Mar 23
On the public opening of the Honey Bee Archaeological Preserve, we post R. J. Sliva's piece on the delicate balancing act of archaeological preservation and public outreach, written over the span of a few months last summer while monitoring the construction of the preserve’s access trail. “So... how is this…
Mar 15
R. J. Sliva, Homer Thiel, and Jenny Adams discuss a unique collection of artifacts encountered at Los Pozos... and a matching piece found during a later excavation. The Cienega phase of the Early Agricultural period in southern Arizona and northern Sonora lasted from about 800 BC to AD 50. A…
Mar 12
Homer Thiel and R. J. Sliva discuss Historic-era arrow points, with photos from recent research in Tucson. Native Americans in Arizona have used projectile points for at least 12,000 years for hunting and warfare. Large, heavy points that tipped darts (long, compound spears) were utilized for much of this time.…
Feb 16
Historical archaeologist Homer Thiel shows how the artifacts we excavate are used to fill in details of lives that are otherwise lost to the passage of time. Life in Territorial-era Tucson was often difficult. In 1873, Soledad Jacome's common-law husband, Juan Siqueiros, disappears from the documentary record. He may have…
Feb 9
Desert Archaeology zooarchaeologist Jenny Waters teams with Homer Thiel this week to explore the go-to protein source for ancient inhabitants of the Sonoran Desert. Content advisory: this post contains a historic photograph of the aftermath of a jackrabbit hunt. Ten years ago Desert Archaeology conducted excavations at a portion of…
Feb 2
Historical archaeologist Homer Thiel writes this week’s blog. Donald William Page only lived in Tucson for three years. But during that time he turned his attention to the community’s history and archaeology. He interviewed elderly residents, explored and mapped ruins, and, in 1929, conducted the first historical archaeological excavation in…
Jan 19
Historical archaeologist Homer Thiel discusses the lives of Chinese immigrants in late 19th and early 20th century Tucson. The first Chinese immigrants arrived in Tucson in the mid-1870s, several decades after Chinese people came to California during the 1849 Gold Rush. The initial arrivals operated restaurants, cooking American-style food at…
Dec 29
Desert Archaeology president Sarah Herr spent a week in early December as a guest at the Shanghai Archaeology Forum. A little over two years ago Bill Doelle asked me if I had a passport, and if I did, did I want to go to Shanghai in 5 weeks to represent…
Dec 7
Historical archaeologist Homer Thiel discusses dining and serving dishes used between 1694 and 1821 by the Spaniards living in the Presidio. This holiday season most people will put their finest china on the table, dishes reserved for special use, some handed down through the years and valued as family heirlooms.…
Nov 30
Dr. Jenny Adams follows up her mano/metate identification blog with a discussion of use-wear analysis on ground stone tools. One of the tools I have in my analysis toolbox is use-wear analysis. Use-wear analysis relies on both macroscopic and microscopic observations to recognize how tools were used. "Wear" is generally…