GLYPHS The Monthly Newsletter of the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society An Affiliate of the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona Founded in 1916
Vol. 62, No. 6 Tucson, Arizona December 2011
HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS ISSUE President’s Message ...... 2 Upward Sun River (Xaasaa Na’) Site: Climate Change, Geoarchaeology and Human Land Use in Ice Age Alaska, Joshua A. Reuther and Ben A. Potter ...... 5 The Cornerstone ...... 9
2011 excavation at the Upward Sun River site, interior Alaska (photograph by Ben A. Potter).
Next General Meeting: December 19, 2011 7:30 p.m., Duval Auditorium, University Medical Center www.az-arch-and-hist.org Page 2 Glyphs: The Monthly Newsletter of ...... The Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society Page 3
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE vicinity of the Craycroft Road bridge, burying long redwood boxes in the which is technically the upper end of channel, then directing the water that the Rillito. That’s where Tanque percolated into them into shallow he Illinois prairie is not of in the way that a good thrift store Verde Creek and Pantano Wash con- ditches along the south bank of the the first place that comes is interesting, except that the unin- T verge and become the Rillito, the Rillito. Abandoned segments of ditch to mind when you think of tentionality of how things were left former draining the northeast corner are preserved in what are now pri- canoeing, but in the 12 years behind or pushed aside along a river of the Tucson Basin and the latter marily residential areas along the or so that I lived there, I did a adds notably to their appeal. ending the circuitous path it began, south bank of the Rillito, as is the oc- lot of it. Most of the prairie became I mostly gave up canoeing when I as Cienega Creek, somewhere south casional concrete feature that once farmland long ago, which means moved to southern Arizona, where of Sonoita. linked a buried redwood head box to most prairie rivers are flanked by nearly all the rivers dried up a cen- Before the water table dropped in a ditch, or a ditch to a buried red- fields, usually green with corn or soy- tury ago and none was ever suitable the early twentieth century, the lower wood flume that carried water below beans during the canoeing season. for canoeing in any case, but even end of Tanque Verde Creek was a re- the bed of the river to another ditch Some stretches of a river will be lined here, a river is an interesting seam in liable spot to find water year-round, on the opposite bank. One such flume by enough trees or brush or swamp the local historical fabric, a chance although it often required some dig- was uncovered by archaeologists to encourage the illusion that you’re to see the haphazard selection of old ging in the sandy channel. Early Mexi- about 15 years ago just downstream gliding through a wilderness, but the junk and immovable objects that can farmers in the basin knew this, from the Craycroft Road bridge, and murky, dark brown water always re- somehow defines a place for me. And and the U.S. Army, looking for a suit- stray pieces of redwood lumber along minds you of the proximity of here you can actually walk right in able place to establish a post in 1873, lower Tanque Verde Creek attest to plowed ground. the river and not have to worry about also knew it, moving from downtown others that have probably been de- A surprising amount of wildlife getting a ride or battling the current Tucson to just south of the confluence stroyed by flooding. still lives along the rivers in Illinois, to get back to your starting point. to build the new Fort Lowell, which All of which is interesting and in the occasional quiet spot the My favorite river to walk is the was active until 1891. The same loca- enough, but somehow I find more plant community still has some sem- Rillito, redundantly known as the tion was, of course, long favored by interesting still the remnants of an blance of its former minor glory, but I Rillito River, which runs east to west Native Americans: the remains of a old sewer line that was once buried decided early on that the most inter- along the foothills of the Catalina large Hohokam village, the Hardy below the bed of Tanque Verde Creek esting thing about traveling down a Mountains and the northern bound- site, lie just below what is now Fort and the Rillito. I don’t know much river in Illinois wasn’t the nature that ary of Tucson. I like to put in at Swan Lowell Park. Today, the park is well about it except that it was built in the had managed to survive but the odd Road and head upstream, usually known for its restored adobe fort 1950s, when residential develop- slice of recent history that it revealed. with my three boys and two or three buildings and the walking path that ment on the east side of Tucson had You’d never know until you canoed dogs. The channel is wide and open takes you by the spots where Ho- just begun, in the general