FRIDAY MORNING PAPER SESSION
RESEARCH IN THE SERVICE OF REPATRIATION
Organizer: T.J. Ferguson (Anthropological Research, LLC)
Discussant: Matthew Garza (Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community)
Discussant: Chip Colwell (Denver Museum of Nature and Science)
The passage of the National Museum of the American Indian Act of 1989, the Native American Graves
Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990, and various State Burial Laws have led to more, not less,
archaeological and ethnographic research. The intentional excavation of human remains after 1990, and
the repatriation of human remains and NAGPRA items in museum collections, requires anthropological
research to determine cultural affiliation and evaluate tribal claims. Over the last 25 years, the research
undertaken in the service of repatriation has produced new theoretical perspectives on the transmission
of social identity and cultural property over time and space. It has also altered the practice of
archaeology and ethnography, and led to increased collaboration with the descendants of the past
groups we study. This symposium highlights repatriation research to illustrate how these trends have
had a positive impact on our discipline.
Paper Abstracts
Modeling Cultural Interactions and Expanding Traditional Histories: Research and NAGPRA
Compliance on the Coconino National Forest. Kimberly Spurr (Museum of Northern Arizona), Peter J.
Pilles (Coconino National Forest), and Leigh J. Kuwanwisiwma (Hopi Cultural Preservation Office)
Compliance with NAGPRA by the Coconino National Forest provided an opportunity to explore cultural
and genetic relationships among ancient and modern peoples in central and northern Arizona. The
decade-long project to repatriate human remains and funerary objects involved 12 institutions and
several dozen researchers, ultimately generating thousands of data records that provide a postrepatriation archive. By allowing documentation of the human remains and associated objects,
descendant groups gained insights into the physical lives of ancestors and their interactions with
surrounding culture groups. Information gained from this and other NAGPRA-related projects has the
potential to support and expand traditional oral histories, providing a communication bridge between
archaeologists and tribal groups.
Reassessing the Burial Assemblages of Nuvakwewtaqa, Chavez Pass, Arizona. Arleyn W. Simon,
Christopher Caseldine, Sarah Striker, Christopher Grivas, and Neysa Grider-Potter (Arizona State
University)
The burial collections from Chavez Pass Ruin (Nuvakwewtaqa) were reassessed during a recently
completed Forest Service sponsored NAGPRA Documentation Project. This cluster of three large
pueblos, inhabited during the 13th – 15th centuries, is situated in northern Arizona along a prehistoric
trade route that connected the pueblos of Hopi and Zuni to other settlements in the Verde Valley. The
site had suffered from decades of looting prior to intervention by the Coconino National Forest and
salvage surface collections and excavations by ASU archaeologists (1976-1982). The subsequent
NAGPRA inventory listed this as one of the largest collections of human remains (MNI) reported in the
Southwest. The recent NAPGRA Documentation Project provided the opportunity to reassess the burial
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assemblages, including human remains and associated funerary objects. We applied novel approaches
to examine the original project, to re-examine contexts, and to document the collection. New insights
were gained into the people and material culture of Nuvakwewtaqa, which demonstrate extensive
regional ties during a time of dynamic changes on the Colorado Plateau.
Identity and Cultural Affinity in the Alameda-Stone Cemetery: Bioarchaeological, Contextual, and
Archival Evidence. Michael Heilen and Teresita Majewski (Statistical Research, Inc.)
The Alameda-Stone cemetery in downtown Tucson, Arizona, was used from the early 1860s until 1881
before it was closed by the city and repurposed for urban development. The cemetery originally
contained the burials of 1,800–2,100 individuals from multiple religious and cultural backgrounds,
including Hispanics, non-Hispanic Euroamericans, Native Americans, African Americans, and individuals
buried by the U.S. Military. The cemetery was excavated in 2006–2008 to make way for a court complex,
resulting in the largest and most complex historical-period cemetery excavation conducted in North
America. Conducted under Arizona State law, the project completely recovered all human remains from
within the 4.3-acre project area. The cultural affinity of the remains of 1,386 individuals was assessed to
the finest level possible based on the evaluation of multiple lines of biological, contextual, and archival
evidence. This research provided significant insight into the burial practices, health status, diet, medical
treatment, mortality, and life experience of 19th-century Tucsonans during a time of major political,
demographic, technological, and economic change. The project was also a model for comprehensive
engagement of the community from beginning to end.
Repatriation and the Evolution of Osteological Practice. John McClelland (Arizona State Museum)
Repatriation legislation has had a broad impact on the practice of osteology in the United States. Rather
than calling a halt to the scientific investigation of human remains, the requirement to produce
inventories led to increased documentation and stimulated the development of professional recording
standards. But the greatest impact has been due to the shifting context in which the work takes place.
Previously, osteologists regarded human remains as objects of academic investigation. In the context of
repatriation, osteologists are more inclined to regard human remains as ancestors and to view their
work as providing information useful to descendant communities. Biological information is one of the
categories of evidence recognized in NAGPRA for the determination of cultural affiliation and tribal
representatives have recognized the potential value of this type of research. Biological distance studies
have the potential to inform these decisions, but there are many challenges in operationalizing this
approach with ancient ancestral remains. Nevertheless, this area of research can lead to closer
collaboration between osteological practitioners and indigenous communities.
Bioarchaeological Research Resulting from NAGPRA Compliance Efforts. Debra L. Martin (University of
Nevada, Las Vegas)
The analysis of human remains in the American Southwest was problematic and fraught long before
NAGPRA legislation was passed. Historically, typological approaches and racist ideologies permeated
scientific osteology, and remains were largely disconnected from their ancestral context and their
descendant communities. While the discipline of biological anthropology was moving away from
typology in the 1980s, NAGPRA law propelled work with human remains into dramatic new directions. It
led to increasingly systematic inventory and data collection, and subsequent analyses brought in more
innovative methodologies and applied social theory in the interpretations. Richly contextualized and
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connected to historic and contemporary descendants using ethnographic data, studies conducted on
burials during the repatriation effort have resulted in some of the most sophisticated work ever done in
Southwest bioarchaeology. Examples of several of these NAGPRA-inspired studies are presented.
An Apache Repatriation Request: Working with Native Communities to Better Understand Published
and Unpublished Documentary Source. Cécile R. Ganteaume (National Museum of the American Indian)
and Vernelda Grant (San Carlos Apache NAGPRA)
In 1995, The San Carlos Apache Tribe, The Tonto Apache Tribe, The White Mountain Apache Tribe, and
The Yavapai-Apache Tribe constituted The Western Apache NAGPRA Working Group. Its members were
those four Arizona tribes’ NAGPRA representatives. Each representative was appointed to the group by
his or her tribal chairperson or council, and each member’s participation in the Working Group was
supported through tribal resolutions. Members of the Working Group consult regularly with core
cultural advisory groups made up of traditional cultural authorities and, as necessary, with individual
traditional cultural authorities outside of their core advisory groups. The Working Group formally
petitioned a number of museums for the repatriation of specific sacred objects in their collections. At
the time the Working Group submitted their repatriation claim to the Smithsonian’s National Museum
of the American Indian (NMAI), the Working Group also submitted a claim for the same class of objects
with the same level of information to the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History (SINMNH). The SI-NMNH has denied this claim, even after a hearing and a unanimous decision by the
Smithsonian repatriation Review Committee to honor this claim. The SI-NMNH has also denied a
Working Group request to appeal their decision, and the matter remains in dispute to this day. This
paper deals with the research and methodology employed by the NMAI in making its recommendations
to its board concerning The Western Apache NAGPRA Working Group’s repatriation request, made to
the NMAI on January 9, 2004.
FRIDAY AFTERNOON PAPER SESSION
NAVIGATING THE LANDSCAPE: NAVAJO AND APACHE IDENTITIES BEYOND
ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Organizer: Kerry F. Thompson (Northern Arizona University)
In the study of Navajo and Apache identities, the emphasis on ethnogenesis, or the emergence of
Diné, N’de, Inde, and Tinde has typically begun with Athapaskan migrations and followed a path
through acclimation and acculturation to the American Southwest as both a geographic zone and
distinct cultural region. What is not fully incorporated into the story of Navajo and Apache identities
are Navajo and Apache histories themselves. Although recent research is attempting to address this
inequity, the body of literature as a whole has significant impacts on how anthropologists conceive of
and portray the people themselves, which in turn affect popular understanding of Navajo and Apache
culture. Where identities matter most for Native peoples is often in legal decisions and what is often
presented, and accepted as “true,” are the anthropological identities decided upon decades ago that
have undergone little, if any substantial revision. This session looks at different facets of the
anthropological identities of Navajo and Apache people and the ways in which these identities matter
outside of academia.
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Paper Abstracts
Navajo Traditional Concepts of Identity. Raymond D. Austin (James E. Rogers College of Law, University
of Arizona)
The racial identities of the criminal defendant and the victim are prime factors in determining whether a
federal court or state court has jurisdiction to prosecute a defendant for commission of a crime on an
Indian reservation. The federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has recently issued an opinion setting
forth a test to determine whether a person is American Indian or not for purposes of federal district
court criminal jurisdiction. The Ninth Circuit’s test to determine whether a person is American Indian or
not for purposes of federal district court criminal jurisdiction has developed independently of traditional
American Indian (including Navajo) perspectives of their own identities. This session will talk about
traditional Navajo concepts of identity as found in the Navajo Creation Scripture and Journey Narratives
and contrast them with the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ perspective as found in its case law.
Popular Culture and Media Stereotypes of Apache Women: Contested Identity in a Modern World.
Sharon K. Moses (Northern Arizona University)
Apache women continue to suffer from the stereotypes and cultural identities as they have been
depicted in popular culture and media. While there have been publications regarding the lives of Apache
women, many of these draw upon historical and ethnographic accounts of times past. Contemporary
issues and concerns are minimally addressed, if at all. A recent example of the disrespect to Apache
women’s identity is the controversial Adam Sandler film, “Ridiculous Six.” When his objections to racist,
misogynistic dialog and depictions of Apache women were ignored, their Apache cultural advisor walked
off the set. This presentation will discuss the persistence of negative constructions of Apache identity
and its consequences.
Gobernador Polychrome Pottery as as Part of a Post Pueblo Revolt Community of Practice. Timothy D.
Wilcox (Stanford University)
The notion of Navajos and other Apachean groups as late arrivals into the Southwest, coupled with
dendritic classifications of ethnicity, directly contradicts what Navajo people learn from oral traditions.
There is a contradiction in the ways movement through time and space are conceptualized and in the
way Navajo people trace their own personal origins. Some clan histories speak of origins from the
Pueblos of Jemez, Zia, Zuni, Ohkay Owingeh, and others. Prior to the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, painted
pottery trade wares from these regions were common in Dinetah, the Navajo homeland, centered in the
Gobernador and Largo drainages of northwest New Mexico. Immediately after the Pueblo Revolt,
Navajos began to produce a painted ceramic called Gobernador Polychrome that was stylistically related
to Tewa Polychromes. The same style appears in other places in the Rio Grande Valley and the Hopi
Mesas. This little discussed fact is important because the revolt leader P’opay, a Tewa shaman, called for
a return to a Tewa influenced pre-Spanish social order. How did the practices associated with this
polychrome ceramic production resonate with the Navajo identities that were being created in this
tumultuous time in southwest history? The social and political identities subsumed in the practice of
Gobernador Polychrome production show us an important and tangible participation in the social
landscape of the southwest during this watershed moment. A participation that has been reduced to
Athabaskan groups wandering into the Southwest immediately prior to Spanish contact by academic
research, and perpetuated by popular narratives.
