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- Archaeology (36)
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- Fremont archaeology (8)
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Articles 31 - 60 of 77
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Plant Microfossils Recovered From Dental Calculus At Casas Grandes, Mexico, Daniel King, Michael T. Searcy, Kyle Waller
Plant Microfossils Recovered From Dental Calculus At Casas Grandes, Mexico, Daniel King, Michael T. Searcy, Kyle Waller
Faculty Publications
Microfossil analysis is a technique used to better understand prehistoric diets. As part of a larger multinational project, we gathered and analyzed 112 samples of dental calculus (fossilized plaque) from human remains discovered at Paquimé and other sites in the Casas Grandes river valley to identify various microfossils still present in the silica matrix. With this information, we are able to better understand the flora present during ancient times and how it was used (food, processing, etc.).
Chronology, Climate, And Fremont Maize Farming In The Great Salt Lake Region, Christopher J. Allison, James R. Allison
Chronology, Climate, And Fremont Maize Farming In The Great Salt Lake Region, Christopher J. Allison, James R. Allison
Faculty Publications
Archaeologists usually say that Fremont maize farming in the Great Salt Lake region began at about AD 400, and that a mid-1100s drought caused the ancient inhabitants of the region to give up farming. But radiocarbon dates from the region do not support these dates. The earliest dated maize and the earliest dated human skeletal remains with bone chemistry suggesting maize consumption both suggest that maize was not grown in the region until after AD 600. Also, recently obtained dates on maize from Fremont villages indicate that farming in the region continued into the AD 1200s. If the end of …
Late Fremont Cultural Identities And Borderland Processes, Michael T. Searcy, Richard K. Talbot
Late Fremont Cultural Identities And Borderland Processes, Michael T. Searcy, Richard K. Talbot
Faculty Publications
he spread of maize farming across the American Southwest reached its northernmost extent west of the Rockies by the first or second centuries ad (James Allison, personal communication, 2014; Allison 2014), in the area encompassing the Colorado Plateau north of the Colorado River and the eastern portion of the Great Basin. he practitioners of farming in this area, the Fremont, generally resemble other Southwest farmers in material culture, social structure, settlement, and land use. hey are markedly different from contemporaneous hunter- gatherers to the west, north, and east in these same characteristics and in general economic strategy. Changing paradigms have …
Dietary Patterns Of Paquimé: New Evidence From Dental Calculus And Microfossils, Daniel King, Michael T. Searcy, Kyle Waller
Dietary Patterns Of Paquimé: New Evidence From Dental Calculus And Microfossils, Daniel King, Michael T. Searcy, Kyle Waller
Faculty Publications
As part of a larger multinational project, we gathered and analyzed 112 samples of dental calculus (fossilized plaque) from human remains discovered at Paquimé and other sites in the Casas Grandes river valley to identify various microfossils still present in the silica matrix. Once identified, we used the prehistoric plant remains to reconstruct human/plant relationships present during the Viejo and Medio periods in and around Paquimé. Our data suggest that maize was used throughout both time periods, which supports current theories regarding Paquimean diet. Various types of grasses were also found, as were unspecified types of algae. Using our data, …
Excavations At Vista Del Valle, A Viejo Period Site Of The Casas Grandes Cultural Tradition In Chihuahua, Mexico, Michael T. Searcy, Todd Pitezel
Excavations At Vista Del Valle, A Viejo Period Site Of The Casas Grandes Cultural Tradition In Chihuahua, Mexico, Michael T. Searcy, Todd Pitezel
Faculty Publications
In the summer of 2015 we conducted excavations at a site located along the Palanganas River, just south of the Casas Grandes River Valley in northwestern Chihuahua, Mexico. This represents the first excavation of a Viejo Period site (A.D. 700–1200) in this vicinity since the 1960s. We discovered remnants of at least five structures, and fully excavated three. This paper reports our findings and compares them to previous work carried out in the region.
