Tour of the Desert Laboratory on Tumamoc Hill and the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research
July 12 @ 7:45 am - 12:30 pm
On Saturday, July 12, 2025, from 7:45 am to 12:30 pm, Old Pueblo Archaeology Center summer tour visits TOO-COOL University of Arizona (UA) environmental-science laboratories in Tucson – the Desert Laboratory on Tumamoc Hill and the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research (LTRR). Tour guests will meet at Mercado San Agustin, 100 S. Avenida del Convento, Tucson, AZ. The Tumamoc Desert Laboratory began its existence in 1903 as the Carnegie Desert Botanical Laboratory established by the Carnegie Institution of Washington and is now listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The Tree-Ring Lab also has a venerable record of research in archaeology, astronomy, and environmental sciences, created in 1937 by the founder of dendrochronology as a science: UA Professor of Astronomy Andrew Ellicott Douglass. Tour presenters and guides will include archaeologists Paul and Suzanne Fish, the Tumamoc Lab’s Robert Villa, and LTRR docent Donna MacEachern. The drive from the Mercado San Agustín meeting place to the Tumamoc Lab is limited to five vehicles so tour is limited to 20 people and carpooling is required. After returning to the Mercado, all participants can take their own vehicles in a caravan to the LTRR.
Your $35 donation for this tour ($28 for Old Pueblo Archaeology Center and S’edav Va’aki Museum Foundation members) supports Old Pueblo’s education programs about archaeology and traditional cultures. Registration and prepayment are due 10 days after reservation request or by 5 pm Wednesday July 9, whichever is earlier: 520-798-1201 or info@oldpueblo.org.
Photo 1 Caption: Tumamoc Desert Laboratory photo from the Desert Laboratory on Tumamoc Hill website
Photo 2 Caption: Photo by John Kay of giant sequoia tree cross-section at The University of Arizona’s Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research
Flyer: 20250712(v1)TumamocDesertLab-TreeRingLabTourFlyer