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Ndee Identity: Indivisibility of Land and Mind. Nicholas C. Laluk (White Mountain Apache Tribe)
Ndee (Apache) landscape knowledge and association to place and the environment are defined by an
inherent and long established connection to topographical features throughout the Southwest U.S.
These connections continue to define contemporary existence and act upon Ndee individuals in many
ways including long-established Ndee identity. However, continued diminishment and curtailment of
Ndee communities from traditional homelands and associated environments in various forms have
devastating and lasting effects on Ndee communities. Ranging from continued misrepresentation and
non-Ndee interpretation of Ndee pasts and present to community level realities of language loss and
substance abuse these issues are constantly adversely impacting Ndee communities.
However, better understandings of the Ndee past can be highlighted by understanding Ndee landscape
associations and ongoing importance of place. Through the application of the Ndee concept of “Ni”—the
inseparable connection between the land and mind (Welch and Riley 2001)—continued connections and
importance of the land base can be highlighted and move beyond understandings of the Ndee past
through anthropological-archaeological research alone. Utilizing the Ndee concept of Ni and
interpretations Ndee cultural experts can provide unique glimpses into Ndee ties to their former
homelands that are crucial for contemporary archaeological-anthropological research projects
associated with Ndee place-based reasoning and identities. Therefore, this paper suggests that Ndee
rationalizations and landscape perceptions are crucial to maintaining tribally-defined Ndee identity,
Ndee cultural surviva,l and how continued misrepresentation and misinterpretation of Ndee cultural and
history is having detrimental effects to Ndee communities.
FRIDAY ORGANIZED POSTER SESSIONS
ENGAGED ARCHAEOLOGY AND DESCENDANT COMMUNITIES
Organizers: Kari Schleher and Susan Ryan (Crow Canyon Archaeological Center)
Modern-day engaged archaeology is increasingly conducted with or by descendant groups and
communities whose ancestors make up the archaeological record of the southwest U.S. and northwest
Mexico. The posters in this session focus on research by and with tribal members from seven
descendant communities across Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. The authors contributing to these
posters provide a multifaceted description of a particular research project and, in doing so, demonstrate
how group and community engagement shapes and benefits archaeological practice. Posters highlight
collaborations between archaeologists and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices, non-profit organizations,
tribal governments, and cultural resource management companies, all of which are working together to
create a richer understanding of the past by including multi-vocal research designs, diverse perspectives
on the past, and interpretations of the archaeological record that integrate traditional perspectives with
Western scientific methods.
Poster Abstracts
Archaeology on the Desert River: Cultural Resource Management on the Gila River Indian Community.
Frances M. Landreth, M. Kyle Woodson, Emery F. Manuel, and Letricia Brown (Gila River Indian
Community-Cultural Resource Management Program)
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The Gila River Indian Community (GRIC), home of the Akimel O’odham and Pee Posh tribes, is situated in
south-central Arizona. Increasing levels of development on the Community and a desire to oversee
Cultural and Heritage Resource planning within the Community prompted the GRIC to establish a Tribal
Historic Preservation Office (THPO) as well as a Cultural Resource Management Program (CRMP). For
more than twenty years the CRMP staff has been comprised of a blend of Native and non-Native
archaeologists in field, lab, and administrative positions. This collaboration between Community
members and non-Community members has allowed for a richer, more comprehensive understanding
of the abundant cultural resources located on the GRIC. The development of CRMP has also led to the
ability to offer specialized services to other agencies outside of the Community across the state and
across the country, making the program unique among tribal archaeology departments.
Collaboration Rather Than Competition: Integrating Ethnography, Traditional History, and
Archaeology for the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project, Northwest New Mexico. Jason Chuipka and
Dennis Gilpin (Paleowest)
The Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project (NGWSP) is a Bureau of Reclamation infrastructure project that
is a major component of the Navajo Nation San Juan River Basin Water Rights Settlement in New
Mexico. The project brackets the San Juan Basin and is primarily on Navajo Nation lands. A primary
research theme of the project is indigenous perspectives and Native American participation. To this end,
PaleoWest has conducted extensive ethnographic studies including archival research, interviews with
local people, and consultation with knowledgeable individuals such as the traditional practitioners. This
poster examines the process by which archaeological data sets and traditional Navajo knowledge were
merged for the NGWSP cultural resource inventory. Collaboration, rather than competition, between
archaeologists and ethnographers has resulted in a more nuanced understanding of the cultural
landscape of the project area.
Doing Archaeology the Navajo Way: Engaging Communities to Protect and Manage the Cultural
Landscape. Ora Marek-Martinez, Lukai Nez, Antoinette Kurley-Begay, and William Tsosie (Navajo Nation
Archaeology Department)
Wetis Orapugat Navachukwak (“Reconnecting Our Past”): Large-site Mapping and Preservation on
Ute Mountain Ute Lands. Jim Potter (Paleowest) and Terry Knight (Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Historic
Preservation Office)
Over the last three years the Ute Mountain Ute THPO and PaleoWest have worked to secure a number
of grants to document and develop preservation plans for large, threatened sites on Ute Mountain Ute
lands. This paper presents the results of the largest preservation project to date, the Barker Arroyo
Project in northeastern New Mexico. The NPS has funded three field seasons thus far, resulting in the
documentation of Barker Arroyo Pueblo (LA27948) and numerous associated sites around this large
Chacoan village. Barker Arroyo Pueblo comprises a great kiva, architectural rubble mounds—one of
which is a great house—15 kiva depressions, and six middens. The site was occupied between A.D. 920
and 1260, with population peaking between A.D. 1020 and 1100. The large site and associated small
sites around it composing the Barker Arroyo community will ultimately be nominated as an
archaeological district to the NRHP.
Culturally Relevant STEM Education at Crow Canyon Archaeological Center with Southern Ute
Montessori Students. Rebecca Hammond and Rebecca Simon (Crow Canyon Archaeological Center)
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In the field of anthropology and in archaeology in particular, the terms “cultural understanding" are
commonplace, but usually refer to the understanding of “other cultures”. Even so, many anthropologists
agree that the best way to understand other cultures is to better understand one’s own culture. Crow
Canyon Archaeological Center’s mission encourages understanding of the entire human experience and
accomplishes that mission through a variety of ways, in particular archaeological research, educational
programs, and collaborations with American Indians. One example of collaboration with American
Indians took place in Spring 2015 when Crow Canyon teamed up with Southern Ute Montessori
Academy to provide a program that not only taught STEM initiatives, the culture history of the region,
and the archaeological process, but encouraged better understanding of their own Ute culture and
past. This multi-year partnership resulted in the construction of a replica wickiup and continues to
inspire the students and archeologists alike. This poster describes the development of the Southern Ute
Montessori program at Crow Canyon, what the students have learned thus far, and how such programs
can further multiple initiatives for a variety of partners.
The Pueblo Farming Project: A Hopi-Crow Canyon Collaboration on Research and Education. Paul
Ermigiotti and Mark D. Varien (Crow Canyon Archaeological Center), Leigh Kuwanwisiwma (Hopi Cultural
Preservation Office), and Grant Coffey (Crow Canyon Archaeological Center)
The Pueblo Farming Project (PFP) is a collaborative project between Crow Canyon Archaeological Center
and the Hopi Cultural Resources Preservation Office. The PFP was created to examine modern Pueblo
Indian farming techniques and connect them to ancient farming practices of the ancestral Pueblo people
of the Mesa Verde region in southwestern Colorado. The project developed as an outgrowth of a Native
American Graves and Repatreation Act consultation with Crow Canyon, where various tribal participants
wanted to know more about ancient direct precipitation farming. Hopi farmers and Crow Canyon staff
members selected five plots to be the location for an ongoing experimental gardening study. Using
traditional ecological knowledge, plots were chosen because of the presence of certain native plants
that indicategood corn growing areas. Between 2008 and 2015 these gardens have been planted
under the lead of the Hopi farmers. Planting depth, spacing, vegetative and repoductive developement
as well as yield and precipitation have been carefull monitored and recorded.The knowledge gained
from this collaborative project will be incorporated into educational programs and PFP data will be used
to estimate and ground truth estimates of agricultural productivity generated by the Village
Ecodynamics Project computer model.
Co-Constructing Heritage Programs at the Pueblo of Zuni, New Mexico—Three Voices. Dan Simplicio,
Kathleen M. Stemmler, and Shirley Powell (Crow Canyon Archaeological Center)
Zuni Voice. The Zuni (Ashi:wi) Tribe is collaborating with the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center to codevelop an historic buildings restoration and education initiative to respond to needs identified by
community members. In the 1970s, Zuni Pueblo underwent an architectural upheaval when the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) constructed 1,000 single-family dwellings.
Counter to HUD’s goal of improving living conditions, many Zuni left their extended families and the
pueblo proper, further threatening thousands of years of Ashi:wi sociocultural, spiritual, and ideological
heritage.
Archaeology Voice. The historic buildings restoration planning team currently includes the Zuni Tribe
and Crow Canyon; eventually we anticipate that the partnership will expand to encompass the New
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Mexico Historic Preservation Division, National Trust for Historic Preservation, and HUD. This group is
developing plans to restore Zuni’s ancient buildings as safe and habitable spaces that are integrated by
Zuni spiritual, cultural, historical, and architectural traditions.
Education Voice. The Zuni education initiative will extend Indigenization of education by enabling
students to interrogate the vestiges of their colonized past and to reimagine a 21st century identity
based on sovereignty, traditional language, and cultural continuance.
The Impact of Collaborative Educational Tourism on Archaeological Research, Management
Initiatives, and Curriculum Development. Shanna Diederichs (Northern Arizona University/Crow
Canyon Archaeological Center) and Steve Wolverton (University of North Texas)
As part of their Cultural Exploration program, Crow Canyon Archaeological Center often brings together
Native Pueblo and Archaeological scholars for one week-long 'exploration' trips. These trips are framed
as educational tourism seminars around themes such as Hopi migrations, Pueblo Potters of the
Southwest, or the Chaco World. While there is monetary and professional incentives for scholars to
participate in these trips, a growing number engage in them to expand their own personal and
professional perspectives. This is partially due to the nature of the discourse during these seminars,
which is public yet intimate and unconstrained by policy and procedure. In this paper we explore the
scholar’s experience of these trips and identify if and how they integrate this multi-cultural discourse
into their research programs, perspectives on heritage management, and academic curriculums.
ENGAGED ARCHAEOLOGY THROUGH TRANSNATIONAL, INTERDISCIPLINARY, AND
INDIGENOUS COLLABORATIONS
Organizers: Michael Searcy (Brigham Young University), Donna Glowacki (Notre Dame University), Todd
Pitezel (Arizona State Museum)
Transnational, interdisciplinary, and indigenous collaborations enrich archaeological research and
interpretations, expanding our breadth by incorporating diverse perspectives that also inherently make
our work more relevant to a wider audience. The posters in this session highlight a number of recent
projects from across the US Southwest and northern Mexico that have benefited from these kinds
of integrative collaborations. They also represent a diverse array of the types of research problems that
are being addressed. Together they concretely demonstrate the power of collaborative efforts that have
been such a fruitful part of that archaeological endeavor.
Poster Abstracts
Inter-Apache Interpretation of the Chiricahua Mountains in Southeastern Arizona: An Exercise in
Collaboration. Nicholas C. Laluk (White Mountain Apache Tribe Heritage Program)
Despite more than 125 years of exile, descendants of Chiricahua, Mescalero, and Western Apache tribes
still retain significant and powerful ties to their former homelands in what is now southeastern Arizona.