Landscapes Of Interaction: Understanding Social Landscapes Through Quantitative Models Of Artifact Distributions, James R. Allison
Landscapes Of Interaction: Understanding Social Landscapes Through Quantitative Models Of Artifact Distributions, James R. Allison
Faculty Publications
Exchange of material goods is one of the most basic forms of human interactions. By tracing the distribution of ceramics, stone tools, and other materials archaeologists are often able to make inferences about the nature of interactions, and about the economic and social relationships of the people involved. These artefact distributions are a fundamental feature of social landscapes, with the potential to reveal much about the structure of social life. But artefact distributions are often complex and difficult to describe, especially at large spatial scales, and they often require some form of abstraction to make them comprehensible. Archaeologists have therefore …
Rethinking Fremont Chronology, James R. Allison
Rethinking Fremont Chronology, James R. Allison
Faculty Publications
The dating of Fremont sites is based almost entirely on radiocarbon dates. A large number of dates exist from the region as a whole, but many of the largest Fremont sites are poorly dated. Most of the important sites excavated prior to the 1980s have at best a few dates, and many of the dates that do exist are on charcoal from structural wood. In some cases the only available dates are clearly centuries too early for the sites and structures they purport to date. In addition to problems with the data, some reports and publications about Fremont archaeology make …
Early Mimbres Households: Exploring The Late Pithouse Period (550–1000 Ad) At The Florida Mountain Site, Michael T. Searcy, Bernard Schriever, Matthew Taliaferro
Early Mimbres Households: Exploring The Late Pithouse Period (550–1000 Ad) At The Florida Mountain Site, Michael T. Searcy, Bernard Schriever, Matthew Taliaferro
Faculty Publications
Many studies have explored the household to understand social organization, production, and other dynamics of societies throughout the world. In this work, the approach outlined by Richard Wilk and colleagues is used to investigate households at the Florida Mountain Site, an intermittently occupied Late Pithouse period (550–1000 AD) residential site in the Mimbres Mogollon area of Southwestern New Mexico. Drawing on the similarities of this intermittent residential site to contemporaneous pitstructure sites in the Mimbres area, we suggest that one or more household units occupied the site. Our analysis also supports previous inferences that Mimbres households were integrated into more …
The Viejo Period, Michael T. Searcy, Jane H. Kelley
The Viejo Period, Michael T. Searcy, Jane H. Kelley
Faculty Publications
Farming peoples thrived in the mountains, basins, and river valleys of northwestern Chihuahua for hundreds of years prior to the construction of platform mounds and ball courts at Paquime. Their small pithouse villages dotted the landscape near the rich floodplain of the Casas Grandes River, where they farmed maize, beans, and other goods. It was during this time (AD. 400-1200), known as the Viejo Period, that the foundations of the Chihuahuan culture were formed. While recognized as forming the roots of a more complex society, Viejo Period sites lack the monumental architecture and ornate pottery of the Medio Period (AD. …
Explorations In Viejo Period Archaeology At The Vista Del Valle Site In Chihuahua, Mexico, Michael T. Searcy, Todd Pitezel
Explorations In Viejo Period Archaeology At The Vista Del Valle Site In Chihuahua, Mexico, Michael T. Searcy, Todd Pitezel
Faculty Publications
Since Charles Di Peso’s excavations from 1958 to 1961, there has been little research on the Viejo period (700–1200 A.D.) in the northern Casas Grandes area. As director of the Proyecto Arqueológico Chihuahua, Jane Kelley and her colleagues have added significantly to our knowledge of this time period in the southern area where this cultural tradition also flourished. Following her lead, we recently embarked to better understand the Viejo period in the north by excavating at a site along the Palanganas River, just south of the Casas Grandes River valley. This paper reports the initial results of our 2015 excavations …
Recent Explorations For Casas Grandes Viejo Period Settlement, Todd Pitezel, Michael T. Searcy
Recent Explorations For Casas Grandes Viejo Period Settlement, Todd Pitezel, Michael T. Searcy
Faculty Publications
Much is known about political, social, economic, and ritual organization during the Casas Grandes Medio period (ca. A.D. 1200-1450). A looming question is, What are the roots of the Medio period? The preceding Viejo period, assumed to begin around A.D. 500, is poorly understood because so little work has been conducted at Viejo sites, and few sites from this time period are known. We recently conducted reconnaissance and systematic survey north and south of the Medio capital settlement of Paquimé and identified six previously unrecorded sites. We present the characteristics of each site, including a ground stone quarry, and how …
Navigating The Faa’S Turbulent Airspace In The United States Regarding Uavs, Michael T. Searcy
Navigating The Faa’S Turbulent Airspace In The United States Regarding Uavs, Michael T. Searcy
Faculty Publications
There has been a significant increase in the use of UAVs throughout the world to aid in archaeological investigations. Unfortunately the current U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has enforced strict policies that prohibit most institutions and private firms to use these aerial vehicles. As a result archaeologists in the United States are falling behind in implementing an important tool in archaeological reconnaissance. This paper outlines the progress made thus far by the FAA to reform these regulations.