vicinity of a river just how many remnant there, with a soft, sandy bottom and hokam features have been excavated, the Tucson Country Club. The line bridge abutments, collapsed corn intermittent thickets of desert broom but if you know where to look you has been abandoned for years and cribs, ancient farm machines, de- along the sides. The dogs chase liz- can see still other parts of the history was evidently destroyed in large part crepit cars, and long-forgotten trash ards, the boys chase the dogs, and I of the confluence as you walk up ei- by periodic downcutting of the chan- piles there were at the backs of all count my familiar, homely land- ther tributary. nel. those monotonous, neatly cultivated marks in the riverbed, keeping an eye In the late nineteenth century, af- As you walk up the Rillito from fields. out for anything newly exposed by a ter Fort Lowell was abandoned, Mexi- Swan Road, you see pieces of thick- I find the miscellaneous discards recent flow. can and Anglo-American farmers walled, 18-inch-diameter red clay of the recent, pre-plastic past inter- A walk up the river from Swan began farming in earnest along the pipe lying here and there, sometimes esting, not for any scientific or spe- Road offers plenty of things of con- Rillito, gathering water from the cifically historical reason but just vi- ventional interest to the archaeolo- lower end of Tanque Verde Creek by sually, intrinsically interesting, sort gist and historian, especially in the (continued on page 4) Page 4 Glyphs: The Monthly Newsletter of ...... 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(continued from page 3) hand-laid red brick and the concrete AAHS HAPPENINGS just small sherds easily mistaken for exterior is just a protective veneer. a piece of brick (except for a slight It is hard to understand how TOPIC OF THE DECEMBER 19 GENERAL MEETING curvature to the sides), sometimes as something so substantial, so care- massive, almost complete sections fully made as this sewer line, with with the distinctive flange of clay pipe its hefty clay pipe and its seemingly Upward Sun River (Xaasaa Na’) Site: Climate Change, on one end. indestructible manholes, was so Geoarchaeology and Human Land Use in Ice Age Alaska If you keep heading up Tanque quickly outgrown, so quickly obso- by Joshua D. Reuther and Ben A. Potter Verde Creek from Craycroft Road, lete, or at least so unworthy of repair you’re treated to the odd sight of when it was damaged. No doubt large, bell-shaped manhole struc- some other system, still more impres- he Tanana River Valley region in aided in the exceptional preservation tures, spaced at long intervals, seem- sive, is now operating in its place, Tinterior Alaska has one of the of organic remains and the integrity ingly built to stand on the modern taking on a much larger burden and longest archaeological records in of the archaeological record. Most bed of the creek but actually built be- itself on the verge of obsolescence. I North America, dating back 14,000 spectacular is the discovery of a low the former bed and now fully doubt the old sewer line is distinc- calendar years ago, to the end of the young child, Xaasaa Cheege’ exposed by downcutting. These look tive enough, or enough of it survives, Ice Age. Several multicomponent Ts’eniin’ (Upward Sun River Mouth like pre-cast concrete structures, to justify official protection as a his- sites, including Upward Sun River, Child), who was cremated within a which they would be today, but if you toric property, but I hope it is pre- Gerstle River, Mead, Broken Mam- residential structure. This represents look inside (you’ll need a boost) and served, if only by neglect. Come to moth, Swan Point, and the Bachner the oldest Arctic/Subarctic human the sun is right, you’ll see they are think of it, maybe that’s the best way. Site, have provided well-preserved remains and residential structure, beautifully and sturdily crafted from —Scott O’Mack, President fauna, organic implements, lithic as- and one of the oldest in the Western semblages, and cultural features in Hemisphere. secure stratified contexts. These and We report on our analyses of ani- other sites are situated in windblown mal and floral remains from the site, silts (loess) on bedrock bluffs, allu- and explore the nature of human AAHS LECTURE SERIES vial terraces, and sand dune depos- land use patterns in the Tanana Ba- All meetings are held at the University Medical Center, Duval Auditorium its, providing avenues for exploring sin. We integrate these results in the Third Monday of the month, 7:30–9:00 p.m. changes in human-environment in- context of regional geoarchaeologi- teractions in the Subarctic. This pre- cal investigations on the evolution of Dec. 19, 2011: Joshua Reuther and Ben Potter, Upward Sun River Site: sentation will focus primarily on the the middle Tanana River landscape, Climate Change, Geoarchaeology, and Human Land Use in Ice results of recent excavations and ar- terminal Pleistocene and early Ho- Age Alaska