• Give & Join
  • Renew
    • Renew Your Membership
    • Member Circles and Benefits
    • Student Membership
    • Give a Gift Membership
    • More Ways to Help
    • Update Your Information
  • Take Action
    • Volunteer Program
    • Make Your Voice Heard
  • About
    • What We Do
    • Annual Reports
    • Position Openings
    • Team & People
    • Partners & Friends
    • Policies & Financials
  • Things to Do
    • Events
    • Archaeology Café Online
    • Exhibits
    • Classes
    • Field School
  • Explore
    • Free Resources
    • Introduction to Southwestern Archaeology
    • Projects
    • Protection Efforts
    • Ancient Cultures
    • Videos
    • Places to Visit
  • Store
    • Archaeology Southwest Magazine
    • All Products
  • News
    • Blog
    • Press Releases/Announcements
    • Preservation Archaeology Today
    • Sign up for E-News
  • Give & Join
  • Renew
    • Renew Your Membership
    • Member Circles and Benefits
    • Student Membership
    • Give a Gift Membership
    • More Ways to Help
    • Update Your Info
  • Take Action
    • Volunteer Program
    • Make Your Voice Heard
X
  • About
    • What We Do
    • Annual Reports
    • Position Openings
    • Team & People
    • Partners and Friends
    • Policies and Financials
  • Things to Do
    • Events
    • Archaeology Café Online
    • Exhibits
    • Classes
    • Field School
  • Explore
    • Free Resources
    • SW Archaeology 101
    • Projects
    • Protection Efforts
    • Ancient Cultures
    • Videos
    • Places to Visit
  • Store
    • Archaeology Southwest Magazine
    • All Products
  • News
    • Blog
    • Press Releases/Announcements
    • Preservation Archaeology Today
    • Sign up for E-News

A New Pithouse for the Presidio

Preservation Archaeology Blog
  • Home
  • >
  • Preservation Archaeology Blog
  • >
  • A New Pithouse for the Presidio
Allen Denoyer, Preservation Archaeologist and Ancient Technologies Expert
Allen Denoyer - blog

(October 2, 2022)—In 2021, we began conversations with Amy Hartmann Gordon, Executive Director of the Presidio San Agustín del Tucson Museum, and Ginger Thompson, Education and Outreach Manager, about what to do with the open space outside the gate on the north side of the museum. Because the Presidio is dedicated to showing the history of daily life in Tucson, we decided it would be helpful to have a replica pithouse.

The completed replica.
The completed replica.

Pithouses are a type of dwelling or residential structure. They have been revealed in excavations throughout the Sonoran Desert and date back at least 4,000 years, continuing into the 1400s. We know the size of the upright poles based on burned ones we find in archaeological sites. The oval shape is common in both historic Tohono Oʼodham examples, including one archaeologists recovered at Mission Garden, and the Early Agricultural period, particularly ones built around 3,000 years ago. So, our replica is ultimately a composite intended to give visitors an idea of what each of these structures was like. The replica also reflects the kind of structure people would have built on this exact spot 2,000 years ago.

Amy secured an Arizona Humanities grant to fund the building of the replica, which included time and materials. First, Ginger and I excavated a shallow house pit; we couldn’t go too deep because there are some intact archaeological deposits beneath this location. (Unlike other areas on the grounds, this area was not excavated prior to the museum’s construction.)

Shallow house pit with postholes.
Shallow house pit with postholes.

We ended up using modern tools—a pick and shovel—because the ground surface was highly compacted. We planned for it to have an oval footprint, about 3 meters by 2 meters, with a ring of post holes just inside the pit walls. We dug the post holes with a digging stick in order to easily make perfectly sized holes.

Beginning the superstructure.
Beginning the superstructure.
Close-up.
Close-up.

I gathered the materials for the superstructure at my friend Joyce Holloway’s ranch in Aravaipa Canyon. We used Desert willow, Goodding’s willow, and Narrowleaf cottonwood saplings. The first thing we did was set up all the posts. Once we had them tamped in, we bent them over and tied them together, creating the dome shape we wanted. These were tied together with string. Then we wove branches parallel in four rows around the house, which tightened everything up nicely.

Ginger working on the superstructure.
Ginger working on the superstructure.
Finished dome.
Finished dome.

For the next stage, we used Gymnosperma glutinosum (gumhead). It grows abundantly is washes and sandy disturbed areas. We made mats that we then wrapped around the superstructure.

Adding the mats. Note the berm of adobe around the periphery of the structure. This is to keep rainwater from washing into it. The rest of the construction materials will overlap on the outside of the berm to help rain drain to the outside.
Adding the mats. Note the berm of adobe around the periphery of the structure. This is to keep rainwater from washing into it. The rest of the construction materials will overlap on the outside of the berm to help rain drain to the outside.
View from inside the structure. You can see the mud squishing through the wall mats. I have added another layer of mats around the outside at this point. The house is already providing good shade.
View from inside the structure. You can see the mud squishing through the wall mats. I have added another layer of mats around the outside at this point. The house is already providing good shade.

These upper mats are made out of Sorghum halepense (Johnson grass). This grass is abundant in local floodplains.

We added another layer of grass—this time, not with mats, but with grass directly thatched into the framework. This grass is Pennisetum glaucum (Pearl Millet).

Another layer of grass. Pearl millet is much harder to find, but I found enough in the Santa Cruz River valley due to the excellent summer monsoons we’ve been having. I like it because the leaves are long and wide, not unlike corn.
Another layer of grass. Pearl millet is much harder to find, but I found enough in the Santa Cruz River valley due to the excellent summer monsoons we’ve been having. I like it because the leaves are long and wide, not unlike corn.

The final ingredient is mud!

We mixed mud in small baskets to the consistency of thick cake batter, using whisks made out of the Johnson grass, and then we splattered the mud on the roof.
We mixed mud in small baskets to the consistency of thick cake batter, using whisks made out of the Johnson grass, and then we splattered the mud on the roof.
Ginger putting mud on the roof.
Ginger putting mud on the roof.
Mudded roof. I think it looks like a monk’s tonsure!
Mudded roof. I think it looks like a monk’s tonsure!

The finished product. Eventually, we may add some more mud to the roof.

Finished! For now…
Finished! For now…

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Explore the News

  • Preservation Archaeology Blog
  • Press Releases/Announcements
  • Preservation Archaeology Today
  • Join Today

    Keep up with the latest discoveries in southwestern archaeology. Join today, and receive Archaeology Southwest Magazine, among other member benefits.

    Become A Member

Related Posts

  • Southwest Archaeology Today for October 5, 2009

  • Archaeology Southwest Prepared to Defend the Antiquities Act

  • Broad Coalition Supports Archaeological Preservation along the Great Bend of the Gila

Want to help us? Make a donation

or take action

© 2020 Archaeology Southwest
Formerly the Center for Desert Archaeology

520.882.6946
Contact
  • Donor Portal
  • My Store Account
  • Contact Us
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Press Room