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“Third Thursday Food for Thought” program featuring “The Sinagua: Fact or Fiction?”
March 17, 2022 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
On Thursday, March 17, 2022, Old Pueblo Archaeology Center’s “Third Thursday Food for Thought” free Zoom online program will feature “The Sinagua: Fact or Fiction?” presentation by archaeologist Peter J. Pilles, Jr. This free online Zoom presentation will be held at 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. (ARIZONA/Mountain Standard Time – same as Pacific Daylight Time).
“Sinagua” is the name first coined in 1939 to refer to the pre-European people who inhabited the Flagstaff region of north-central Arizona. But what, exactly, does this mean? Does Sinagua refer to a geographic area, a specific kind of pottery, an actual grouping of people, or is it something else? These are difficult questions this presentation will attempt to explore. The Sinagua archaeological area of Arizona has been considered a cultural “frontier,” characterized as a blend of other cultures, yet unique enough to warrant its own cultural designation. However, over the years, this uniqueness dissolved as old interpretations were no longer satisfactorily explaining what archaeologists were finding. By the 1960s, new areas of study and new explanatory models were developed. However, these paradigm shifts have failed to satisfactorily answer the questions posed by past interpretations. These shifts beg the major questions: Who were the Sinagua, how do they fit into the “Big Picture” of Southwest prehistory, and what happened to the culture? In order to bring closure to these questions, archaeologists need to explain how past questions have been . . . not exactly the wrong questions, but they need to be re-fitted and examined under a different lens, focused by degrees of scale. This presentation will attempt to illustrate these different approaches, as well as to demonstrate that the concept of “Sinagua” is both fact AND fiction.
To register go to https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Ik2kE-mAROaksDhLE-6iUQ. For more information contact Old Pueblo at info@oldpueblo.org or 520-798-1201.
Caption: Honanki cliffdwelling and pictographs near Sedona, Arizona, photograph by Allen Dart.
Flyer: 20220317(v1)ThirdThursday_PeterPilles_TheSinaguaFactOrFiction