However, due to the high mobility of historical-period Apache tribes in the U.S. Southwest and the near
invisibility of Apache archaeological sites on the ground surface, much is still to be learned about
historical-period Apachean life-ways. Moreover, beyond material signatures, much is to be learned
about the Apache past and present in reference to U.S. colonial policies regarding the lasting
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sociocultural, political, physical, and cognitive affects resulting from these policies and actions. These
lasting impacts of colonial policies and actions are still very much felt and critically affect contemporary
Apache communities. By addressing the various challenges encountered during the collaborative
research processes, and modifying paternalistic thought processes and misunderstandings in reference
to American Indian communities, researchers can conduct archaeological-anthropological research that
creatively and critically responds to the needs of contemporary American Indian communities.
Anthropogenic Influences on Terrace Soil Development at Tumamoc Hill. Rachel Marie Cajigas
(University of Arizona), James T. Watson and Todd Pitezel (Arizona State Museum)
Tumamoc Hill is the earliest known terraced hill in southern Arizona (circa 2650 B.P.). Evidence suggests
that prehistoric people inhabited and substantially modified the summit of the hill during two distinct
phases: the Cienega phase (2650-2050 B.P.) and the Tortolita phase (1550-1450 B.P.). Recent
geoarchaeological investigations were designed to be minimally invasive and to characterize soil
development on the hill and refine the chronology of terrace constructions around the summit. Results
from soil descriptions and micromorphology analysis indicate the summit developed a stable soil in
which prehistoric inhabitants constructed features. Surrounding the summit, residents piled stones in a
contiguous low mound to create terraces with up to three meters of flat surface area. According to soil
micromorphology analysis, these areas indicate a complex history of soil formation and stability, aeolian
deposition, and colluvial deposition which may be either anthropogenically or naturally deposited.
Charcoal and sediment samples have been submitted for AMS and OSL dating. These results clearly
indicate that the early residents of the hill selected nearly contiguous locations directly off-summit to
create a separate delineated space and provide additional surface area for activities.
Plant Microfossils Recovered from Dental Calculus at Casas Grandes, Mexico. Daniel King and Michael
Searcy (Brigham Young University), and Kyle Waller (University of Missouri)
Microfossil analysis is a technique used to better understand prehistoric diets. As part of a larger
multinational project, we gathered and analyzed 112 samples of dental calculus (fossilized plaque) from
human remains discovered at Paquimé and other sites in the Casas Grandes river valley to identify
various microfossils still present in the silica matrix. With this information, we are able to better
understand the flora present during ancient times and how it was used (food, processing, etc.).
Local and Distant: Biodistance Approaches to Casas Grandes Social Organization. Kyle Waller
(University of Missouri)
The origins of the A.D. 1250 Casas Grandes phenomenon, found throughout northern Mexico, Arizona,
New Mexico, and Texas, remains a contentious issue for Southwestern archaeologists. Scholars have
hypothesized connections to the Mesoamerican heartland, West Mexico, Mimbres, Chaco Canyon, and
alternately, in situ development with limited emulation of distant traits, depending upon the lines of
evidence chosen. In this study, a series of biodistance analyses are conducted using cranial non-metric
traits. Several proposed “donor” populations are compared to Viejo period and Medio period samples to
investigate patterns of prehistoric gene flow, and how these patterns change through time. GIS leastcost and water pathways are calculated between sites to control for similarity resulting from geographic
proximity, rather than gene flow. The results suggest a complex pattern of regional interaction in the
Casas Grandes region. Gene flow with Mimbres and West Mexican populations increase from the Viejo
to Medio period, and are much greater than would be expected given geographic proximity. Long-
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distance gene flow at Paquimé was sustained over several generations, demonstrating the importance
of non-local interactions in interpretations of Casas Grandes exchange, economy, and leadership.
Violence and Mobility at Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico. Adrianne Offenbecker, Jane Kelley, and
M. Anne Katzenberg (University of Calgary)
Casas Grandes, also known as Paquimé, was one of the largest and most complex societies in prehistoric
northwest Mexico, with established trade networks and ideological influences from Mesoamerica, the
American Southwest, and west Mexico. Analyses of the human skeletal remains from Casas Grandes
have found evidence for interpersonal conflict, human sacrifice, and cannibalism during the Medio
period (ca. 1200-1450 A.D.), which coincides with increasing sociopolitical complexity, population
aggregation, and emerging social differentiation at the site. In this study, we use strontium isotope
analysis to explore the nature of conflict at Casas Grandes, namely, whether the victims of violence were
members of the local community or outsiders, such as immigrants or captives. Our preliminary findings
indicate statistically significant associations between 87Sr/86Sr values and mortuary treatment, as well
as between 87Sr/86Sr values and sex. We also highlight the strontium isotope results from several
distinctive burials, including potential human sacrifices, cannibalized remains, and various interments
from an elite burial tomb.
Can Hopi Corn Save Ethiopian Farms? Employing 1,400 Years of Pueblo Agronomic Knowledge
Towards Global Sustainability. R. Kyle Bocinsky (Crow Canyon Archaeological Center and Washington
State University), Jade d'Alpoim Guedes (Washington State University), Karen Adams (Crow Canyon
Archaeological Center), Rob Quinlan, Mark Caudell, and Timothy A. Kohler (Washington State University)
Traditional crops and farming practices are not only nutritionally, economically, and spiritually important
to human communities—they are reservoirs of resilience encapsulating generations of traditional
agronomic and environmental knowledge. Can that knowledge be used to improve global food security?
Using data from the MAÍS project and a state-of-the-art maize growth model, we simulate the potential
productivity of several non-irrigated Pueblo maize varieties across the southwestern United States
during the last two millennia, and then forecast productivity over the next century using IPCC climatechange projections. We do the same using historic weather data and future climate projections in
southwestern Ethiopia. Drought- and heat-resistant Pueblo maize varieties will likely provide a more
stable and sustainable subsistence base for Ethiopian farmers than commercial hybrids currently under
cultivation. Perhaps more importantly, Pueblo farming practices—developed in the drought-prone and
highly variable Southwest—may help inform adaptive shifts by subsistence farmers worldwide.
More than Meets the Eye: The Role of Ethnography and Traditional History for Interpreting Cultural
Resources on the Navajo‐Gallup Water Supply Project, Northwest New Mexico. Jason Chuipka and
Dennis Gilpin (PaleoWest), Tim Begay (Navajo Nation Historic Preservation Department)
The Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project (NGWSP) is a Bureau of Reclamation infrastructure project that
will ultimately consist of 280 miles of pipeline, several pumping plants, and at least two water treatment
plants that will convey water from the San Juan River to the eastern portion of the Navajo Nation. The
project is a major component of the Navajo Nation San Juan River Basin Water Rights Settlement in New
Mexico. Ethnography comprises a large portion of the NGWSP survey budget and has been integral to
identifying and assessing the cultural significance of modern in-use areas, traditional cultural properties
and sacred sites, Jishchaa’ or places of death, historic sites, and prehistoric sites. Ethnography for
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NGWSP includes archival research, interviews with local people, and consultation with knowledgeable
individuals such as the traditional practitioners of the Dine Medicine Men’s Association. What has
become evident is that many features and site elements that hold significance to the Navajo people
would not be documented, and therefore subject to potential construction disturbance, if ethnography
and consultation was not part of the cultural resource inventory. Navajo perspectives also contribute to
a much richer understanding of the cultural landscape of the San Juan Basin through time.
Interactions Among Society, Climate, Production, and Population: A Case Study from the Central Mesa
Verde Region with Contemporary Implications. Dylan M. Schwindt (Crow Canyon Archaeological
Center), R. Kyle Bocinsky (Crow Canyon Archaeological Center and Washington State University), Scott
G. Ortman (University of Colorado, Boulder), Donna M. Glowacki (Notre Dame University), Mark D.
Varien (Crow Canyon Archaeological Center), and Timothy A. Kohler (Washington State University)
The Village Ecodynamics Project (VEP) investigates long-term relationships between humans and the
environment in the northern pre-Hispanic U.S. Southwest through demographic and paleo-environmental
reconstruction and computer modeling. It is a multidisciplinary, multi-institutional project that illustrates
the power of sustained interdisciplinary collaborative research. Here we focus on a 4,600 km2 study area
in the central Mesa Verde region in southwestern Colorado. Population histories from A.D. 600 to 1280 in
six environmentally distinct portions of the central Mesa Verde region in southwestern Colorado were
reconstructed and related to climate-driven changes in agricultural potential. We identified prominent
imbalances between the maize-niche size and population densities in two subregions during the A.D.
1140-1180 and A.D. 1225-1260 intervals. We propose that human responses in those subregions,
beginning by the mid-A.D. 1200s, contributed to violence and social collapse across the entire society.
These findings are relevant to discussions of how climate change will affect contemporary societies.
OPEN POSTER SESSION ABSTRACTS
It Takes a Village: Dissertation Research and Community Archaeology at Woodrow Ruin. Jakob W
Sedig (University of Colorado, Boulder)
Archaeology students face many hurdles during the completion of thesis or dissertation projects.
Acquiring funding, collecting and analyzing data, conducting fieldwork, and presenting results are just
some of the obstacles archaeology students must overcome. Because of the time, energy, and monetary
requirements needed to complete these tasks, public engagement is often at the bottom of an
archaeology student’s task list. However, it is becoming increasingly important for academics and
archaeologists to communicate with a diversity of audiences. Thus, I suggest it is essential that
archaeology students engage the public during the course of their degree, in order to begin learning
how to succinctly disseminate their research through a variety of forums. For this poster, I provide
examples of public archaeology from my dissertation research at Woodrow Ruin, a large, multicomponent site in the Mimbres region of southwest New Mexico. My project at Woodrow Ruin
demonstrates that public engagement is indeed possible as an archaeology student, and should be an
integral part of student research projects. By working with the public, students learn not only the best
methods and practices for public discourse, but may also gain unexpected assistance with some of the
many tasks associated with completing an archaeology degree.
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Paws and Claws and Skulls, Oh My!: The Distribution of Articulated Animal Remains at Pueblo Bonito,
Chaco Canyon. Samantha Fladd (University of Arizona) and Katelyn Bishop (University of California, Los
Angeles).
Chaco Canyon is thought to have been a regional center during the Pueblo II period; however, the
composition of, and relationships between, populations within the canyon remain highly contested,
particularly the residents of the great houses. Given the long occupation span and intensive remodeling
of sites, an analysis of depositional characteristics provides the clearest picture of identity and
relationships between social groups within these sites. Here, we examine the deposition of articulated
animal remains to elucidate relationships at multiple social scales within the largest and most well
studied great house, Pueblo Bonito. Recent research on Chaco Canyon indicates the exploitation of
specific animal species was an important factor in the early establishment of social differentiation.
Allowing ethnographic research on the significance of certain faunal species and body parts to inform
our analysis, we used excavation records to gather archaeological data to examine the nature and
significance of the faunal remains, associated materials, geologic composition, and architectural setting.
Two interesting patterns have emerged from this research: (1) The eastern and western halves of Pueblo
Bonito exhibit distinctive approaches to animal exploitation and deposition, possibly reflecting a duality
or moiety system; (2) Strategies of deposition appear to reference the practices carried out in the oldest
(northeast) section of the pueblo, suggesting later residents attempted to refer to and draw upon the
meanings created by village founders. Through the consideration of the differential contents and
contexts of deposits containing faunal material, we address the flexible negotiations of social
relationships that existed at Pueblo Bonito across space and time.
