We are once again accepting book donations for our Used Book Sales
NAGPRA provides a process for museum and federal agencies to return certain Native American cultural items. Nancy Odegaard has been involved with the repatriation process at the Arizona State Museum since the law was enacted. She was also entrusted with the remains known as the Kennewick Man, the remains known as Lucy, and was influential […]
Popular notions of the Piro pueblos tend to be limited to the historical fact that several hundred Piros (as well as Tiwas and members of other Pueblo groups) ended up in the El Paso area during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. It is often claimed that the reason for this relocation was pro-Spanish affinity on […]
A group of U.S. and Mexican scientists specializing in archaeology, geology, botany, and paleoecology has been exploring prehistoric shell middens along the northern Gulf of California coast near the modern community of Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, Mexico. We have documented over 60 midden sites through reconnaissance survey near Puerto Peñasco since 1997. More recently, we have […]
The Barry M. Goldwater Range (BMGR), located in southwestern Arizona, is the nation’s second largest tactical aviation range and has functioned as one of the premier aviation training facilities for the U.S. Air Force (USAF) and the air arm of other military branches for more than 75 years. In 1854, the United States acquired the […]
The storms dump monsoon rains on the Sierra Madres, water percolates down into the aquifer, draining along the rivers of Northwestern Mexico. One of the rivers, Río Sonora, has been used to irrigate cropland for millennia. Precise historical details remain unclear, but around the time of the Entrada (circa 1530’s), Cabeza de Vaca reported an […]
Don Antonio de Mendoza and his forebears had been backing the Columbian Project for generations. It is little wonder, then—even if it is a surprise to the twenty-first century—that Mendoza’s goal for the Coronado expedition was to finally reach Asia by traveling westward from Spain. This talk discusses why most Europeans of the day were sure that […]
Depictions of archaeology in popular culture are full of dubious tales of ancient extraterrestrials, lost civilizations, giants, and widespread scientific conspiracy. In this talk, I will explore such fantastic claims focusing in particular on a few popular claims here in our own backyard in Arizona. My goal is not to simply “debunk” these claims (though I will do that too) but to further […]
The Patayan cultural tradition is one of the least understood archaeological constructs in the Greater Southwest. While recognized nearly 90 years ago as a distinct assemblage of material culture traits centered on the lower Colorado River, research has always been hampered by poor chronological control. Few Patayan archaeological sites have been excavated, and of those […]
The Powder River Basin west of Kaycee, Wyoming is rich with history. The lush basin east of the Big Horn Mountains, known now as Hole in the Rock, was home to Indigenous people for centuries who left images on the red sandstone canyon walls and in alcoves. The Basin was also the site of the […]
A recently published book reports the results of Rex Gerald's 1957 excavations, sponsored by the Amerind Foundation, at the Davis Ranch Site, in southeastern Arizona's San Pedro River Valley. In this presentation, I will summarize Gerald's findings as well as the results of recent studies, placing Gerald's work in the context of what is currently […]
