Nov 19Desert Archaeology shell specialist Chris Lange explores a fascinating bit of Sedentary period Hohokam craftwork. The Hohokam people were not only successful farmers and irrigation canal builders, but were also craftspeople, creating tools and ornaments out of bone, stone, and shell. The shell crafting tradition of the Hohokam sets them…
Apr 30Desert Archaelogy ceramicist James M. Heidke wrote this tribute to the late Diana Kamilli and her contributions to ceramic provenance studies in Arizona. Diana Chapman Kamilli passed away in early August of last year, after a short illness. This belated Field Journal entry seeks to recognize the important contribution that…
Aug 26Desert Archaeology project directors Homer Thiel and Gregory Whitney bring us up to speed on the current archaeological understanding of the ancient peoples who first grew crops in southern Arizona, centuries before the introduction of pottery and the development of the Hohokam culture. The Early Agricultural period is the time…
Aug 16Dr. Mary Ownby, Desert’s resident ceramic petrographer, discusses her recent ceramic characterization study in northeastern Colorado, which was published this summer in the Plains Anthropologist journal. When we think of ancient pottery making, we often picture a person sitting quietly, enjoying their craft near their house in a small village.…
Jul 27Homer Thiel takes a long view of Downtown, detailing the traces of people who lived in the area thousands of years before Europeans arrived in what is now southern Arizona. Hidden beneath the streets, sidewalks, parking lots, and buildings of downtown Tucson are traces of our community's Ancestral Native American…
Aug 3Desert Archaeology project director Erina Gruner’s recent doctoral dissertation explored the exchange of ritual paraphernalia and exotic trade goods during the Chacoan and post-Chacoan periods (AD 875–1300) in the San Juan Basin, Here, she discusses the exchange of abalone shell by groups living in Arizona and New Mexico a thousand years…
May 27This week’s blog is written by James Heidke, Desert Archaeology’s senior ceramic analyst. Douglas Craig, an outstanding Southwestern US archaeologist and former Desert Archaeology colleague, passed in mid-May 2020. Most people who know Doug Craig’s professional reputation will think of him as a project director, and, indeed, I worked with…
May 8Desert Archaeology historical archaeologist Homer Thiel and ceramic analyst Jim Heidke discuss the ceramics used by 18th-century residents of the Presidio, including some surprising souvenirs brought home by Spanish soldiers from a long-distance military expedition. The Presidio San Agustín del Tucson was a Spanish and Mexican period (AD 1775-1856) fortress…
Jan 24Desert Archaeology zooarchaeologist Jenny Waters and historical archaeologist Homer Thiel talk about how archaeologists use animal bone to explore the meats eaten by people in the past. There were probably few, if any, vegans or vegetarians in southern Arizona during the pre-contact, Spanish, Mexican, or American Territorial periods. People hunted…
Nov 25Historical archaeologist Homer Thiel opens up the Desert Archaeology archives for a look back at a project in historical downtown Phoenix that touched on public utilities, re-purposing Hohokam infrastructure, and daily household life in the late 1800s. Plans for a new United States Federal Courthouse in Phoenix led to testing…