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Six ancestral Pueblo community water supply sources were investigated by a team of engineers, scientists, archeologists, and other specialists affiliated with Wright Water Engineers, Inc. (WWE), and the Wright Paleohydrological Institute (WPI) from 1996 to 2021. The team members applied their various technical backgrounds and research methods to gain more insight into the water available to the ancestral Pueblo people living in the Four Corners area of the United States between 750 and 1280 CE, and how these indigenous people managed the water. Using lab analyses, field research, surveys, and analyses of sediment layers, the WWE/WPI team determined that four mounded areas discovered at Mesa Verde National Park had been ancestral Pueblo reservoirs. Through climate research, lab analyses, and investigations at these and two other sites, the team learned that water in this region was limited, and the community had to work diligently to harvest this water and maintain access to it. In the case of the four reservoirs studied, for example, the runoff used as water supply carried a high volume of sediment that required the water storage basins to be frequently dredged to maintain adequate capacity. These and other examples indicate that the ancestral Pueblo people were resourceful, hardworking, and organized water harvesters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Laboratory hybridization experiments using Phyciodes batesii anasazi and P. batesii lakota show genetic incompatibility expressed as a reduction in F1 viability and disturbance in development rate and adult eclosion pattern comparable to those between P. b. batesii and P. tharos or P. cocyta. When P. b. anasazi was hybridized with P. tharos or with P. cocyta there was less but still significant genetic incompatibility. Hybrid inviability arises from regulatory differences in metabolic pathways during development. Disturbance in adult eclosion patterns seems to be related to differences in larval diapause regulation. The results indicate that P. b. anasazi is not conspecific with P. batesii, but is a separate species more closely related to P. cocyta and P. tharos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the archaeological record for water management in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, in relation to the Bonito Paleochannel cycle, ca. AD 1075–1150. We present evidence for a canal system at Pueblo Bonito that was destroyed by the entrenchment of the paleochannel. This canal system is associated with the peak of great house construction. Other water control features throughout the canyon were small and date to the period of paleochannel aggradation or afterward. We suggest that while the Pueblo Bonito canals represent some degree of corporate group investment, small features were managed at the household level. The limited archaeological evidence for formal water control infrastructure can be explained at least in part by the physical geography of Chaco Canyon, which we view as essentially a regional-scale water harvesting structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes a bison rib bone foreshaft from the Blackwater Draw site, New Mexico. The object was recovered by James Hester in 1963, during the excavation of locality 4, and it was subsequently cataloged as a modified bone tool but not recognized as a hafting element. It is currently held in the Blackwater Draw Museum collections. This analysis provides a detailed description of the artifact's features and establishes its provenience from a Folsom context. A survey of known Paleoindigenous hafting implements and a discussion of theoretical Folsom foreshaft designs serve to reinforce the classification of the tool as a component of the Folsom weapon delivery system. The tool was likely broken during use and later recycled as a pressure flaker or as a polishing instrument. With the help of 3D imagery, a reconstructed model was printed and fitted with large and small Folsom points to test ideas borrowed from the theoretical literature on Folsom foreshaft design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeologists routinely create backdirt during excavation, but it is rarely acknowledged and remains surprisingly undertheorized. In this paper, we treat backdirt as a uniquely archaeological product that is socially constructed and guided by culturally and historically situated motivations. Using Chaco Canyon as a case study, we examine the ways in which project priorities changed over nearly 150 years of excavation and (more recently) re-excavation. We illustrate the importance of understanding backdirt as a social product by comparing the avifaunal assemblages created by two major excavation projects at the great house of Una Vida. Differences in these assemblages demonstrate how changes in research goals structured what was collected, what was left as backdirt, and how this ultimately impacts interpretations about Chaco history. Finally, we offer thoughts about the future role of backdirt in archaeological praxis as a space to welcome feminist and Indigenous perspectives in the construction of archaeological narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magic and witchcraft, classic topics in the anthropology of religion, involve everyday things such as ashes, ceramics, minerals, shell, and projectile points. In many cultures, people attribute agency to such artifacts, as well as architecture, begging the question what is the archaeological record of such animate beings? To understand past human lifeways more fully, we need to explore the formation processes associated with the interaction between people and other non-human actors. For example, what might we learn from a burned pueblo whose rooms contain ash, projectile points, crystals, and other items? In this paper we argue that