chaeological and geological research locene environments (20,000-6,000 Jan. 16, 2012: David Yetman, The Ópatas: Who They Were and What Became conducted at Upward Sun River. years ago) and climate change, and of Them The Upward Sun River site, or prehistoric hunter-gatherer/envi- Feb. 20, 2012: Evelyn Billo, Robert Mark, and Donald E. Weaver, Jr., Sears Xaasaa Na’ in Upper Tanana Atha- ronment interactions in the region. Point Rock Art and Beyond, Synopsis of the 2008–2012 bascan, is situated on a stabilized sand dune that is capped with more Recording Project Suggested Reading: Mar. 19, 2012: William Lipe, Before Lake Powell: Memories of Glen Canyon than 2 meters of loess. Since 2007, we Archaeology have identified four occupations in Hoffecker, J. F., and S. A. Elias stratified contexts dating between 2007 Human Ecology of Beringia. Colum- 13,200 and 10,000 calendar years ago. bia University Press, New York. The rapid deposition of sediments (continued on page 6) Page 6 Glyphs: The Monthly Newsletter of ...... The Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society Page 7
(continued from page 5) Potter, Ben A., Joel D. Irish, Joshua D. a.m. Bring a packed lunch to eat at either Guevavi or Calabasas. We expect Reuther, Carol Gelvin-Reymiller, to be back at the rendezvous point by 3:00 p.m. To register, contact Lynn Potter, B. A. and Vance T. Holliday 2008 Radiocarbon Chronology of Central 2011 A Paleoindian Child Cremation and Ratener at [email protected]. Alaska: Technological Continuity and Residential Structure from Eastern Change. Radiocarbon 50:181–204. Beringia. Science 311:1058–1062. Ft. Huachuca Archaeology [with Martyn Tagg] January 21, 2012 Speaker Josh Reuther is a Ph.D. student in the School of Anthropology at the University The third Saturday of the new year will find us visiting archaeological sites of Arizona, as well as a Senior Archaeologist and Lab Manager at Northern Land Use in the vicinity of Ft. Huachuca, led by archaeologist Martyn Tagg. We will Research, a cultural resources management firm in Fairbanks, Alaska. Josh received his B.A. leave at 8:30 a.m. from the northwest corner of the Houghton Road exit and and M.A. degrees in Anthropology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and has con- I-10 East to carpool. We will be visiting sites such as the Garden Canyon ducted archaeological and geological research in the arctic and subarctic regions of Alaska prehistoric village, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, since 1997. His dissertation research is focused on understanding the terrestrial environ- pictographs associated with the village, and possibly a bedrock mortar site ment and hunter-gatherer land use during the terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene in the Middle Tanana River Valley in Alaska. and historic trash dump, depending on time. High clearance vehicles are recommended up Garden Canyon as the road is Speaker Ben A. Potter is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Alaska not maintained and is very rocky. To get on base, you’ll need a picture ID, Fairbanks. Dr. Potter’s research interests include intersite variability, site structure, and specifically a driver’s license or retired military ID, and for your vehicle, organization, with a research program focusing broadly on the relationships among organi- zational properties, settlement, economy, and technology among high latitude prehistoric proof of insurance and car registration. Non-U.S. citizens are prohibited hunter-gatherers. He has published on these and other topics in Science, Arctic, Journal of from entering the base without clearance; let me know if Marty needs to Archaeological Science, American Antiquity, Arctic Anthropology, Radiocarbon, check into it for you. and other journals. We will meet Marty at about 10:00 a.m. to begin the formal tour, which will take the rest of the morning. We can return to the post for lunch or after lunch (bring sack lunch and water) to give people time to view the Old Post (which UPCOMING AAHS FIELD TRIPS has all the original 1880s buildings) and perhaps one of the museums on your own. We expect to return to the rendezvous point by mid-afternoon. AAHS membership is required to participate in field trips. Prospective members may attend one AAHS field trip prior to joining. The tour is limited to 20 participants. Please let me know if you can drive. To Three Tumacácori Missions [with Jeremy Moss] register, contact Chris Lange at [email protected] or 520.792.1303. Inclem- December 10, 2011 ent weather will cancel the trip. Tumacácori National Historic Park protects three Spanish Colonial mis- sion ruins in southern Arizona: Tumacácori, Guevavi, and Calabasas. The Sears Point Rock Art [with Evelyn Billo and Robert Mark] adobe structures are on three sites, with a visitor center at Tumacácori. These February 18–19, 2012 missions are among more than 20 established in the Pimería Alta by Father Evelyn Billo and Robert Mark have been leading a multi-year effort to