Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

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.

Informe Técnico Final Del Trabajo De Campo Del Proyecto De Investigación Arqueológica Caylán (Temporada 2010), David Chicoine, Hugo Ikehara

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

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.

Military Site Program Returns To Williamson's Plantation Battlefield, Steven D. Smith

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Design Of A Comprehensive Geographic Information System For The Administration Of El Camino Real De Los Tejas National Historic Trail, Jeffrey M. Williams

Faculty Publications

Stephen F. Austin State University’s Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture’s (ATCOFA) Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Laboratory were engaged by the National Park Service (NPS) National Trails System-Intermountain Region to provide GIS services supporting the NPS’s development of a Comprehensive Management Plan for El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail (ELTE). The scope of work was completed under an agreement with the Gulf Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit sponsored by the Texas AgriLife Research Program at Texas A&M University. ATCOFA assisted the NPS in the coordination of local landowner and other local stakeholder contacts, conducted archival research …

Cultural And Contextual Differentiation Of Mesoamerican Iconography In The Southwest/Northwest, 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 this 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 1993b; Nelson 2000; Riley 2005). …

The End Of Farming In The “Northern Periphery” Of The Southwest, James R. Allison

Faculty Publications

Prehispanic farmers belonging to the Virgin and Fremont traditions once occupied most of Utah and adjacent parts of Arizona and Nevada. Through much of the twentieth century, these areas were called the "Northern Periphery'' of the Southwest, but in recent decades, both Fremont and Virgin have often been left out of syntheses of southwestern archaeology-even though they clearly had strong connections to the Southwest and represented, respectively, the northernmost and westernmost extensions of maize-based horticulture in western North America. This exclusion results from a combination of factors, the most important of which are geography and the territorial behavior of some …

Informe Técnico Final Del Trabajo De Campo Del Proyecto De Investigación Arqueológica Caylán (Temporada 2009), David Chicoine, Hugo Ikehara

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Laptops In The Sand: Using Rugged Computers In The Field, Michael T. Searcy, Scott Ure

Faculty Publications

Computers have been used in the archaeology for decades to perform various tasks including statistical modeling, database management, geospatial analysis and other processes ranging from the relatively simple to the incredibly complex. Traditionally, computers are used in relatively “clean” environments such as indoor offices or laboratories. However, when subjected to harsh outdoor conditions with extreme temperatures, precipitation, dust, and debris, failure in some degree, ranging from the irritating to the catastrophic, is highly likely and often quite predictable. Sandy and dusty regions, as well as wet and humid areas, are particularly hostile to the delicate and environmentally sensitive processors, circuit …

Shinarump Red Ware And Other Red Ware Pottery North And West Of The Colorado River, James R. Allison

Faculty Publications

In November 2007, the Museum of Northern Arizona (MNA) hosted a conference to discuss, clarify, and where necessary revise the standard typology used for prehistoric Puebloan pottery found in northwestern Arizona, southwestern Utah, and southeastern Nevada. The multi-state nature of the area covered makes precise geographical description awkward, but the conference was titled Prehistoric Puebloan Pottery North and West of the Colorado River. Margaret Lyneis and Kelley Hays-Gilpin organized the conference, and they have provided a general discussion of the conference and its conclusions in an earlier edition of Pottery Southwest (Lyneis and Hays-Gilpin 2008). Participants continue to work on …

Gis Aided Archaeological Research Of El Camino Real De Los Tejas With Focus On The Landscape And River Crossings Along El Camino Carretera., Jeffrey M. Williams

Faculty Publications

Many generations of indigenous pathways through the forests of eastern Texas have their origins obscured in antiquity. Utilized by early European explorers, these pathways became modified through heavy use and the expansions and improvements needed to accommodate easy passage of European horses and carts and finally the heavy wagons of Anglo-American settlers. The first road through Texas, El Camino Real de Los Tejas, utilized portions of these early trails.

El Camino Carretera (known as the cart road) is an early segment of El Camino Real de los Tejas that crossed the Sabine River at the boundary between Texas and Louisiana. …

Sciaa’S Military Site Program Assists Historic Brattonsville In Locating Williamson’S Plantation Battlefield, Steven D. Smith

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The End Of Farming In The Northern Periphery Of The Southwest, James R. Allison

Faculty Publications

The area once called the northern periphery of the Southwest was occupied for approximately 1,000 years by prehistoric farmers identified by archaeologists as Fremont and Virgin Anasazi, although hunter-gatherers occupied the area at European contact. Although the timing is similar, possible relationships between the end of farming in the northern periphery and the Four Corners abandonments have not often been considered. This paper reviews the cultural context and timing of, as well as explanations for, the end of the Fremont and Virgin Anasazi sequences, and explores the linkages with the better documented abandonments in the Four Corners region.