The Excavation and Restoration of the Solomon Farmstead, Lower Nutria, Zuni Reservation, New
Mexico. Theodore R. Frisbie (Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville)
Three Southern Illinois University Edwardsville summer field schools were involved in the project,
working directly with the Solomon family on a daily basis. Inferences based on the artifactual record
were verified or corrected based on family member awareness (as children) of the lifeway/activities of
the previous generation. Essentially, this was a unique study in ethnoarchaeology. A monograph of the
first season was published in a limited edition; the final report is nearing completion and in all
probability with be in the ASNM Special Publication series.
Old Collections, New Questions: Information on Plains-Pueblo Interaction and Variations in Style from
Pecos Pueblo Pipes: Kaitlyn E. Davis (University of Colorado, Boulder)
This poster presentation centers on what can be learned about Plains-Pueblo interaction and changes in
community life through time from the examination of variations in style of a particular artifact class, the
smoking pipe. This presentation outlines preliminary results of analysis of the pipes from the A.V. Kidder
and National Park Service collections housed at Pecos Pueblo in New Mexico. Analysis of 833 pipe
fragments noted form, material, design, and use wear, and these artifacts were compared to common
Plains and Pueblo pipe styles. Archival and National Park Service database records were then used to
obtain provenience information and approximate dates of deposition for the pipes to assess spatial and
temporal patterns in Plains-style and Pueblo-style pipe deposition. This poster presents the stylistic,
material, and spatial results from Pecos in the context of pipe style and material distribution across the
Northern Rio Grande pueblos at which pipes have been excavated.
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Shell Use in the Mimbres Region: Not so Black and White. Erika Heacock (Arizona State Museum)
The Harris site (A.D. 500-1000) is an unusual Mimbres site because it has a Late Pithouse period
component with no overlying Classic period pueblo. The excavations by the University of Las Vega sNevada (UNLV) were conducted at this site between 2007 and 2013. Shell artifacts, and their role in
the Mimbres area, have not been extensively studied. I analyzed shell data from the UNLV field
school, combined with Haury's excavated shell assemblage from his work at the site in the 1930's, to
interpret the role of shell at the Harris site. More specifically, I looked at the role shell may have
played in the ritual life of Mimbres society. Using context, artifact form, and co -occurring assemblage
materials illuminates how shell was used in ritual practice. The framework on ritual that I utilized for
this analysis derives from Bell’s (1992) seven characteristics, which are formalism, traditionalism,
invariance, rule-governance, performance, and trade. Five comparative sites were analyzed to
observe whether shell was used in the same way throughout the region and if patterns changed
through time. The sites chosen for the comparative analysis included NAN Ranch (A.D. 600/650 -1150),
Mattocks Ruin (A.D. 750/800-1130), Galaz Ruin (A.D. 550-1130), Swarts (A.D. 950-1150), and the Old
Town site (A.D. 750-1150).
The Wetherill Trading Post and Homestead, Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New Mexico. Leigh
A. R. Cominiello and W. H. Wills (University of New Mexico)
The University of New Mexico, in partnership with the National Park Service, is currently conducting
research on the first trading post in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. The Wetherill trading post and
homestead was established in the late 1890s and served as a hub for archaeological research, residence,
ranching, and trade. The study of this multifaceted and unique commercial enterprise provides insight
into the complex social and economic dynamics that were set into motion in the 1890s and existed until
the creation of the Chaco Canyon National Monument in 1907. The original Wetherill buildings were
subsequently occupied and modified until 1952. This on-going research draws together archaeological
and historical evidence for the Wetherill trading post and homestead to better understand a relatively
brief, but significant period in the canyon.
The Cedar Mesa Building Murals Project: A Collaborative Project to Document and Date Building
Murals and Cliff Dwellings in the Cedar Mesa Area. Benjamin A. Bellorado (University of Arizona)
In spite of a long history of research, Southeastern Utah is one of the least understood portions of what
was once the ancestral Pueblo world. Unfortunately, many of these sites, especially the highly visible
intact cliff dwellings that draw many recreationists to areas like Cedar Mesa, are being significantly
impacted by an astronomical increase in visitation and even recent looting activities. Many of these well
preserved sites contain rarely preserved features and attributes, such as plaster building decorations
(murals) and wooden roofs. These attributes present archaeologists the opportunity to study several
aspects of ancient pueblo society that are rarely accessible due to poor preservation conditions. This
presentation outlines the initial results of the Cedar Mesa Building Mural project, an innovative study
combining efforts by University of Arizona graduate students, land managers from the BLM and NPS, the
Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, local avocational archaeology groups, and a number of volunteers to
document these rare sites, structures, and features before they are impacted further. The poster
presents the results of the survey inventory of building murals in the area aimed at aiding land managers
in creating new management plans to protect these important resources. The poster also presents
results of the plaster decoration analysis and dendrochronological analyses, aimed at reconstructing the
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seriation of building decoration styles in the area and the role of these decorations as expressions of
changing religious ideologies and community identities in the greater Cedar Mesa area and over time.
Introducing the Cedar Mesa Perishables Project. Laurie D. Webster (University of Arizona), Erin Gearty
(National Park Service), Chuck LaRue (consulting wildlife biologist), and Louie Garcia (language arts
specialist and Piro/Tiwa weaver)
The Cedar Mesa Perishables Project was established to document the 4,000 unpublished textiles,
baskets, wooden implements, and hide and feather artifacts excavated from dry caves in Grand Gulch
and other canyons in southeastern Utah during the 1890s. Housed in six museums across the United
States, the artifacts are associated with the Basketmaker (200 BC-500 AD) and Ancestral Pueblo (5001300 AD) archaeological cultures. Our goal is to survey, photograph, and interpret these remarkable
collections and make them more widely known to archaeologists, native communities, and the general
public for research and educational use. Eventually we hope to make most of our photographs and data
available on-line through a perishables digital archive. In this poster, we share some of our observations
about clothing, woodworking, and caching practices of the early inhabitants of southeastern Utah.
The Archaeology of Community Fiestas in San Antonio del Embudo. Valerie Bondura (Columbia
University) and Severin Fowles (Barnard College)
Archaeological excavations in the historic plaza of San Antonio del Embudo (now Dixon), New Mexico,
have uncovered a robust history of communal gatherings in the heart of this Spanish colonial
settlement. Digging in front of a former community center and dance hall, our team discovered evidence
of 150+ years of eating, drinking, and being merry together at the base of the Sangre de Cristo
Mountains. In recent years, such traditions have been revitalized through renewed community interest
in the historic past. Local initiatives to preserve and protect the historic plaza and to revitalize the
town’s annual Fiestas articulated with our fieldwork to produce an engaged archaeological project that
is a locus for conversations regarding Hispano memory and heritage. Through engagement with Hispano
descendants, community archaeology days for local children, presentations at the public library, and our
open excavations in the heart of town, this project gathered people, stories, and things together,
offering one way to discuss the future of heritage and community in this rapidly changing town.
Sore Mouths in the Southwest: Preliminary Research on Unique Carnassial Wear in Dog Burials. Joshua
D. Nowakowski and Chrissina C. Burke (Northern Arizona University)
Dogs have been described as a refuse management system in prehistoric villages across the world; in
fact, much of their domestication has been attributed to their ability to adapt to consume human
garbage/waste. Recent research on prehistoric dog burials housed in the Museum of Northern Arizona’s
curated faunal collection illustrates unusual tooth wear patterns on both the upper and lower
carnassials in a large number of the canids. The pattern of wear on the carnassials of these dogs
indicates a unique diet—the pattern does not conform to wear from excessive gnawing on bones or
pathologies developed from old age. Instead a diet consisting of corn may have played an important role
in how the teeth of these dogs were worn. These burials come from sites from different temporal and
spatial frameworks, yet they demonstrate similar patterns. This poster presents preliminary data and
results concerning the tooth wear of these dogs.
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Current Research of a Centurion: AAHS Sponsored Research. Jesse Ballenger (EcoPlan Associates),
Jonathan Mabry (City of Tucson), Homer Thiel (Desert Archaeology), Meredith Wismer-Lanoë (University
of Iowa), and François B.J. Lanoë (University of Arizona)
The Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society (AAHS) celebrates its centennial in 2016. This poster
features two of the Society's most recent projects and opportunities that AAHS sponsored as part of its
mission to encourage scholarly research in the American Southwest and Northern Mexico. Ft. Mason is a
Civil War era military post excavated in the 1970s. The Desperation Ranch Project reinvestigates a
Native American site last excavated in 1936. The AAHS sponsors student, professional, and advocational
research in a number of ways.
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SATURDAY MORNING PAPERS
RESEARCH AT THE INTERSECTION OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOGRAPHY
Organizers: John Ware (Amerind Foundation), and Peter Whiteley (American Museum of Natural History)
Discussant: Jane Kelly (University of Calgary)
Serious dialog between Southwestern archaeologists and ethnographers has been neglected for far too
long, to the analytical impoverishment of both disciplines. Ethnographies are essential to the practice of
archaeology. The past can be better understood socially by linking it with ethnographic studies that
document humanity’s lived experiences. More critically, the ethnographic cultures of the Southwest
represent end points on historical trajectories that preserve important information about the histories—
both structured and contingent—of Southwest peoples. Archaeologists neglect ethnography at our peril.
Conversely, especially in the Southwest, where there is a demonstrable continuity between ancestral
and historic sociocultural formations, archaeology provides an essential context for understanding
contemporary sociocultural variability. If we are ever to truly achieve one of anthropology’s iconic
goals—the explanation of cultural differences and similarities—contemporary cultures must be viewed
through an historical lens, and archaeological cultures through an ethnographic lens. The papers in this
session demonstrate the value of renewing archaeology and ethnography’s long neglected collaboration.
Paper Abstracts
Research at the Intersection of Archaeology and Ethnology: Reviving the Direct Historical Approach.
John Ware (Amerind Foundation)
In 1924, one of the chief architects of our discipline suggested that the study of Southwestern
archaeology “…must necessarily begin with a consideration of the still-inhabited pueblos of New Mexico
and Arizona” (Kidder 1924:143). Needless to say, Kidder’s vision of an integrated archaeology and
ethnology never materialized. Rejecting the direct historical approach over concerns about projecting a
deeply distorted present into the past, most contemporary archaeologists pursue their research of the
pueblo past as if the extensive ethnographic literature of the Southwestern Pueblos was irrelevant to
understanding deep history. In this paper I argue that we need to reexamine our assumptions about
historical disjunctions and become, in the tradition of Cushing and Bandelier, students of all parts of the
pueblo trajectory: precolonial, postcolonial, and contemporary. This is especially true as our discipline
moves beyond a concern for classification and temporal ordering to address issues such as social,
political, and ritual organization—practices in the past that left few if any obvious material remains in
the archaeological record.
The Implications of Kiowa-Tanoan Kin Terms for Pueblo Social Organization. Patrick Cruz and Scott
Ortman (University of Colorado, Boulder)
Social anthropologists, beginning with Fred Eggan, have drawn upon archaeological and ethnographic
evidence in developing models of the history of Pueblo social organization. These models rely largely on
functionalist arguments concerning the costs and benefits of different forms of kinship organization in
various economic contexts. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to see kinship systems in the archaeological
record, and ethnographic descriptions by themselves provide only indirect evidence concerning the
evolution of kin categories over time. A solution to this problem is linguistic reconstruction of kin terms,
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as comparison of cognates across related languages, in light of the current usage, provides direct
evidence for the evolution of kin concepts. The Kiowa-Tanoan languages are especially useful in this
regard because previous work has shown that major branching events in the history of these languages
correspond to major transitions in the archaeological record of the northern U.S. Southwest. In this
paper, we present a reconstruction of Kiowa-Tanoan kin terms and trace their evolution over time, as a
means of evaluating recent proposals concerning the history of Pueblo social organization.