Obsidian Provenance Studies Of Sites In Northern Utah, Jeffrey Ferguson, James R. Allison
Obsidian Provenance Studies Of Sites In Northern Utah, Jeffrey Ferguson, James R. Allison
Faculty Publications
Previous studies of obsidian from archaeological sites in Utah Valley and the Salt Lake Valley have used relatively small samples to document temporal shifts in obsidian procurement, with southern sources (especially Black Rock) dominating Fremont assemblages, while most post-Fremont obsidian comes from the Malad source to the north. Our greatly expanded XRF analysis of almost 4,000 obsidian artifacts from sites in Utah and Salt Lake Valleys confirms the temporal change noted by earlier researchers, but also shows site- and source-specific patterns of obsidian use, as well as variation in the frequency of different obsidian sources in tools, debitage, and micro-debitage.
Neutron Activation Analysis Of San Juan Red Ware Pottery, James R. Allison, Jeffrey R. Ferguson
Neutron Activation Analysis Of San Juan Red Ware Pottery, James R. Allison, Jeffrey R. Ferguson
Faculty Publications
San Juan Red Ware pottery is most common in southeastern Utah, where most of it appears to have been made, but is widely distributed throughout the Four Corners region from about A.D. 750 to 1100. Neutron Activation Analysis of San Juan Red Ware potsherds shows that there were numerous production locales, and red ware pottery from southeast Utah falls into several distinguishable chemical groups. These chemical groups have distributions that suggest relatively little exchange among the production area sites. Despite differing from red ware producers in styles of material culture (ceramics, architecture, and settlement patterns), and probably social identity, Pueblo …
Notes For The Next Century: Kiva Mini Essay, Michael T. Searcy
Notes For The Next Century: Kiva Mini Essay, Michael T. Searcy
Faculty Publications
Northwest Mexico and the U.S. Southwest are in reality one region divided by a modern political border. Bi-national archaeological research and collaborations have been difficult to conduct due to the recent crime-wave that has take hold of Northern Mexico in recent years. Fear and U.S. sanctioned travel bans have driven scholars out of this region. In addition, the recent and pending retirements of academics have contributed to the diminishing number of archaeologists conducting research in Northwest Mexico. As a dual-citizen ad as an archaeologist with research interests on both sides of the border, I believe that research institutions and governments …
Wolf Village: New Insights On The Fremont, James R. Allison
Wolf Village: New Insights On The Fremont, James R. Allison
Faculty Publications
Wolf Village is remarkable for its architectural diversity, its large and diverse artifact assemblages, and the insights into Fremont social organization and ritual practices it offers. Officially designated 42UT273, the site is on and just below a hill adjacent to Currant Creek, near the town of Goshen at the south end of Utah valley. From 2009 through 2013, the Brigham Young University archaeological field school spent five field seasons there, uncovering the remnants of seven semi-subterranean pit structures and two adobe surface houses. People built and used those structures in the A.D. 1000s or early 1100s, although the radiocarbon dates …
Introducing The Fremont, James R. Allison
Introducing The Fremont, James R. Allison
Faculty Publications
“Fremont” is a label archaeologists use for the northern con- temporaries of Ancestral Pueblo people. Fremont peoples lived mostly in what is now the state of Utah, in the eastern Great Basin and on the northern Colorado Plateau. Their range extended slightly beyond the modern borders of Utah. Sometime during the first few centuries A.D., people began growing maize (corn) in the region. The first farmers might have been immigrants from the south, or indigenous hunter-gatherers who incorporated maize into their diet; most archaeologists think evidence shows a combination of both patterns. Over the next several hundred years, people across …
Beginnings: The Viejo Period, Jane H. Kelley, Michael T. Searcy
Beginnings: The Viejo Period, Jane H. Kelley, Michael T. Searcy
Faculty Publications
he history of the Medio Period is marked by population growth, aggregation, ideological shifts, and the building of the large, central polity of Paquimé (Casas Grandes). But before this colossal social transformation took place, people in northwest Chihuahua lived a lifestyle that had persisted for at least 400 years, which is known as the Viejo Period. his period is far from the beginning of human occupation in this area; Paleo points, extensive Archaic remains, the early agricultural site of Cerro Juanaqueña (Hard and Roney 1998), and an early pithouse period preceded Paquimé and can be seen as more distant precursors …
Cultural And Contextual Differentiation Of Mesoamerican Iconography In The U.S Southwest/Northwest Mexico, Michael T. Searcy
Cultural And Contextual Differentiation Of Mesoamerican Iconography In The U.S Southwest/Northwest Mexico, Michael T. Searcy
Faculty Publications
