From the time that the Zunis (A:shiwi) emerged on to the surface of the Earth, the Grand Canyon, and the Colorado River have been sacred. According to the narratives that describe the emergence of the Zuni people (A:shiwi) from Earth Mother’s fourth womb, sacred items that identify the Zuni people, the Etdo:we, Kya Etdo:wa, Chu […]

Every human place on the face of the earth - every village, town, or city - has its myth, an origin story, a real or imagined reason (or reasons) for being. And every place has its ghosts, its secrets and hidden past. What we believe about our place in the world - where we are […]

The way we evaluate the success and failure of a society is deeply influenced by our political position as members of Western Civilization. While this may seem like an obvious statement, the reality is that we as Westerners often forget that our standing in the world today is not natural and the questions we ask […]

The Mimbres Pueblo culture came to its zenith during the late 11th and early 12th centuries.  Large and small pueblo sites utilizing some of the most beautiful black-on-white ceramics ever made could be found on the Gila, Mimbres and Rio Grande drainage systems.  Mimbres ceramics were widely traded within the system and far to the […]

The Greater Chaco Landscape is threatened by increasing drilling activity associated with development of the Mancos Shale via fracking. Many groups and individuals have spoken up and banded together to fight this threat. Archaeology Southwest has been actively engaged in this process for several years. Increasingly, it is clear that ongoing archaeological research and the […]

We recently completed a recording project at the Cocoraque Butte Complex spanning five field seasons. With the help of a large group of volunteers and the sponsorship of AAHS, we recorded rock art, a variety of structures and grinding features, as well a large number of boulders that produce a clear, bell-like tone (“bell rocks”). […]

Clothing traditions are important components of all societies, and clothing both mediates the ways people interact with the world and allows us to negotiate identity politics. Archaeologists rarely have the opportunity to study dressing practices in ancient societies, due largely to issues of preservation. When clothes are encountered, they are usually removed from the contexts […]

Aggregated villages necessitate the continuous interactions of distinct social groups whose relationships both structure and are structured by their spatial setting. As such, negotiations of identity are often expressed through modifications to space. In addition to traditional architectural analyses, changing relationships to structures can be seen in the deliberate filling of rooms. In the Pueblo […]

The Columbian Exchange was the vast and pervasive transfer of animals, plants, diseases, and people between the Americas, Africa, and Eurasia. Archaeologists studying the Exchange have examined emergent identities, cultural persistence, and the long-term political ramifications of archaeological interpretations of cultural change for indigenous peoples of the Americas; however, less attention has been given to […]

Each summer, students and professional archaeologists at the Upper Gila Preservation Archaeology Field School work together near Cliff, New Mexico, to understand what life was like in the region in the 1300s. A collaboration of Archaeology Southwest and the University of Arizona, this project is focused on how people formed the communities we are studying, […]