Archaeological and Ethnological Engagements and the Lessons from Hohokam Kinship Analysis.
Bradley Ensor (Eastern Michigan University)
The mutual need for integrating archaeological and ethnological research is exemplified through kinship
research. Without integration, archaeologists overlooked the significance of the topic for addressing
their questions while ethnologists perpetuated hypotheses that their subfield cannot adequately test.
Integration best involves co-investment in each subfield’s strengths to address common goals. For
example, although archaeologists cannot make low-level observations on what people did, ethnological
cross-cultural mid-level correspondences enable plausible archaeological inferences on kinship practices
from dwellings that can be used to evaluate high-level theoretical assumptions untestable by ethnology
alone. An analysis of four Hohokam sites provides information on over 1,400 years of variation and
change that support some ethnological assumptions, but not others. The process also developed new
questions for ethnological research. The case study illustrates how archaeology can move from a passive
consumer of ethnological interpretation to an active contributor, how both benefit, and how new
research may be stimulated.
Grand Ideas: From Engaged Ethnology to Informed Archaeology. Kelley Hays-Gilpin (Northern Arizona
University and Museum of Northern Arizona)
Never before has the Grand Canyon ecosystem faced so many threats to its integrity as a unique and
diverse cultural/natural ecosystem. And never before have Native American communities with cultural
associations to Grand Canyon had so many opportunities to speak publically about the impacts of
recreation, tourism development schemes, groundwater depletion, uranium mining, air pollution,
climate change, hydroelectric dam management, invasive species, and many other issues.
Archaeologists are natural allies in advocating for protection and preservation of cultural landscapes. By
learning about current community concerns and the underlying ontology that guides them, we can help
translate cultural concerns to resource managers and help craft solutions. What we learn by taking a
comparative and analytical approach to environmental consulting as ethnographic data is that tribal
consultants are presenting very clear, consistent logic and emotional engagement that connect
contemporary communities to ancestors and all plant, animal, and mineral life in kinship relationships of
stewardship responsibility. Understanding indigenous connections to place (and all the lives, past,
present, and future, that are embedded in places) through ethnography will produce more informed
and relevant archaeology, and not only in Grand Canyon.
Connecting with the Past through Ethnographic Museum Collections. Lisa C. Young (University of
Michigan) and Susan Sekaquatewa (Hopi Tribe)
Archaeologists study material remains to interpret the past. Objects from the past also create
connections between contemporary communities and their ancestors. We examine these different
perspectives through a discussion of Hopi plants that were collected in the 1930’s and are currently
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housed at the University of Michigan and the Museum of Northern Arizona. We contrast the research
interests of Volney Jones and Alfred Whiting, the ethnobotanists who created these collections, with
perspectives of Hopi community members who were involved in the original research, as well as
contemporary Hopi farmers. We also discuss the use of digital resources for information sharing and
implications of this project for created engaged discussions of museum collections and material culture
more generally.
Archaeology as Ethnology (and Vice Versa): Puebloan Variations. Peter Whiteley (American Museum of
Natural History)
Can archaeologists interested in precolonial Puebloan ruins learn anything from the ethnographic record
of recent and contemporary Pueblo societies and cultures? Can anthropological explanation of
contemporary Puebloan societies be meaningfully shaped by attendance to the archaeological record?
Archaeological and ethnographic arguments have ebbed and flowed on these questions. Recent
archaeological paradigms largely disfavor arguments from “ethnographic analogy,” preferring abstract
behavioral models applied only to the material record of empirical practices. Likewise, recent
ethnological explanations of Puebloan cultures have largely isolated themselves from Puebloan
archaeological cultures. This paper argues that, in some definable respects, contemporary and recent
Puebloan social structures and cultural practices constitute ethnological homologies, that, however
transformed, descend directly “with modification” from systems observable in the archaeological
record. Mutatis mutandis, systems that descend via vertical transmission from earlier homologues,
require meaningful situation within identifiable long-term Puebloan patterns observable in the
archaeological record. Focusing on kinship, politics, language, and cosmology, this paper argues that
mutual engagement among ethnography, ethnohistory, and archaeology should not be an ancillary
project, but rather a precondition for adequate scientific explanation of Puebloan sociocultural systems
over the longue durée.
SATURDAY AFTERNOON PAPERS
SCIENTIFIC APPROACHES TO MESOAMERICAN CONNECTIONS
Organizer: Ben Nelson (Arizona State University)
Archaeologists are collaborating with other scientists to understand the prehispanic connections
between the Southwest U.S./Northwestern Mexico and Mesoamerica. Ultimately both scientific and
humanistic approaches are necessary, because the connections range from technological to symbolic.
Included are complex manufacturing techniques, public architecture, body decoration, iconography, and
ritual. Such distant acquisitions were part of an ancient embodied psychology associated with social
distinctions, awesome performances, and numinous experiences. Presenters in this session describe
insights from the sciences, adding new dimensions to our understanding of how different peoples were
connected. Some areas of new inference include the dating and sources of exchanged materials,
identification of technological styles in fine crafting, elite consumption, and the role of head-shaping in
marking cultural identity. Although the methods are powerful, questions remain open about some
applications. As the papers demonstrate, archaeology with its command of time plays a role in testing
and refining some of these scientific methods.
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Paper Abstracts
Scarlet Macaws: Cosmology and Chronology in Mimbres and Chaco. Stephen Plog (University of
Virginia), Adam S. Watson (American Museum of Natural History), Patricia A. Gilman (University of
Oklahoma), Steven A. LeBlanc (Harvard University), Peter M. Whiteley (American Museum of Natural
History), and Douglas J. Kennett (Pennsylvania State University)
The Mimbres Valley and Chaco Canyon are two areas where archaeologists have recovered numerous
remains of Scarlet Macaws (Ara macao). Painted scenes on Mimbres pottery also depict parrots, most
likely macaws, in some cases being carried in baskets. Many archaeologists have regarded the
acquisitions of these cosmologically significant birds from tropical Mesoamerica as having occurred
contemporaneously in both Mimbres and Chaco, having begun no earlier than A.D. 1000 and perhaps
not until A.D. 1040. These estimated dates, however, have exclusively been based on the occurrence of
macaw remains in structures with tree-ring dates or in deposits with temporally diagnostic ceramic
styles. We discuss the first direct AMS radiocarbon dates on Scarlet Macaw remains from the two
regions and explore the implications of these dates for previous proposals regarding the chronology of
Mesoamerican-Southwestern interaction and our understanding of historical dynamics in Chaco.
Tracing Turquoise in the Southwestern U.S. and Mexico: The Case for Lead and Strontium Isotopes.
Alyson M. Thibodeau (Dickinson College) and David J. Killick (University of Arizona)
In the past decade, knowledge about ancient turquoise acquisition and trade has been advanced
through the application of stable and radiogenic isotopic tracers to questions of turquoise provenance.
Here, we discuss the advantages of using lead and strontium isotopes to interpret the sources of
turquoise artifacts. First, we address the geological basis for geographic variations in the lead and
strontium isotopic composition of turquoise mineralization in the southwestern U.S. and northern
Mexico. Because deposits with similar isotopic signatures tend to cluster geographically, lead and
strontium isotopes make it possible infer the region of origin for turquoise artifacts, even if their isotopic
ratios that do not match those of any known sources. In addition, because geological factors can explain
regional variations in the isotopic composition of turquoise deposits, it is possible to make broad-scale
predictions about the isotopic composition turquoise from areas where geological samples are not
available or the presence of ancient turquoise mines uncertain (e.g. Mesoamerica). Using data from the
literature and our own data on turquoise artifacts, we suggest that lead and strontium isotopes are the
most appropriate tools for resolving questions about the long distance trade of turquoise between the
Southwest and Mesoamerica.
Análisis arqueométricos aplicados a objetos prehispánicos de turquesa procedentes de Chalchihuites,
Zacatecas, México. Guillermo Córdova Tello y Estela Martínez Mora (Dirección de Estudios
Arqueológicos, INAH)
Diversos estudios arqueológicos han mostrado la presencia de bienes suntuarios elaborados con piedra
azul-verde en contextos funerarios de la cultura Chalchihuites. Por otro lado, la existencia de distintos
grupos de minas subterráneas prehispánicas en la región permitió a los especialistas suponer que la
materia prima con la que fueron elaborados estos ornamentos provenía de minas locales. En nuestra
exposición presentaremos el resultado de los estudios arqueométricos realizados a objetos de piedra
azul-verde recuperados de los sitios arqueológicos de El Bajío, Pajones y Cerro Moctehuma de la cultura
Chalchihuites. Los resultados sugieren que los ornamentos analizados fueron elaborados con turquesa
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originaria de Arizona, y amazonita, de Nuevo México, y que fueron elaborados en Chalchihuites. Lo
anterior nos sugiere reconsiderar el papel que desempeñó la cultura Chalchihuites durante los periodos
Clásico tardío y Epiclásico en la interacción social que había entre Mesoamérica y el suroeste de Estados
Unidos.
Composición elemental de objetos metálicos prehispánicos y coloniales en Michoacán mediante
espectroscopia de rompimiento inducido por láser LIBS (Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy). José
Luis Punzo Díaz (Centro INAH-Michoacán), Marco Antonio Meneses y Ignacio Raúl Rosas Román (Centro
de Investigaciones en Óptica A.C.)
En esta ponencia se presentan los primeros resultados sobre el análisis de composición elemental de
objetos metálicos dentro de un proyecto multidisciplinario sobre la metalurgia en el estado de
Michoacán, especialmente enfocado a las regiones de la tierra caliente en la cuenca del río Balsas.
El análisis de las muestras se realizó mediante espectroscopia de rompimiento inducido por láser (LIBS,
por sus siglas en inglés). LIBS es una herramienta útil, la cual consiste en enfocar un pulso de luz láser
sobre una muestra para producir un micro plasma, a partir del cual se obtiene tanto información
cuantitativa como cualitativa de la composición química de la muestra. Comparado con técnicas
tradicionales de análisis, LIBS tiene la ventaja de ser relativamente simple, no requiere de preparación
de las muestras, pude se portátil, el daño causado a las muestras es mínimo, análisis en tiempo real y
puede aplicarse a muestras sólidas, liquidas o gaseosas. La identificación se realiza mediante la
comparación del espectro de emisión contra un espectro sintético, calculado de acuerdo con los datos
de emisión de plasma disponibles en el NIST. Con los resultados obtenidos hasta el momento podemos
identificar ciertas diferencias en algunos de los objetos analizados, que forman parte del proceso
productivo de los objetos metálicos, a través de los cuales es posible determinar distintas fuentes del
mineral con que fueron estos producidos.
The Manufacturing Traces of the Turquoise Objects from Mesoamerica and the American Southwest:
A Technological Comparison. Emiliano R. Melgar Tísoc (Museo del Templo Mayor del INAH)
There are thousands of turquoise objects found in different sites of Mesoamerica, Northern Mexico, and
the American Southwest. Most of the research about them has been focused on their symbolic meaning,
morphology, trade, and use, but very few studies consider their manufacturing traces and the
organization of their production. In this paper, I present a technological approach to analyze and
characterize their manufacturing techniques through the employment of Experimental Archaeology and
Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The comparison of the turquoise assemblages from more than 50
sites located in these regions showed specific patterns related to lapidary traditions and technological
styles. With this new data about the geography of the manufacturing techniques, it is possible to
appreciate new nodes of interactions and trends of circulation of the turquoise pieces (raw materials,
blanks, and finished objects) among the sourcing areas, the workshops, and the final consumers.