deposits in ritually closed pueblos of the North American Southwest, like many other Neolithic villages, likely contain purposely deposited objects in an effort to neutralize the anima left in these places and to prophylactically protect their former inhabitants from future witchcraft. We present Cottonwood Spring Pueblo, New Mexico, as a case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of Indigenous populations on historical fire regimes has been controversial and beset by mismatches in the geographic scale of paleofire reconstructions and the scale of land-use behaviors. It is often assumed that anthropogenic burning is linearly related to population density and not different cultural practices. Here we take an off-site geoarchaeology strategy to reconstruct variability in historical fire regimes (<1000 years ago) at geographic scales that match the archaeological, ethnohistorical, and oral tradition evidence for variability in the intensity of Indigenous land use by two different cultural groups (Ancestral Pueblo and Western Apache). We use multiple, independent proxies from three localities in ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests in east-Central Arizona to reconstruct fire regime variability during four phases of cultural use of different intensities. Elevated charcoal with domesticate pollen (Zea spp.) but otherwise unchanged forest pollen assemblages characterized intensive land use by Ancestral Pueblo people during an early phase, suggesting fire use to support agricultural activities. By contrast, a phase of intensive pre-reservation Western Apache land use corresponded to little change in charcoal, but had elevated ash-derived phosphorus and elevated grass and ruderal pollen suggestive of enhanced burning in fine fuels to promote economically important wild plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent archaeological survey disclosed a whole, S-shaped "grooved club" similar to examples from Basketmaker II contexts of the Four-Corners. It represents the farthest north example of this artifact type in the Southwest, occurring outside the traditional area of western Basketmaker II occupation. Artifacts like this were once thought to be a characteristic Basketmaker II trait of the Four Corners, but examples come from sites distributed throughout the Southwest and beyond and from temporal intervals well before and after Basketmaker II. A study of the new find promised to shed some additional light on this enigmatic artifact class by expanding the geographic range of known occurrences, providing an additional radiocarbon age estimate, and perhaps revealing new or corroborative information about use. This paper covers these aspects and more. Un estudio arqueológico reciente reveló un "mazo ranurado" completo en forma de S similar a los ejemplos de los contextos de Basketmaker II de las Cuatro Esquinas. Representa el ejemplo más al norte de este tipo de artefacto en el suroeste, que se encuentra fuera del área tradicional de ocupación occidental de Basketmaker II. Alguna vez se pensó que artefactos como este eran un rasgo característico de Basketmaker II de Four Corners, pero los ejemplos provienen de sitios distribuidos por todo el suroeste y más allá y de intervalos temporales mucho antes y después de Basketmaker II. El estudio del nuevo hallazgo prometió arrojar algo de luz adicional sobre esta enigmática clase de artefactos al expandir el rango geográfico de ocurrencias conocidas, proporcionar una estimación adicional de la edad del radiocarbono y quizás revelar información nueva o corroborativa sobre el uso. Este documento cubre estos aspectos y más. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the reemergence of an animate world perspective and the importance of shifting our awareness towards a more-than-human perspective. The author explores the idea that the world is saturated with intelligent presences and that experiencing the world's animate and participatory nature engages not only the intellect but also the body, emotions, and imagination. The article suggests that our human capacity for imagination is unique and that cultivating our imagination can help us perceive the animate world. The author also emphasizes the need to disrupt our everyday thinking and engage in practices that destabilize our psychic habits in order to connect with the wider community of life. [Extracted from the article]

Anthropological research has long theorized that emergent food-producing economies catalyzed high levels of inequality in human societies, as evident in the earliest use of jewelry made from gold, copper, and other precious minerals among early agricultural populations. Although the US Southwest appears to have been an exception, we report the discovery of two Basketmaker II period necklaces constructed of green iridescent scarab beetle femora, which suggests a homologous association between emergent agriculture and inequality. Drawing insight from ethnography, archaeology, entomology, and evolutionary ecology, we hypothesize that these and other jewelry items of Basketmaker II culture were visually prominent, honest signals of socioeconomic capital that emerged during a period of surplus food production and incipient wealth accumulation. It appears that Basketmaker II societies--like other emergent food-producing economies around the world--grappled with the opportunities and challenges that arise with surplus production, albeit in a distinct way that involved visually striking insect and feather adornments as status signals. Archaeologists may have previously overlooked this behavior due to Western biases that privilege precious metals and minerals as prestige objects and archaeological biases that tend to view insects as food or agents of site disturbance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many Mesa Verde cliff dwellings were occupied