An Ethnoarchaeological Analysis Of Human Functional Dynamics In The Volta Basin Of Ghana: Before And After The Akosombo Dam, By E. Kofi Agorsah, Joanna Casey

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Moving From A Grinding Halt: Expanding The Interpretation Of Ground Stone Through Ethnoarchaeology, Michael T. Searcy, Jaime Holthusen

Faculty Publications

Some of the most ubiquitous artifacts found at archaeological sites across Mesoamerica are manos and metates. Yet these important household implements continue to be underrepresented in the archaeological literature. This paper highlights recent ethnographic research on groundstone produced and used by four Mayan communities in Guatemala. We demonstrate how the size of grinding surfaces can be indicative of function, and how modern taboos can be examined to explore notions of gender. Groundstone from the site of La Quemada, Mexico is then analyzed in light of such inferences to evaluate the consistency of archaeological patterning with ethnographic observations.

Military Sites Program Follows In The Footsteps Of Lieutenant Anthony Allaire, Steven D. Smith

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Informe Técnico De Los Trabajos De Campo Del Proyecto Arqueológico Huambacho-Temporada 2004, David Chicoine, Jeisen Navarro

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Petrographic Analysis Of Sherd Samples From The Hot Spring Lake And Airport Sites, Salt Lake City, Utah, Sergio F. Castro-Reino, James R. Allison

Faculty Publications

Prehistoric sherds from two sites near the Salt Lake City airport were analyzed petrographically and compared to a small reference set of sands from the Salt Lake Valley. No Fremont wares are tempered with sand from the Salt Lake area. Some Late Prehistoric wares are tempered with coarse, angular, alluvial sand temper of mineralic composition from metagranite sources 10-12 kilometers away. Volcanic-tempered Late Prehistoric sherds may originate in the Traverse Mountains--provenance cannot be established without further sampling, but the closest sources are at least 30 kilometers away. In all cases sources appear to be non-local to the studied sites.

Informe Técnico De Los Trabajos De Campo Del Proyecto Arqueológico Huambacho-Temporada 2003, David Chicoine, Victor Pimentel

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Battlefield Research Continues At Sciaa, Steven D. Smith

Faculty Publications

This is a multi-volume issue, containing vol. 7/no. 2 (Dec 2002) AND vol. 8/no. 1 (July 2003).

Physical Geography And Climate: Overview, Andrew Sluyter, Tereza Cavazos

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Daily Life In The Shadow Of Empire: A Food Systems Approach To The Archaeology Of The Ottoman Period, Oystein S. Labianca

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

On-Site Water Retention Strategies: Solutions From The Past For Dealing With Jordan's Present Water Crisis, Oystein S. Labianca

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Craft Specialization And Exchange Among The Virgin Anasazi, James R. Allison

Faculty Publications

A large proportion of the culinary ceramics found on 11th century Anasazi sites in the Moapa Valley of Nevada were manufactured more that fifty miles to the east, in northwestern Arizona. This paper uses analyses of ceramics from sites in southeastern Nevada, northwestern Arizona, and southwestern Utah to more precisely define the regional distribution of these ceramics and to assess their degree of standardization in form and technology. Questions relating to the development of community specialization and interaction in egalitarian societies are--examined in light of these analyses.

Using Anasazi Redwares To Reconstruct Prehistoric Trade Networks, James R. Allison

Faculty Publications

Anasazi redware ceramics were widely traded from relatively small areas which specialized in their production. They form one stylistic sequence, but exhibit technological variation due to differences in resource availability. This variation allows most redwares to be traced to specific manufacturing areas, a crucial step in the reconstruction of trade networks and alliances. However, because few archaeologists have worked with the redware production areas, the current typology is misleading and the redwares are often mistyped. As a result, patterns of distribution and the behaviors that created them are obscured.

Madaba Plains Project: A Preliminary Report Of The 1984 Season At Tell El-'Umeiri And Vicinity, Lawrence T. Geraty, Larry G. Herr, Oystein S. Labianca, James R. Battenfield, Robert G. Boling, Douglas R. Clark, John I. Lawlor, Larry A. Mitchell, Randall W. Younker

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.