Cacao Connections and Conundrums in the American Southwest. Patricia L. Crown (University of New
Mexico) and W. Jeffrey Hurst (The Hershey Company)
Residues of cacao were first reported in southwestern ceramics in 2009. By 2015, hundreds of samples
had been run using High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry to identify the
methylxanthines used as biomarkers for cacao residues. The high number of positive samples raises
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questions about the reliability of the data and technique. Results of the latest studies are discussed,
along with possible sources of contamination and error. The range of methods for extracting samples
from ceramics is reviewed, along with best practices for curating and sampling ceramics for residue
analysis. On-going research offers additional means for identifying cacao in the prehispanic Southwest.
Biocultural Markers of Group Identity: Cranial Modification Across Mesoamerica, Northwest Mexico,
and the U.S. Southwest. Sofía Pacheco-Fores (Arizona State University)
Archaeologists have recently focused on exploring the nature and extent of Mesoamerican-U.S.
Southwestern interactions through studies of material culture. In this presentation, I focus instead on
biocultural traits, examining macro-regional patterns of cranial modification across Mesoamerica,
northwest Mexico, and the U.S. Southwest to explore whether peoples within these regions shared
similar cultural practices, conceptions of the body, and group identities. Analysis of head shaping
techniques over time and space reveals that while Mesoamerica and the U.S. Southwest each contained
temporally persistent and highly stereotyped forms of cranial modification, northwest Mexico exhibited
a great deal of variation in head shaping techniques. Informed by Barth's (1969) model of social groups
and cultural boundaries, I argue that such patterns in cranial modification reflect homogenized group
identities with standardized ideological systems in Mesoamerica and the U.S. Southwest. To the
contrary, diversity in northwest Mexican head shaping traditions speak to the region's status as a
dynamic and fluid border zone unconstrained by a single over-arching ideological framework. Thus,
while cranial modification within each of these regions is typically examined in isolation in the interests
of cultural specificity, this study demonstrates that a broader, more integrated approach can also yield
important results regarding the role played by group identity within inter-regional interactions.
SATURDAY ORGANIZED POSTER SESSIONS
ENGAGED BIOARCHAEOLOGY
Organizers: James T. Watson (Arizona State Museum) and Ann L.W. Stodder (Museum of New Mexico)
The passage of NAGPRA in 1990 redefined bioarchaeology in the United States, compelling the creation
of standardized protocols and increasing the volume of standardized data collected on human remains.
The imperative for (bio)archaeologists and descendant communities to work more closely together, and
more often, to facilitate repatriation, has created a new age in applied, or engaged, bioarchaeology. But,
the breadth of what encompasses an “engaged bioarchaeology” goes beyond facilitating repatriation.
There is a greater concern for proper recovery and documentation of human remains from cultural
resource projects and for the interpretation of these remains within a heritage management framework.
In addition, “traditional research” projects have been applied to make meaningful contributions to
understanding lifeways of past ancestral communities and the implications for modern connections. This
symposium highlights some of this work to illustrate the breadth of these perspectives and how they
have transformed our discipline.
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Poster Abstracts
Compliance, Collaboration, and Communication: A Repatriation Project with Jemez Pueblo. Corey S.
Ragsdale (University of Montana), Lara Noldner (University of Iowa), and Heather J. H. Edgar (University
of New Mexico)
Our study details the methods and results of the documentation of human skeletal remains affiliated
with the Pueblo of Jemez that were excavated from several sites in Sandoval County, New Mexico,
and curated by the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico. The sites include:
Unshagi (LA 123), Guisewa (LA 679), Nanishagi (LA 541), Jemez Cave (LA 6164), Amoxiumqua (LA 481),
and Bj 74 (LA 38962). Although these burials lack provenience data, their recorded burial numbers
associate them with the Jemez skeletal sample. No associated funerary objects are included with
burials. The main objectives of documentation were to determine estimates for the minimum number
of individuals (MNI) at each site, and to describe what could be learned about the lifestyles of the
prehistoric Jemez population from skeletal indicators of health and activity. This involved recording an
inventory of skeletal elements present for each burial/accession number, determining each
individual’s sex and age when possible, and making note of any skeletal abnormalities that are
indications of poor nutrition/health, trauma, or joint damage that may be due to activity patterns. Our
findings summarize what can be said about prehistoric Jemez Pueblo inhabitants from the human
skeletal remains. This project was made possible through collaboration and communication among
bioarchaeologists, archaeologists, museum staff, and tribal administration.
A Biocultural Approach to Interpreting Conflict and Wellness in the Mogollon Region. Kathryn M.
Baustian (University of Nevada, Las Vegas)
Interpersonal conflict, social control, and culturally sanctioned violence are all potential modes of
effecting change amongst most human groups. This research investigates the complex relationship
between interpersonal violence, human skeletal biology, and social identity among prehistoric
agricultural communities in the American Southwest. The data presented in this study reveal patterns
that can be used to better understand how violence is utilized or avoided. Bioarchaeology is well suited
to investigate violence because it integrates the most direct evidence of conflict (traumatic skeletal
injury) with detailed archaeological reconstructions of past human experiences. A biocultural
assessment of Mogollon health, activity, and interpersonal violence was completed using biological data
from a sample of 247 adult burials from 17 Late Pithouse (A.D. 550-1000) and Pueblo (A.D. 1000-1300)
Mimbres sites and 187 adult burials from Grasshopper Pueblo (A.D. 1275-1400). The findings presented
demonstrate broader patterns for interpretation of community experiences that have not been as well
described in previous studies. Nonlethal cranial trauma affected 10.5% of adults in the Mimbres region
and 33.4% of adults at Grasshopper Pueblo. The range of healed injuries throughout the Mogollon
temporal span presents an opportunity to investigate the role of violence within the social contexts of
the region.
An Overview of the Human Remains from La Villa: Mortuary Programs, Paleopathology, and Possible
Ritualized Use. T. Michael Fink, Lorrie Lincoln-Babb, and Korri D. Turner (Bioarch, LLC)
La Villa is a Phoenix Basin Hohokam site situated along Canal System 2 with continued occupation from
the late Pioneer to the early Sedentary Period, or approximately 500 years. Since 1994, there have been
six archaeological projects at the site that have recovered the range of mortuary features expected for
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that extent of time; 107 cremations, 14 inhumations, and hundreds of instances of isolated bone. The
large number of burials therefore provides the opportunity to examine various aspects of both the
mortuary practices at La Villa and the biology of its inhabitants. A summary of the burials from all
projects is presented along with discussions on proposed interpretations of the cremation rite and the
significance of several secondary inhumations and pithouse floor interments to possible social conflict at
the site, especially in relation to a painted human infant cranial fragment recovered in the early 1990s.
Also important are several paleopathological conditions observed in the human remains recovered from
La Villa, including cranial neoplasms, sinusitis, long bone fractures, and dental conditions. Of special note
is a secondary cremation of an infant with an unusual type of human figurine fragment accompaniment.
The figurine has some potential significance regarding the presence of cherubism among the Hohokam.
Cremation and Pyro-technology among the Hohokam of Southern Arizona. Jessica I. Cerezo-Roman
(Harvard University) and Thomas R. Fenn (Yale University)
Changes in pyre construction and fire-based technologies associated with cremation funerals have been
greatly overlooked in Southwestern archaeological studies. However, these can be used to study cultural
and technological transformative processes, as well as the transmission of knowledge in past
communities. We examine approximately 123 pyres and contexts of fire-based technologies associated
with cremation funerals from the Preclassic (A.D. 700-1150) and Classic periods (A.D. 1150-1450/1500)
among the Hohokam in Southern Arizona. We do this by exploring variations in the chaînes opératoires
associated with these contexts across time and space. Among the findings, pyres typically were used
only once and they were ephemeral structures. Also, these remains suggest a significant expertise in the
management and transmission of knowledge of different pyro-technologies through time and space.
AzBAD: Arizona Biological Affiliation Database. Rachael M. Byrd (University of Arizona) and James T.
Watson (Arizona State Museum)
The Arizona Biological Affiliation Database (AzBAD) is a catalog of comparative cranial morphometric
data designed to provide an additional tool for assessing cultural affiliation in compliance with state
(ARS §41-844/865) or federal (NAGPRA) legislation and facilitate repatriation of human remains to
appropriate descendant communities. This information is used to create comparative samples that
encompass the variability inherent in ancient ancestral populations. Measurements from crania of
individuals assessed for determinations of cultural affiliation are compared to those in the database with
established cultural affiliations to produce a relative degree of biological affinity between the
comparative groups and the individual in question. AzBAD has the potential to contribute significantly to
our efforts at Arizona State Museum to determine biological affinity and cultural affiliation for ancestral
remains from the state and immediate surrounding region.
Hohokam Parasitology: Developing a Parasite Risk Profile from Surrounding Regions. Karl J. Reinhard
(University of Nebraska, Lincoln)
The preservation potential for parasite eggs and larvae is poor in the Sonoran Desert. Therefore, we
have no direct evidence of parasites from the region. However, preservation is ideal in surrounding
deserts including the Chihuahuan Desert and the arid lands of the Colorado Plateau region. Parasite data
from the modern Sonoran Desert is also insightful. The protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, causative agent of
Chagas disease, was certainly present among the Hohokam. Prehistorically, Chagas disease was present
in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of the Chihuahua Desert. It is present today and cycles between desert
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mammals and cone-nosed bugs. The house styles of the Hohokam would have favored domiciliation of
the infection cycle. The analysis of coprolites from Rio Zape, Durango Mexico, reveals as series of
parasites that adapted to prehistoric desert farmers. These include hookworm and whipworm. Parasites
associated with dogs include tapeworms derived from flea consumption and Physaloptera roundworms.
Hymenolepidid tapeworm infection originated with consumption of grain beetles. From the Colorado
Plateau region, hookworms and threadworms (Strongyloides stercoralis) have been diagnosed. In
addition hymenolepidids have been found. The protozoa Giardia lamblia and Entamoeba histolytica
have also been diagnosed. The Hohokam were likely hosts for all of these parasites. Pinworm was
epidemic among agricultural people who were more cave or shelter dependent on the Colorado Plateau
and in the Chihuahuan Desert. I assume that pinworm was present among the Hohokam, but not at the
high prevalence found in surrounding regions.
Keepers of the Roads: Understanding the Spirits of the Dead in the Prehispanic American Southwest.
Scott M. Thompson (National Academy of Sciences)
In the American Southwest, the spirits of the dead are integral to the deep histories that live on the
landscape. An engaged bioarchaeology should develop an understanding of the spirits, to appreciate
how they have shaped and continue to dwell among Southwestern communities. This poster considers
the performance of mortuary ritual in two protohistoric Zuni towns and in several late prehistoric
Hohokam settlement complexes to address the social identities that the living created for the spirits of
the dead. A comparison of mortuary ritual attempts to understand the ways in which spirits of the dead
participated in and influenced Prehispanic Zuni and Hohokam community affairs. The study suggests
that Zuni ancestral spirits were curators of familial and social group histories as large towns coalesced,
while Hohokam spirits may have become actors in negotiating group histories as settlements
experienced increasing stress. In the Southwest, the spirits of the dead were and are the keepers of
histories—the keepers of the roads.