during the thirteenth century in the final decades before the Four Corners region was depopulated. Deposits in such cliff dwellings offer unique opportunities to research motivations for migration and to understand living conditions in these unusual locations. In compliance with NAGPRA, bioarchaeological data were collected from Wetherill Mesa burials in 1995; this study is the first systematic analysis of these data. Skeletal health indicators demonstrate increased physiological stress for residents of Pueblo III cliff dwellings. Worsening health related to resource availability and distribution, aggregation, and unsanitary living conditions might have influenced migration from the region. Skeletal fracture data indicate decreased trauma during the Pueblo III, contrasted with the possibility of culturally mediated violence or violent attack at Long House. This pattern of violence was likely a response to insecurity during the late thirteenth century and ultimately might have provided another motivation for migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Bears Ears: Landscape of Refuge and Resistance" by Andrew Gulliford is a comprehensive exploration of the history and current issues surrounding Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. Gulliford argues that understanding the deep history of the area, including the presence of Paleo-Indians and the exploitation of Native American burial sites, is crucial to understanding the contemporary conflicts over the land. The book covers thirteen thousand years of history and examines the various groups of people who have inhabited the area, culminating in present-day battles over land use rights. Gulliford's use of empirical and experiential evidence helps to illustrate the multiple meanings of Bears Ears to different stakeholders. This book is a valuable resource for those studying identity, place, and federal policy. [Extracted from the article]

Across seventy years of research, the site of Tijeras Pueblo has become an important place for understanding the transformations that impacted Rio Grande Pueblo society during the fourteenth century A.D. During that time, the course of research at the pueblo has been guided in part by its changing ownership and management of the site. While the first investigations were conducted while the site was privately owned federal acquisition of the pueblo facilitated the major excavations that took place there in the late 1960s and 1970s. As federal objectives for research evolved with new legislation, the involvement of Native Americans resulted in a major shift in how the last excavations in 2000 were conducted. While sustained interest in Tijeras Pueblo has been driven by its role in addressing major questions about the course of Pueblo history, its ownership and management have shaped, and continue to shape, how we know this important place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tijeras Pueblo Archaeological Site (LA 581) offers a variety of integrated resources encouraging appreciation of and respect for traditional Pueblo lifeways. Interpretive strata at the site are comprised of a self-guided trail, on-site museum, Tiwa World mural/map, Pueblo garden, and native plant identification. Educational outreach and programming include classroom visits, lectures, workshops, demonstrations, and a summer archaeology day camp. This paper discusses the challenges of creating text and exhibits with volunteers, and the approaches used to increase visibility at a buried site. Assessments of the relative success and shortfalls of these efforts are presented. These include detailed examinations of the elements and structure of interpretive efforts, impacts, and consequences based on descriptive and anecdotal observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the archaeological collection from Tijeras Pueblo (LA 581) was curated at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico. As was typical of archaeological repositories in the mid- to late twentieth century, the collection was stored in a warehouse, using non-archival materials, with minimal curation records. Beginning in 2004, a massive volunteer effort led to the complete reorganization of the Tijeras Pueblo collection. This effort has resulted in renewed research on Tijeras Pueblo and other public benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Situated at the junction of two canyons, one north–south and one east–west, Tijeras Pueblo (LA 581) is within easy reach of a number of different ecoregions as well as on a boundary between two distinct culture areas, the Pueblo to the west and the Great Plains to the east. This position on the landscape may have created both challenges and opportunities for the residents of Tijeras Pueblo. While the elevation of Tijeras Canyon makes this location a challenging spot for maize agriculture, the large number of nearby environmental zones, as well as the social connectivity afforded by the pueblo's situation, may have afforded its residents access to an abundance of wild resources. In this paper, we discuss the results from our analysis of the artiodactyl fauna from Tijeras Pueblo, focusing on what these data suggest about socio-environmental connectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tijeras Pueblo (LA 581) is a Pueblo IV period site in New Mexico. This study addresses two research goals: first, to examine burial distribution for indicators of spatial clustering, and second, to test whether association to such units affected resource access and the health of individuals. Using geographic information systems (GIS), I define spatial units applying Nearest Neighbor and Kernel Density Analysis. Osteological data, including age, sex, and health indicators, as well as mortuary data, serve to examine the interrelatedness between spatial units and resource distribution. Data stem