docu- Kino and other Jesuits, and later expanded upon by Franciscan missionar- ment the extensive rock art along the Gila River between Gila Bend and ies. The name “Tumacácori” may have been derived from two O’odham Yuma. President’s Weekend, 2012, they will lead a trip for AAHS to see words, chu-uma and kakul, having reference to a flat, rocky place. Father Kino some of the sites. We will meet in Gila Bend at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, established it as a mission in January 1691, one day before Guevavi, making February 18, and proceed to the Howard Wells site, which is about an hour it the oldest mission site in Arizona. beyond Gila Bend. On Sunday, we will go to the Sears Point site. We plan to leave Sears Point around 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, so should be home by 6:00 This trip can accommodate 15 participants, and we must all fit into four p.m. We will have two or three leaders so we can split into groups based on high-clearance vehicles (with room for our guide). As you reserve a place, walking ability and desire. There is a great deal to see that involves hiking. please let me know if you have a high-clearance vehicle and how many it can hold. We will rendezvous at a location near I-19 and Irvington at 8:00 (continued on page 8) Page 8 Glyphs: The Monthly Newsletter of ...... The Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society Page 9
(continued from page 7) THE CORNERSTONE We plan to spend the night in Gila Bend, although primitive camping may be available at the Howard Wells site. Camping is no longer allowed at Community Collaborations Enrich Sears Point. High-clearance vehicles are required, so we will carpool from Museum’s Public Programs Gila Bend. To register for the trip, contact [email protected] and indicate if you have n light of staggering statistics on the importance of addressing a criti- a high-clearance vehicle. Iobesity, diabetes, and associated cal community need—healthier liv- health complications, Arizona State ing—through the traveling, cultur- Upcoming Adventures—More AAHS Field Trips: Museum (ASM) has partnered with ally based exhibit, and to brainstorm university and community organiza- about potential accompanying pro- tions to bring to Tucson an exhibit grams. The ideas shared formed the March 24, 2012: Tumamoc Hill [Gayle Hartmann and Paul & Suzanne Fish] with a healthy message. Through the basis of planning and fundraising April 28–29, 2012 (date tentative): Visit the Museum of Northern Arizona Eyes of the Eagle: Illustrating Healthy for what Arizona State Museum is vaults, Homol’ovi, and Rock Art Ranch [includes an overnight in Winslow] Living, curated by the Centers for Dis- now offering. ease Control (CDC) and Prevention’s “Collaborations are rich, messy, Global Healthy Odyssey Museum, is slow, and wonderful,” said Falk. a family-friendly exhibit inspired by “They are built on relationships CENTER FOR DESERT ARCHAEOLOGY’S a children’s book series of the same which take time to develop and nour- ARCHAEOLOGY CAFÉ name. ish. They require trust, respect, and “The exhibit and related events flexibility. I am delighted to be work- he Center for Desert Archaeology and Casa Vincente invite you to the are made possible only through dy- ing with such great partners on this TArchaeology Café, a casual discussion forum dedicated to promoting com- namic campus and community part- project.” munity engagement with cultural and scientific research. Meetings are the nerships,” said Lisa Falk, ASM di- Through community input, the first Tuesday of each month from September to May, at 6:00 p.m.; presenta- rector of education and curator of the exhibit itself was expanded beyond tions begin at 6:15 p.m. Casa Vicente is located at 375 S. Stone Avenue. The exhibit’s many facets and organizer presenting just the traveling café is free and open to the community. of the public programs celebrating it. children’s books from the CDC. Over- The remainder of the 2011–2012 season includes the following presentations: “Collaborations greatly enhance the whelmingly, the number one inter- visitor experience. Our partners offer est was to include a more local per- Dec. 6: Jenny Adams, Leaving No Stone Unturned: What Stone Tools Reveal a wider array of perspectives and spective, local Native voices, and lo- About People expertise, and allow us to appeal to cal objects and organizations. A Jan. 3: Panel discussion led by Bill Doelle, Preserving the Places of Our more diverse audiences than we comic book idea was born out of the Shared Past: The History and Future of Preservation Archaeology might be able to on our own.” expressed desire for a book that Feb. 7: Henry Wallace, New Directions and Old Obstructions in Southern Planning for Through the Eyes of looked more like southern Arizona Arizona Rock Art Research the Eagle began three years ago and that would appeal to teens (the through a series of community-wide Eagle books being more for younger Mar. 6: Lydia Otero, La Calle: Spatial Conflicts and Urban Renewal in a meetings that included university children). Ideas further expanded the Southwest City representatives, Native and non-Na- comic book to a digital format with Apr. 3: Jeff Reid, Prehistory, Personality, and Place: Emil W. Haury and the tive educators, public health work- versions in Spanish and O’odham. Mogollon Community ers, Tohono O’odham community May 1: Natalia Martínez Tagüeña and Vance Holliday, El Fin del Mundo, members, museum specialists, and Sonora, Mexico: Clovis Archaeology at the End of the World others. All came together to discuss (continued on page 10) Page 10 Glyphs: The Monthly Newsletter of ...... The Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society Page 11