The New Mexico Bioarchaeology Consortium: Building the Metadata and Creating the Gateways for
Future Research. Ann L.W. Stodder (Museum of New Mexico), Heather J.H. Edgar (University of New
Mexico), Nancy J. Akins (Museum of New Mexico), and Kathy Durand Gore (Eastern New Mexico
University)
Human remains from archaeological sites in New Mexico have been studied since the 1870s, but much
of the information is hidden in report appendixes and filing cabinets – unsynthesized, underutilized. This
inaccessibility impedes research on the biological histories of people in a region with one of the most
abundant and detailed archaeological records in the world. The purpose of the Consortium is to create,
grow, and maintain a virtual gateway to repositories of bioarchaeological resources (published and
unpublished documents, data forms, images, data tables). Metadata on archaeological and biocultural
contexts for these resources will allow researchers in cultural resource management, museum, and
academic contexts to find information, collections, and archives in order to design and implement
research for any scale of project – from contextualizing an inadvertently discovered burial to the design
of a doctoral thesis. Core institutional members include The Office of Archaeological Studies, The
Maxwell Museum of Anthropology (University of New Mexico), and Eastern New Mexico University, and
we expect participation to expand to include individual researchers, museum, archival repositories, and
CRM companies.
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BINATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGY: ARCHAEOLOGICAL WORK IN MEXICO
Organizer: Patrick Lyons (Arizona State Museum)
Poster Abstracts
The Rancho Santa Maria II Site: a Paleoindian/Archaic Site. Emiliano Gallaga Murrieta (EAHNM,
Chihuahua)
A salvage archaeological project conducted in 2014 led to the discovery of a site with a long occupation
from A.C./B.C. 8,000 to 800 D.C./A.D. (according to the material analysis). The site is a 200 x 150 m
eroded camp covered only by lithic material (more than 18,000 artifacts, including 370 projectile points
were recovered). More than 30 different point types were identified; these run from the late
Paleoindian period (Midland, Milesand, and Plainview) through the Late Archaic period (Gypsum,
Cortaro, Datil, and San Pedro). In addition, a human burial was encountered. Laboratory analysis dated it
to around A.C./B.C. 1200, the oldest dated human body from the state of Chihuahua today.
From the Sea to Ónavas Valley. Daniela O. Rodriguez (Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia)
Recent investigations in archaeological sites situated in the Ónavas Valley in southeast Sonora, Mexico,
have recovered around 3,890 seashell ornaments as funerary objects associated mainly with juvenile
individuals. The majority of these materials come from the Panamic Province of the northeastern Pacific,
from Baja California, Mexico, to northern Peru. We have done the taxonomy of the objects and in this
investigation it is possible to propose selection patterns that craftsmen could put into practice for
manufacture. We have detected different species of seashells used for specific jewelry, like bracelets,
pendants, and beads, among others. The preference for some specimens could be for shape, natural
decoration, hardness and the most important, the complexity to obtain them. Because the Ónavas
valley is a region far away from the coast, shell acquisition could have been carried out by exchange with
coastal groups, therefore taking part of the regional trade networks with the coast during the Cerámico
Medio Period (A.D. 500 – 1200).
Desde el mar al Valle de Ónavas. Daniela O. Rodríguez (Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia)
Las investigaciones recientes en los sitios arqueológicos del valle de Ónavas en el sureste de Sonora,
México, se ha recuperado cerca de 3890 ornamentos de concha asociados como objetos funerarios de
individuos juveniles principalmente, los cuales en su mayoría provienen de la Provincia Malacológica
Panámica que se extiende desde el Golfo de Baja California en México, hasta las costas norteñas de Perú
en Sudamérica. Por medio de la identificación taxonómica que se ha realizado en estos objetos, se ha
podido plantear los criterios de selección que desarrollaron los artesanos para su manufactura,
detectando especies utilizadas específicamente para determinados artefactos, como brazaletes,
pendientes, cuentas, entre otros. La predilección por algunos especímenes, debió basarse
principalmente en su color, forma, ornamentación natural, dureza y no menos importante, la
complejidad de su obtención. Puesto que el Valle de Ónavas es una región alejada de la costa, que por
medio de las redes de intercambio con grupos que habitaron sobre la planicie costera, debieron hacerse
de esta materia prima, durante el periodo Cerámico Medio (500 a 1200 d.C.).
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Interaction, Integration and Cultural Dynamics in the Central Sierra Madre: Archaeological
Investigations in the Río Sahuaripa Region of Eastern Sonora. John Carpenter (Centro INAH Sonora)
and Guadalupe Sánchez (UNAM-ERNO)
The Proyecto Arqueológico Río Sahuaripa represents the first systematic archaeological investigation of
the Río Sahuaripa River basin, located in eastern Sonora. The primary objectives of this research are to:
(1) reconstruct the cultural-historical occupation of this region; (2) identify and define the cultural
transitions manifest between the Río Sonora and newly defined Serrana archaeological traditions; (3)
define the southwestern limits of the Casas Grandes interaction sphere; (4) examine the role this region
played in regional and long-distance exchange systems; (5) investigate the timing and nature of
Ópata/Pima interaction and/or intrusions; and (6) document late prehispanic socio-political
organization. Here, we present the results of the first two seasons of field work.
Pleistocene and Holocene Adaptations in the Sonoran Desert. Guadalupe Sánchez (UNAM-ERNO), John
Carpenter (Centro INAH Sonora), and Ismael Sánchez (University of Arizona)
Recent investigations in Sonora have demonstrated a surprisingly well-represented Clovis occupation.
Early and Middle Holocene sites and points are widely distributed throughout the Plains of Sonora subprovince and at shell middens in the coastal regions. Following a return to a more amenable climatic
regime at the onset of the Late Holocene, select alluvial floodplains witnessed intensive use during the
Early Agricultural period. This synthesis is based upon research conducted among approximately a dozen
sites with dated contexts where Clovis and Archaic period points have been documented.
Public Archaeology at Cerro De Trincheras. Elisa Villalpando (INAH Sonora)
In the mid-1980s, a long-term collaborative effort by R. McGuire (Binghamton University) and E.
Villalpando (INAH Sonora) crossed the border to initiate interest in the Trincheras Tradition. Since the
first project, participants upheld a sort of pact that researchers should be from both countries,
legislation applied should be Mexico’s, and publications should be in English and Spanish. We committed
to plan archaeology together with the communities where we would work.
Research in the mid 1990s at Cerro de Trincheras was funded by the National Science Foundation and
National Geographic. It continued in 2007, with a project funded by the National Institute of
Anthropology and History (INAH), which focused on the opening of the site for public visitation. In
addition to trails and site services, an Interpretive Center with facilities for exhibits and artifact curation
was built. We continue doing archaeological research, but first we focused on a management plan and
actions that involve the local population (especially young people and women) in preserving their
cultural heritage. I will present our “Mexican experience in public archaeology.”
Pothunters vs Archaeologists. Júpiter Martínez and Claudia Jaramillo (Centro INAH Sonora)
The Sierra Alta of Sonora archaeological project works in a region of northeastern Sonora, Mexico,
where there is a long tradition of pothunters for Casas Grandes ceramics. This situation is one of the
biggest challenges in archaeological heritage conservation. We try to reduce looting by implementing a
regional campaign for the non-destruction of archaeological sites, the aim has been to guide perception
of the pre-Hispanic past as something related with the population itself, to help to clarify that the Casas
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Grandes People were the ancestors of the Opatas, and that the Sonoran Serreño is the result of
interbreeding between European and Opatas from the mission period.
Although it would seem a difficult task to sensitize a population proud of its western origin but not of its
indigenous counterpart, the project has performed locally, at workshops, with talks for students and
general population, co-produced a documentary on local television among others activities to promote
the importance of regional identity and the response has been unexpected.
Saqueadores Vs Arqueólogos. Júpiter Martínez and Claudia Jaramillo (Centro INAH Sonora)
El proyecto arqueológico Sierra Alta de Sonora trabaja en una región del noreste de Sonora, México
donde existe una larga tradición de los buscadores de ollas decoradas de la cultura Casas Grandes. Es
pues uno de los retos en materia de conservación del patrimonio arqueológico tratar de disminuir el
saqueo mediante la instrumentación de una campaña regional a favor de la no destrucción de los sitios
arqueológicos, el objetivo ha sido tratar de orientar la percepción del pasado prehispánico como algo
propio que, aclarando que los Casas Grandes fueron los antepasados de los Opatas, y el Sonorense
serreño es resultado del mestizaje entre Opatas y Europeos desde el periodo misional.
Aunque parecería una tarea difícil sensibilizar a una población orgullosa de su origen occidental más no
de su contraparte indígena, el proyecto ha hecho presentaciones a nivel local, impartido talleres y
coproducido documentales en la televisora local con el fin de promover la importancia de la identidad
regional y la respuesta ha sido inesperada.
OPEN POSTER SESSION
RESEARCH AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AT THE UPPER GILA PRESERVATION
ARCHAEOLOGY FIELD SCHOOL MINI-SESSION
Poster Abstracts
Cultural Coalescence and the Archaeological Record as seen through the Salado Phenomenon.
Alexander Ballesteros (Northern Arizona University), Dushyant Naresh (Vassar College), and Jeffery J.
Clark (Archaeology Southwest)
Coalescence manifests itself in many ways, tending to occur during large migrations when groups from
one culture move into a region inhabited by another. However, this blend of cultural traditions and
practices doesn’t only develop as a result of the physical movement of people, but also from the flow of
trade goods and copied ideas. In historic contexts, it is easier to determine the forces behind cultural
coalescence from written documents. In prehistoric contexts, it is a much more complicated process.
The inherent equifinality of the archaeological record—with several possible explanations for how an
artifact was manufactured, used, and discarded—makes it difficult to determine whether migration,
exchange, or the diffusion of ideas was the driving force behind changes in tradition and practice. Our
project focuses on the Salado Phenomenon, a spatial-temporal horizon defined largely by polychrome
ceramics dating from A.D. 1275 to 1450 in the southern U.S. Southwest. It has been hypothesized that
an immigrant community in diaspora originating in northeastern Arizona created this ceramic gamut.
Looking at artifacts recovered from the Dinwiddie site, a 14th century pueblo in the Cliff Valley of
southwest New Mexico, we are trying to reconstruct the culture of the inhabitants, be it local, migrant,
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or some combination of both. Certain artifacts can be used to identify the movement of people, others
indicate exchange without migration, and still others suggest solely a transfer of ideas. These material
culture differences allow us to examine the character of the Salado “cultural interaction sphere” in
which the Dinwiddie site was situated, both in relation to local traditions and to other large spheres such
as Casas Grandes.
Developing Public Outreach Programs for Urban, Rural, and Descendant Communities. Marcy Pablo
(Tohono O'odham Community College), Allen Denoyer and Karen Gust Schollmeyer (Archaeology
Southwest)
Outreach programs that encourage meaningful community engagement are most successful when they
can be tailored to the interests of specific communities. This poster presents lessons learned from public
outreach events aimed at children and at adults in three different settings: (1) descendant communities
in southern Arizona; (2) the urban community of Tucson; and (3) small towns in Grant County, New
Mexico. In all three settings, children quickly engage with hands-on activities emphasizing the skills past
people used to accomplish everyday tasks. Adults are often more reluctant to try hands-on activities,
but appreciate information and activities that emphasize local history and archaeology in their
community. Successful adult activities may highlight connections to a descendant community’s
ancestors or to ancient residents of a familiar landscape in rural or urban settings. These approaches
encourage participants of all ages to try new activities and to ask deeper questions.
One Man’s Trash: Historic Artifacts from Looters’ Pits at the Dinwiddie Site. Diana Trevizo (Eastern New
Mexico University) and Leslie D. Aragon (University of Arizona)
Archaeological sites on undeveloped land in New Mexico are often severely disturbed by pothunters,
whose techniques range from small hand-dug pits to large-scale mechanical disturbance with backhoes.