Ample research has documented the long-term interaction between Mesoamerica and the U.S. Southwest/Northwest Mexico (SW/NW). Nelson (2006:345) has used the phrase ''Mesoamerican interaction markers" as a way to describe evidence of the is contact in the SW /NW. He further defines these as "a variety of archaeological patterns that are reminiscent of Mesoamerican counterparts" including "objects, practices, and styles." Some of the interaction markers that have been studied at length are trade goods such as copper bells, macaws, shell, and iron pyrite mirrors (Bayman 2002; Bradley 1993; Ericson and Baugh 1993; Kelley 1966, 1995; Mathien 1993; McGuire 1993p; Nelson 2000; …
The Chronology Of Fremont Farming In Northern Utah, James R. Allison
The Chronology Of Fremont Farming In Northern Utah, James R. Allison
Faculty Publications
Fremont maize cultivation in northern Utah occurred at the northernmost extent of prehistoric Native American horticulture west of the Rocky Mountains. Fremont chronology currently relies almost entirely on a large database of radiocarbon dates, but most of the existing dates are on wood charcoal subject to old wood problems; dated charcoal also often has unclear associations with maize or other cultural materials. Recent efforts to directly date archaeological maize from museum collections have helped refine the chronology of Fremont horticulture. These new dates indicate that the timing of the earliest appearance of maize varies across northern Utah, and that in …
Exploring The First Ground Stone Quarry Discovered In The Casas Grandes Region Using Ethnoarchaeology, Michael T. Searcy, Todd Pitezel
Exploring The First Ground Stone Quarry Discovered In The Casas Grandes Region Using Ethnoarchaeology, Michael T. Searcy, Todd Pitezel
Faculty Publications
Several researchers have noted and studied the exquisitely formed manos and metates of the Casas Grandes region of northern Mexico. During a survey project in 2013, we located the first quarry ever discovered where these tools were manufactured of vesicular basalt using a suite of stone tools. This paper explores the morphology of the site, the toolkit of the metateros (metate makers), and ethnoarchaeological implications resulting from the study of modern metateros.
Accessories Of Modern Mayan Grinding Stones, Michael T. Searcy
Accessories Of Modern Mayan Grinding Stones, Michael T. Searcy
Faculty Publications
The mano and metate are seen as natural companion pieces in the archaeological record. Ethnographic resources suggest there may have been other tools associated with daily grinding activities including biconically drilled (donut) stones and wooden boards. This paper presents evidence for these findings and explores their archaeological implications. It also demonstrates the valuable information that can be gleaned from the modern Mayan groups living in Highland Guatemala today.
Household Variation, Public Architecture, And The Organization Of Fremont Communities, Katie K. Richards, James R. Allison, Richard Talbot, Scott Ure, Lindsay Johansson
Household Variation, Public Architecture, And The Organization Of Fremont Communities, Katie K. Richards, James R. Allison, Richard Talbot, Scott Ure, Lindsay Johansson
Faculty Publications
The Fremont were small scale agriculturalists spread across the northern Colorado Plateau and eastern Great Basin from before A.D. 400 until the A.D. 1300s. Fremont residences are typically pit structures—although late adobe surface structures do occur—established as individual farmsteads, small hamlets, and villages of variable size, the largest with hundreds of occupants. In this paper we discuss how Fremont society was variably organized through time and space, including as households, communities, and dispersed communities. We describe architectural forms that denote not only residential, but also public, communal, and ritual functions. We then present a preliminary model of Fremont organizational strategies …
The Archaeology Of Archaeology: 2012 Excavations At Alkali Ridge Site 13, James R. Allison
The Archaeology Of Archaeology: 2012 Excavations At Alkali Ridge Site 13, James R. Allison
Faculty Publications
Alkali Ridge Site 13 is one of the largest, and most extensively excavated Pueblo I villages in the Northern Southwest. It also is one of the earliest Pueblo I villages, dating to the late A.D. 700s. The site was first excavated in 1932 and 1933 by J.O. Brew of Harvard University, who dug all or part of 118 storage rooms, 11 pit houses, and 25 surface habitation rooms belonging to the early Pueblo I component. In 2012, the first excavations at the site since Brew’s work focused on reexcavation of several storage rooms previously excavated in 1932, screening of backdirt …
Astronomical Implications For The Mound Of The Cross At Paquimé, Chihuahua, Mexico, Michael T. Searcy, David Derrick
Astronomical Implications For The Mound Of The Cross At Paquimé, Chihuahua, Mexico, Michael T. Searcy, David Derrick
Faculty Publications
The fourteenth-century site of Paquimé represents the apogee of the Casas Grandes cultural tradition. Monumental architecture such as effigy mounds and ball courts contrast sharply with other sites in the U.S. Southwest/Northwest Mexico. In particular, the Mound of the Cross, a cardinally aligned mound structure, suggests that those at Paquimé were aware of and may have tracked celestial bodies as part of a seasonal round. Findings also suggest that the alignment of the cross can be attributed to solar patterns that are different than today’s due to earth’s precessional cycle.