(continued from page 9) Tohono O’odham Community AAHS MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION Action Then, came the idea for a health Ha:san Preparatory and Leader Membership is open to all persons who are interested in the prehistory and history of ship School Arizona and the Southwest and who support the aims of the Society. Each member- fair. On November 12, Arizona State ship runs for a full year beginning July 1 and continuing through June 30, and Museum hosted an expansive Amphitheater School American covers all individuals living in the same household. “healthy celebration” which was Indian Club Monthly meetings are free and open to the public. Society field trips require member- packed with a multitude of experi- Pima County Public Library ship. Members may also purchase an annual JSTOR subscription to Kiva back issues ences the museum’s partners, and Objective Coders for $20 through the AAHS website. many other groups, had to offer. Raytheon Missile Systems Among Arizona State Museum’s Membership Categories partners for this project are: $50 Kiva members receive four issues of the Society’s quarterly journal Kiva Through the Eyes of the Eagle: Illustrat- and 12 issues of Glyphs $40 Glyphs members receive Glyphs College of Education’s World of ing Healthy Living runs through Janu- $35 Student Kiva members receive both Kiva and Glyphs Words Library ary 7 at Arizona State Museum. More $75 Contributing members receive Kiva, Glyphs, and all current benefits Mel and Enid Zuckerman information on the exhibit can be $120 Supporting members receive Kiva, Glyphs, and all current benefits College of Public Health found at http://www.statemuseum. $300 Sponsoring members receive Kiva, Glyphs, and all current benefits $1,000 Lifetime members receive Kiva, Glyphs, and all current benefits American Diabetes Association, arizona.edu/exhibits/ Tucson Chapter eyes_of_the_eagle/index.shtml. For memberships outside the U.S., please add $20. University of Arizona College of For institutional membership, contact AltaMira Press at
New Mexico, January 14–15, 2012. Four sessions will focus around the BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2011-2012 T Officers conference theme, “Causation and Explanation: Demography, Movement, His- President: Scott O’Mack | [email protected] | 520.319.5549 Vice President for Activities: Katherine Cerino | [email protected] | 520.907.0884 torical Ecology.” The conference is hosted by the University of New Mexico Vice President for Membership: Michael Diehl | [email protected] | 520.881.2244 Recording Secretary: Judith Billings | [email protected] and the Bureau of Land Management. For more information and to register, Communications Officer: Jon Boyd | [email protected] please visit www.unm.edu/~swsympos/. Treasurer: George Harding | [email protected] Directors Jesse Ballenger Chance Copperstone William Gillespie Matt Pailes (Student Rep) Donna Yoder Michael Boley John Douglass Janine Hernbrode Todd Pitezel Michael Riley (ASM Liaison)
Follow AAHS on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/pages/Tucson-AZ/ Editors of Society Publications Arizona-Archaeological-and-Historical-Society Kiva: James Snead, Acquisitions Editor | [email protected] | 818.677.3322 Glyphs: Emilee Mead | [email protected] | 520.881.2244 Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society Arizona State Museum NONPROFIT University of Arizona ORGANIZATION Tucson, Arizona 85721-0026 U.S. Postage USA PAID
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The objectives of the Arizona Archaeo- logical and Historical Society are to encourage scholarly pursuits in areas of history and anthropology of the southwestern United States and north- ern Mexico; to encourage the preser- vation of archaeological and histori- cal sites; to encourage the scientific and legal gathering of cultural infor- mation and materials; to publish the results of archaeological, historical, and ethnographic investigations; to aid in the functions and programs of the Arizona State Museum, Univer- sity of Arizona; and to provide edu- cational opportunities through lec- tures, field trips, and other activities. See inside back cover for information about the Society’s programs and membership and subscription re- quirements.