The Dinwiddie Site (LA 106003), a Cliff Phase (A.D. 1300–1450) Salado site in the Upper Gila region is no
exception. Archaeology Southwest and the University of Arizona’s 2015 Upper Gila Preservation
Archaeology (UGPA) field school explored two different loci at the site, both impacted by Historic period
looting. Avocational archaeologists who worked at the site in the late 1960s and early 1970s noted the
looters’ pits and avoided the disturbed parts of the site, while our excavations targeted those areas, in
hopes of recovering and preserving any data left behind. An interesting side effect to digging in pothunted areas is encountering all of the historical trash that was left behind by looters. This project
examines the historical artifacts that were collected from the 2015 field school excavations at the
Dinwiddie Site. By dating historic looting activities based on the trash left behind, we are able to add
another layer to the overall story of the site.
Using Non-Invasive Technologies to Identify Multiple Paint Recipes on Hohokam Pottery. Lindsay
Shepard (Arizona State University) and Aaron Wright (Archaeology Southwest).
As the emphasis on preservation archaeology increases, the application of non-destructive technologies
to artifact analysis is becoming more relevant and commonplace. We employ two such techniques,
decorrelation stretch (DStretch) and x-ray fluorescence (XRF), to investigate multiple paint hues found
on a single pre-Classic Hohokam Red-on-buff sherd. We apply DStretch to visually enhance the paint and
confirm the presence of two red hues. The variable hues are a result of either different red paints
applied to a single ceramic vessel or differential weathering of a single paint across the vessel’s surface.
To answer this, we rely on XRF to determine whether or not chemical differences in the paint recipes
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account for the two hues. We conclude with a discussion regarding the implications of multiple paint
recipes found on Hohokam Red-on-buff pottery.
Walnuts as a Potential Paint Source for Roosevelt Redware in the Cliff Valley of New Mexico.
Alexandra Norwood and Will G. Russell (Arizona State University), Allen Denoyer (Archaeology
Southwest)
Ceramic analysis is an invaluable tool for archaeology, and one that has been particularly useful in the
U.S. Southwest. Roosevelt Redware, also called Salado Polychrome, dates from about 1280 to 1450 C.E.
and is found throughout much of Arizona and New Mexico. The pottery tradition is a hallmark of the
Salado Phenomenon, and its analysis has been applied to many questions, including those concerned
with technology, exchange, identity, religion, and migration. The black paint on Roosevelt Redware is
almost always carbon-based, but in recent excavations at the Cliff-phase site of Dinwiddie, researchers
with the Upper Gila Preservation Archaeology project found large amounts of Roosevelt Redware with
black paint that was visually consistent with mineral paint. Chemical analysis revealed that the paint was
organic, despite its appearance. However, analyses could not identify the plant material used. A Native
American artist, who lives near Dinwiddie, suggested that Salado potters may have used the seeds from
black walnut trees to make paint. To assess this possibility, I made two batches of black organic paint.
The first used beeweed, the plant most often cited as the source for organic black paint. The second
batch used black walnut. Pottery was made using traditional methods, painted with the two organic
recipes, and fired identically. The beeweed paint was visually consistent with Roosevelt Redware from
elsewhere in the Southwest. In contrast, the walnut paint was visually distinctive and quite like the
Roosevelt Redware at Dinwiddie. This experiment shows that purely organic paint can be mistaken for
mineral paint, and suggests that Salado potters in the Cliff Valley may have been using black walnut
seeds to paint their decorated wares.
INDIVIDUAL POSTER SUBMSISIONS
Poster Abstracts
Photogrammetric Analysis and Repeat Photography: Documenting Terrace Erosion at an
Archaeological Site in Glen Canyon, Arizona. Daniel J. Martinez (Northern Arizona University)
Archaeological sites located on alluvial terraces downstream of Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona, have
undergone significant erosion since the completion of the dam in 1963. Concern over the loss of natural
and cultural resources downstream of the dam led to high-flow experiments (HFEs), also known as
controlled floods. These floods, conducted by the U.S. Department of the Interior, mimic pre-dam floods
and provide critical sediment for restoring pre-dam habitat, but also impact an archaeological site,
Ninemile Terrace, in Glen Canyon. Since 1992, Glen Canyon staff have monitored the site using
stationary cameras to collect repeat photographs on a daily basis. This poster presents the preliminary
photogrammetric analysis of the repeat photographs, focused specifically on three HFEs in 1996, 2004,
and 2012. The overarching goal of the project is to help land managers better understand the physical
processes driving erosion while attempting to identify appropriate mitigation strategies to promote site
resilience. The preservation of cultural resources in Glen Canyon is particularly important, as these sites
represent relics of a larger cultural landscape, which has significant value to archaeologists and tribal
stakeholders.
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Reconstructing the Use-life of an Ancestral Puebloan Water Reservoir Feature, Amoxiumqua (LA481),
Jemez Mountains, New Mexico. Michael Aiuvalasit and Christopher Kiahtipes (Southern Methodist
University), Josh Farella (Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona), Jennie Sturm
(University of New Mexico), and Christopher Roos (Southern Methodist University)
Multiple lines of evidence are used to reconstruct the use-life of a water storage feature at the Ancestral
Puebloan site of Amoxiumqua (LA481) in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico. This proof of concept
study demonstrates how integrating a range of low-impact geoarchaeological, geophysical,
paleoecological, and hydrological datasets can not only test hypotheses about when and how these
types of features were used, but when combined with archaeological and ethnographic data can provide
insights into how prehistoric communities collectively managed natural resources. Preliminary
chronological results indicate the feature was constructed before the onset of drier than average
conditions in the 15th century. Dendrochronological, palynological, and stable carbon isotope data
suggest abandonment of the feature and site in the early 17th century. Hydrological modeling and
preserved fossil diatoms indicate the reservoir stored a significant volume of water, but only seasonally.
This research approach is being applied to reservoir features at ten sites across the Southern Jemez and
Pajarito Plateaus to better understand how the collective management of resources factors into the
long-term sustainability of Ancestral Puebloan communities.
Round Mountain and Other Cerros de Trincheras of the Upper Gila River, Arizona. Robert J. Hard
(University of Texas, San Antonio), John R. Roney (Colinas Cultural Resource Consulting), A.C.
MacWilliams (Independent Scholar), Karen Adams (Crow Canyon Archaeological Center), and Mary
Whisenhunt (University of Texas, San Antonio)
Recent work in the Upper Gila River Valley of Arizona documents two Early Agricultural period cerros de
trincheras. Round Mountain contains 1.9 km of walls and terraces and 16 rock rings and was constructed
on a 640 foot hill during the Cienega phase (ca. 800 B.C.–A.D. 100). The DotMon site is situated on a 400
foot ridge above the river and includes 250 m of walls and six rock rings. This presentation summarizes
recent field work and addresses issues related to chronology, the role of agriculture, and warfare. Early
Agricultural period cerros de trincheras have been previously documented in the Río Casas Grandes and
in the Tucson Basin. The Upper Gila River Valley sites expand this phenomenon to a third major river
valley, implying that cerros de trincheras are part of a broad regional pattern during the pivotal Early
Agricultural period.
Terminal Pleistocene Volcanic Eruptions at Zuni Salt Lake, West-Central New Mexico, USA. Jill Onken
(University of Arizona) and Steven Forman (Baylor University)
Zuni Salt Lake, a maar in the Red Hill–Quemado volcanic field in New Mexico, holds great significance in
the oral traditions of a handful of tribes, including the Zuni and Hopi. We redefined the age of volcanic
eruptions at Zuni Salt Lake using radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence dating. Four
radiocarbon ages on wood charcoal indicate two main eruptive phases: a violent strombolian eruption
at ~13.3 ka and a later, predominantly phreatomagmatic eruptive phase ~11.8 ka. Five less precise
luminescence ages support this eruption chronology. These terminal Pleistocene ages for the Zuni Salt
Lake eruptions are younger and substantially more precise than previous argon method ages of ~86–114
ka, and indicate that a previous radiocarbon age on aquatic carbonates was anomalously old because of
hardwater effects. The millennium or more separating the two eruptive phases suggests closely spaced,
monogenetic events at Zuni Salt Lake. The eruptions significantly modified the landscape immediately
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Saturday Sessions
surrounding the vent, including topographic and vegetation changes, and disruption of drainages. The
revised, terminal-Pleistocene age for the Zuni Salt Lake eruptions indicates these volcanic events are
recent enough that they were likely witnessed by Paleoindian Clovis (~13.4–12.7 ka) and FolsomMidland (~12.8–11.7 ka) groups inhabiting the region and probably had a lasting effect on their
ideology. It also suggests that other Pleistocene volcanics in both the Red Hill–Quemado field and other
Jemez Lineament fields might be substantially younger than presently suggested by argon dating.
Undocumented Migration, Prevention through Deterrence, and the Arizona-Mexico Border: A
Blueprint for Engaged Archaeology of the Present. Gabriella Soto (University of Arizona)
Ongoing national debates about immigration reform have bipartisan support in at least one aspect—the
need to secure our national borders from undocumented migration, particularly the border between the
United States and Mexico. There are few metrics defining what security means, but its implementation
has involved a strategy called prevention through deterrence (PTD). PTD aims to prevent undocumented
migration by routing migrants into increasingly remote and dangerous territory, where the expectation
is that this prospect of a dangerous journey will be effective deterrence. Research shows that this costly
strategy has had dubious effect and has resulted in thousands of undocumented migrants dying en
route into the United States as they attempt to navigate around border enforcement. The essential crux
of this strategy is the border landscape itself, though few scholarly or policy-level efforts to explore the
results of border enforcement have focused on how the PTD strategy has become articulated on the
ground. This research seeks to understand what PTD and securing the border actually mean strategically
and for migrants on-the-ground. It approaches this line of questioning through the lens of archaeology,
aided by ethnography and geographic information systems. This poster presents early results from this
dissertation research project.
Captives, Families or Traders: Ceramics at Cerro de Trincheras, Sonora, Mexico. Tanya Chiykowski,
(Binghamton University)
Archaeologists in the Southwest US and Northwest Mexico use ceramics to understand the
movement of people and ideas across the region. My research addresses the appearance of Hohokam
plainwares at Cerro de Trincheras, Sonora, Mexico. Around AD 1300, Hohokam groups producing Sells
Plain ceramics using paddle-and anvil techniques moved into the Altar Valley. Concurrently, 50 km
south, the population of the Middle Magdalena Valley rapidly increased, as Trinchereños (Trincheras
Tradition peoples) built defensive terraced settlements. The largest site was Cerro de Trincheras, a
hillside village of approximately 1000 people. Here, Trinchereños potters continued to produce
traditional coil-and-scrape ceramics. However, a third of the sherds the archaeologists recovered were
Sells Plain, produced by paddle-and-anvil. hree possible explanations exist for this high frequency of
Sells Plain ceramics in the 14th century Middle Magdalena Valley: (1) Hohokam potters in the Altar Valley
traded plainwares to Cerro de Trincheras, (2) Hohokam households migrated into the Middle Magdalena
Valley and produced ceramics at Cerro de Trincheras, and (3) Hohokam women moved to Cerro de
Trincheras, entering the labor pool as wives, captives, or refugees. This paper evaluates these three
possible explanations for intercultural interaction. Using petrography and stylistic analysis I show that
the majority of Sells Plain ceramics on the cerro were locally made, and not associated with wider
cultural changes, suggesting that Hohokam women moving to the site, possibly as captive or secondary
wives.
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