Low Frequency Temperature Variability And Native American Horticulture In The Northern Southwest And Eastern Great Basin, James R. Allison
Low Frequency Temperature Variability And Native American Horticulture In The Northern Southwest And Eastern Great Basin, James R. Allison
Faculty Publications
Recent paleoclimatic studies reconstruct low-frequency variability in temperature that may have affected the success of Native American horticulture. Potential effects of this temperature variability include shifts in the range of elevations within which horticulture was viable, and changes in the northern limits of horticulture- based economies. This paper examines radiocarbon dates and other chronological data from Fremont and Puebloan sites in Utah, eastern Nevada, and northwestern Arizona, comparing the low-frequency temperature reconstructions with the timing of expansion and contraction in the northern frontier of maize horticulture and temporal shifts in the elevations of farming settlements.
Meanwhile, In The West: Early Pueblo Communities In Southeastern Utah, James R. Allison, Winston B. Hurst, Jonathan D. Till, Donald C. Irwin
Meanwhile, In The West: Early Pueblo Communities In Southeastern Utah, James R. Allison, Winston B. Hurst, Jonathan D. Till, Donald C. Irwin
Faculty Publications
The early Pueblo settlement of what is now southeastern Utah exhibits patterns that complement and contrast with trends in better-known regions such as southwestern Colorado (see Wilshusen et al., Chapter 2). Shortcomings in the current data limit the detail we can include in this description, but a number of patterns are clear. This chapter elucidates the patterned variability in the area's settlement strategies, the basic trends associated with social organization, and the basic demographic trends through time. We hope to develop, in the end, a basic historical narrative for these last centuries of the first millennium.
Social Variability In The Emergence Of The Pueblo World, Richard Wilshusen, Gregson Schachner, James R. Allison
Social Variability In The Emergence Of The Pueblo World, Richard Wilshusen, Gregson Schachner, James R. Allison
Faculty Publications
Between A.D. 650 and 950, there was a near total reorganization of society in the northern Southwest. In some areas, intensive agriculture, high population growth rates, and large villages appeared. In others, diverse mixes of subsistence strategies enabled the creation of aggregated communities and semi-sedentary settlements within the same landscape. A third pattern of high mobility and seasonal use of smaller settlements defined much of the periphery. In many areas, people pursuing more than one of these patterns resided simultaneously. We propose that the patterns established by A.D. 800 were integral in the shaping of later Pueblo history.
Students Studying Students: An Assessment Of Using Undergraduate Student Researchers In An Ethnographic Study Of Library Use, Allyson Washburn, Sheila C. Bibb
Students Studying Students: An Assessment Of Using Undergraduate Student Researchers In An Ethnographic Study Of Library Use, Allyson Washburn, Sheila C. Bibb
Faculty Publications
This paper reports on the use of undergraduate students enrolled in an Applied Anthropology course as researcher for a library use study at Brigham Young University's (BYU) Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL). This is a common practice at BYU, but has not been reported extensively in the literature. The study was carried out by the authors with the assistance of undergraduate students, the students being the researchers and was conducted in order that the HBLL could determine student ideas for reconfiguring some newly opened space in the Periodicals room. Using students assisted the library as well as met a curricular …
Decorative Renascence: Tracing Early Ceramic Designs Into The Late Prehistoric Period In The U.S. Southwest/Northwest Mexico, Michael T. Searcy
Decorative Renascence: Tracing Early Ceramic Designs Into The Late Prehistoric Period In The U.S. Southwest/Northwest Mexico, Michael T. Searcy
Faculty Publications
Cordell (1997) has characterized the late prehistoric period (A.D 1200-1450) in the U.S. Southwest/Northwest Mexico as one of crystallization when ―many specific forms, designs, symbols, or motifs can be traced to much earlier periods‖ but, "they came together in new ways". This paper traces the emergence of designs and motifs among earlier ceramic traditions, such as Mimbres and Ancestral Puebloan, and their later appearance on Salado and Casas Grandes pottery. I use design analysis to explore the spread of styles and symbols throughout time and space and show how these methods contribute to interpretations of interregional interaction and cultural continuity.