a Smithsonian Contribution to Knowledge. His recent research involves archaeological investigations in the Flagstaff and Sedona areas of the Colorado Plateau and Verde Valley, in the San Bernardino Mountains of the Mojave Desert, and excavations at a Millingstone Horizon site in Southern California with field classes from Cal State Fullerton.

October Meeting: Our Oct. 12th Zoom meeting featured Christopher Schwartz, Ph.D., who gave us a great talk about Transporting and Raising Scarlet Macaws in the Pre-Hispanic U. S. Southwest and Mexican Northwest. Archaeologists have long known that pre-contact groups in the U. S. Southwest and Mexican Northwest procured, raised, and even bred scarlet macaws (Ara macao). Their bones have been found at numerous archaeological sites and they are also depicted in murals and petroglyphs. He covered topics such as where they came from (probably the Gulf Coast of Mexico), who brought them to the southwest (traders or ritual specialists?), what they ate (maize) and how they may have been transported (they are loud and have very strong beaks, would have been easiest to move when young (or possibly sedated?).

Upcomoing Meetings (via Zoom):

Dec. 14: Pearce Paul Creasman, Ph.D., Introduction to the Archaeology of Jordan, from Jordan.

Jan.  11: Christopher R. Caseldine, Ph.D., What is Hohokam?: Thoughts from the Tonto Basin and Below the Mogollon Rim

--Ellie Large

OCTOBER 2021 CHAPTER NEWS

October Meeting: Our next Zoom meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 12th at 7:30 pm, will feature Christopher Schwartz, Ph.D., who will talk about Transporting and Raising Scarlet Macaws in the Pre-Hispanic U. S. Southwest and Mexican Northwest. A Zoom invite will be sent out to all chapter members several days before it. Archaeologists have long known that people in the pre-Hispanic U. S. Southwest and Mexican Northwest procured, raised, and even bred scarlet macaws (Ara macao) far from their endemic habitat in eastern and southern Mexico. Even so, researchers still reduce macaws to “exotic items” on trait lists when discussing exchange, effectively removing the human experience of procuring and raising these animals and the details that can be learned from considering these activities. He will draw on ethno-historical accounts, archaeological understandings of exchange, and macaw biology to offer a fresh perspective on the human experience of transporting and raising scarlet macaws in the past.

Christopher Schwartz is a Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at NAU. He received an M.A. from ASU in 1975 and a Ph.D. from ASU in 2020. His dissertation research combined his interests in long-distance exchange and isotope biogeochemistry to explore the acquisition, treatment, and deposition of scarlet macaws at three regional centers (Pueblo Bonito in northwest New Mexico, Wupatki in northern Arizona, and Paquimé in northwestern Chihuahua) located in the US southwest and Mexican northwest between 900 and 1450 CE. His research demonstrated that past people interpreted rare and non-local scarlet macaws in different ways, which corresponded to region-specific patterns of acquisition and deposition in larger processes of place-making over time and across space in the US Southwest and Mexican Northwest. He is the author of A Contextual Analysis of Ritual Fauna and Socially Integrative Architecture in the Tonto Basin, Arizona (Kiva 84:3:317–341) and co-author of Investigating Pre-Hispanic Scarlet Macaw Origins through Radiogenic Stron-tium Isotope Analysis at Paquimé in Chihuahua, Mexico (Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 61:101256).

September Meeting: Our last meeting, on Tuesday, Sept. 14th, featured Kyle Woodson, Director of the Gila River Indian Community’s Cultural Resource Management Program who discussed The Impact of Flooding on Hohokam Irrigation Agriculture, focusing on the large riverine floodplain of the middle Gila River in south-central Arizona. He examined our assumptions about what we know about floods, their effects on floodplains and canal irrigation agriculture, and the human responses to flood impacts. He explained why some of our current models are not directly applicable to the Gila River basin, explained why we need to know more about flooding and the impact of floods on prehistoric irrigators, and suggested ways to know more about these topics.

Fall Meeting Schedule (via Zoom):

Nov. 9:     Steven R. James, Ph. D., Zooarchaeology at Pueblo Grande: Late 1930s WPA Excavations and Recent Studies of Hohokam Hunting and Fishing Patterns.

Dec. 14:   Pearce Paul Creasman, Ph.D., Introduction to the Archaeology of Jordan, from Jordan


--Ellie Large


SEPTEMBER 2021 CHAPTER NEWS