Sep 8
Historical archaeologist Homer Thiel continues the story of 19th-century Tucson’s scandalous Block 92. A previous blog post chronicled the scandalous history of Block 92 resident Jack Boleyn. As a historical archaeologist, I use documents (deeds, court records, maps, photographs, newspaper articles, etc.) along with archaeological features and artifacts to reconstruct…
Aug 11
Desert Archaeology’s historical archaeologist, Homer Thiel, is back this week with a look at adult beverages in the Old Pueblo's past. Wandering through downtown Tucson, you may come across the Independent Distillery at 30 S. Arizona Avenue, located in a historic building across the alley from the under-construction AC Marriot…
Aug 4
Desert Archaeology ground stone expert Jenny Adams returns to the blog with a story of a summer road trip that showed her not only the half of the country east of the Mississippi, but several intriguing ancient axe heads as well. This summer, during a tour of states east of…
Jul 28
Homer Thiel discusses architecture and recounts the Desert Archaeology investigations he has led that encountered Early Agricultural period pithouses in the vicinity of downtown Tucson. A construction boom is currently underway in downtown Tucson and in the area west of the Santa Cruz River as new housing and businesses—including the…
Jul 14
Resident ceramic petrographer Dr. Mary Ownby returns to the blog this week to report on a recent petrography workshop co-sponsored by Desert Archaeology. My April 7 blog post, Petrography and Archaeology: Microscopic Fun with Pottery, introduced the field of ceramic petrography and how it has been employed at Desert Archaeology…
Jul 10
Today marks historical archaeologist Homer Thiel's 25th anniversary at Desert Archaeology. In a special blog entry, he thinks back to two key finds that encapsulate his career. The phone in my Tempe apartment rang on July 10th, 1992. "Hello, this is Bill Doelle of Desert Archaeology in Tucson..." Bill was…
Jul 7
Catherine Gilman, Desert Archaeology’s graphics and mapping specialist, writes this week about innovation and collaboration in creating interpretive graphics. Readers need visual guidance to gain purchase on the science we produce. Making ideas approachable through better graphics is a good way to reach beyond the specialist’s view and into the…
Jun 23
Historical archaeologist Homer Thiel tells a fascinating story this week about what we found on Block 92. In 2015, Desert Archaeology excavated the southeastern portion of historic Block 92 in downtown Tucson. Today, the new North Fifth Hotel by AC Marriott is being constructed on the block at the northeast…
Jun 16
R. J. Sliva, Desert’s senior flaked stone analyst, has thoughts about an often-maligned set of stone artifacts. Think about the last time you used a metal tool. Maybe you sliced up a peach to make your yogurt palatable or fired up a Dremel to carve some stone beads for your…
Jun 9
Historical archaeologist Homer Thiel is back with more insights into life in 19th century Tucson--this week, about the kids. What was life like for the children who lived in Tucson during the American Territorial Period, from 1856 to 1912? Surviving documents—newspaper articles, school records, and censuses—can tell us some basic…