For activities in a different month click the name of that month on the buttons above.
Saturday May 1, 2010:
Library Presenters free presentation: "Ancient Native American Pottery of Southern Arizona" by archaeologist Allen Dart at Pima County Public Library, Valencia Branch, 202 W. Valencia Road, Tucson 1 to 2:30 p.m. Free. Using digital images and actual ancient pottery, archaeologist Allen Dart shows Native American ceramic styles that characterized specific eras in Arizona prehistory and history, and discusses how archaeologists use pottery for dating archaeological sites and interpreting ancient lifeways. Allen discusses the importance of context in archaeology, how things people make change in style over time, and how different styles are useful for identifying different cultures and for dating pottery. Then he shows illustrations and examples of the pottery styles that were made in southern Arizona by the ancient Early Ceramic and Hohokam cultures, and historically by Piman (Tohono O odham and Akimel O odham), Yuman (including Mohave and Maricopa), and Apachean peoples from as early as 800 B.C. into the early twentieth century. The program features slides and a display of authentic prehistoric pottery, and recommended readings for more information about ancient ceramics. Sponsored by the Pima County Public Library. No reservations needed. For meeting details contact Kelly Urman in Tucson at 520-594-5390 or Kelly.Urman@pima.gov ; for information about the presentation subject matter contact Allen Dart at Tucson telephone 520-798-1201 or adart@oldpueblo.org Click here for a flyer containing more information.
Thursday May 20, 2010:
Old Pueblo Archaeology Center’s “Third Thursday Food for Thought” dinner & presentation: “The Las Capas Site - Farms in the Desert” with geoarchaeologist Fred Nials, at Dragon's View Asian Cuisine, 400 N. Bonita Avenue, Tucson 6 to 8:30 p.m. Free In this presentation geoarchaeologist Fred Nials will describe recent excavations by Desert Archaeology, Inc., at Las Capas, which revealed remarkable detail about the practice of agriculture in the southern Southwest more than 3,000 years ago. Findings include more than 750 individual field plots and 160 canals that watered the fields. Some fields were so well preserved that individual planting holes could be recognized. The site was chosen by Archaeology Magazine as one of the ten most important discoveries in the world for 2009. Conditions that led to the selection of the site area for farming, the exceptional state of preservation of agricultural features, and eventual abandonment of the site will be discussed. Fred Nials is a geoarchaeologist who worked on the Las Capas project for Desert Archaeology. Since he attended graduate school in Idaho, Fred has accumulated more than 40 years experience teaching at the university level and in field investigations of archaeological sites. He has examined the geology of more than 5,000 sites in the western US, Mexico and South America, and his accomplishments include developing a technique for identifying and mapping Chacoan roads, and helping create a 1,400-year record of annual water flow in the Salt and Gila rivers. In addition to his work at Las Capas, he most recently mapped and measured the physical attributes of more than 2,400 linear km of floodplains in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico, and developed a quantifiable explanation for locations of most riverine agricultural site locations in that area. For reservations or more information contact Old Pueblo Archaeology Center at 520-798-1201 or info@oldpueblo.org
Friday May 21, 2010:
“Southwestern Rock Calendars and Ancient Time Pieces” free presentation by Old Pueblo Archaeology Center's director, archaeologist Allen Dart, for the East Valley Astronomy Club at Gilbert Public Library, 775 N. Greenfield Road (southeast corner of Greenfield and Guadalupe roads), Gilbert, Arizona. Cosponsored by the Arizona Humanities Council. 7:30-9 p.m. Free. Native Americans in the Southwest developed sophisticated skills in astronomy and predicting the seasons, centuries before Old World peoples first entered the region. In this presentation archaeologist Allen Dart discusses the petroglyphs at Picture Rocks, the architecture of the "Great House" at Arizona's Casa Grande Ruins, and other archaeological evidence of ancient astronomy and calendrical reckoning; and interprets how these discoveries may have related to ancient Native American rituals. Funding for this program is being provided by the Arizona Humanities Council. No reservations needed. For meeting details contact Bill Houston in the East Valley at 602-402-6901 or vp@evaconline.org ; for information about the presentation subject matter contact Allen Dart at Tucson telephone 520-798-1201 or adart@oldpueblo.org Click here for a flyer containing more information.