from 55 individuals excavated from Tijeras Pueblo during the 1970s. Results show a significant clustering of burials associated with room blocks, interpreted as household units. No hierarchical differences between households were found based on burial goods, although some types of burial goods varied in frequency between the clusters. Differences exist in the frequency of linear enamel hypoplasia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pueblo Bonito is the iconic pre- Columbian structure in Chaco Culture National Historical Park, a World Heritage Site in northwestern New Mexico, USA. The structure, dating to about 850–1150 Current Era, and built of quarried sandstones, wooden timbers and a mud mortar, has been the subject of archaeological investigations for over a century. The present study is based on the examination of historical photographs of Pueblo Bonito dating from 1887 to the 1920s. It is a retrospective assessment to determine if structural damages, depicted on the photographs, could be attributed to identifiable agents that might have been present at the time of Pueblo Bonito occupancy. A likely causal agent of deterioration at Pueblo Bonito was the inability of Ancestral Puebloan engineers to manage the impacts from the annual precipitation, presently measured at about 220 mm. A resulting time-dependent event was rot to wetted roof and ceiling timbers, lintels, and wall support beams which required decades of incubation by wood decay fungi to reduce wood tensile strength to levels leading to roof and wall collapse. Important time- independent events that could occur any time after construction include water action on the mud mortar which resulted in unstable gravity load paths in stone walls, ponding of water in walls which when frozen would lead to the blowout of wall segments, and the occasional flood that disrupted foundations. Pueblo Bonito may have been an occupation site for centuries but the lifetime of individually constructed rooms may have only been decades, resulting in several build- repair- or abandon cycles being part of the history of that Great House. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perched high above Roosevelt Lake in Tonto Basin, central Arizona, the Upper and Lower Tonto Cliff Dwellings have been commonly excluded from archaeological narratives for the basin. Although one of the few sizeable settlements inhabited in Tonto Basin during the Gila phase (A.D. 1350–1450), the cliff dwellings fell outside the boundaries of several large cultural resource management projects, and are a settlement type atypical for the basin. A disconnect between studies of the Tonto Cliff Dwellings and the rest of the basin therefore exists. Least cost paths (LCPs) are therefore calculated from the Tonto Cliff Dwellings to settlements around Arizona to identify and contextualize possible travel routes between Tonto Basin and beyond. It is argued that reconstructing and refining travel in the ancient Southwest requires the creation of multiple LCPs among multiple start and end points, verification through artifact and feature documentation, and insights from traditional knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The NASA PUNCH mission has developed a suite of Sun-related STEM learning activities in preparation for the 2023 and 2024 solar eclipses. These activities align with an Ancient and Modern Sun-watching theme and are designed for physics and astronomy teaching beyond the eclipses. The PUNCH Outreach team collaborates with various groups, including Native American youth and families, Spanish translators, blind learners, and Girl Scouts, to create arts-integrated, multicultural, and multisensory STEM activities. One of their signature products is the 3-Hole-PUNCH Pinhole Projector, which allows viewers to see the shapes of light formed by sunlight passing through different holes. The team also offers a tabletop demo and downloadable PowerPoint presentations to further explore pinhole imaging. Additionally, the team has documented a petroglyph in Chaco Canyon that may depict a solar eclipse from 1097, and they have created tactile-art representations of the solar corona for blind and sighted individuals. The PUNCH Outreach activities are part of the NASA Heliophysics Big Year celebration, which includes events such as the 2024 total solar eclipse and the 2025 launch of the PUNCH mission. The goal of these outreach products is to connect people with the Sun and increase understanding and appreciation for this extraordinary star. [Extracted from the article]

The Ancestral Puebloans occupied Chaco Canyon, in what is now the southwestern USA, for more than a millennium and harvested useful timber and fuel from the trees of distant forests as well as local woodlands, especially juniper and pinyon pine. These pinyon juniper woodland products were an essential part of the resource base from Late Archaic times (3000–100 BC) to the Bonito phase (AD 800–1140) during the great florescence of Chacoan culture. During this vast expanse of time, the availability of portions of the woodland declined. We posit, based on pollen and macrobotanical remains, that the Chaco Canyon woodlands were substantially impacted during Late Archaic to Basketmaker II times (100 BC–AD 500) when agriculture became a major means of food production and the manufacture of pottery was introduced into the canyon. By the time of the Bonito phase, the local woodlands, especially the juniper component, had been decimated by centuries of continuous extraction of a slow-growing resource. The destabilizing impact resulting from recurrent woodland harvesting likely contributed to the environmental unpredictability and difficulty in procuring essential resources suffered by the Ancestral Puebloans prior to their ultimate departure from Chaco Canyon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]