Dear Friends,
In a few days, hundreds of Southwestern archaeologists, including some from Archaeology Southwest, will gather near Blanding, Utah, for the annual Pecos Conference.
The Pecos Conference—then called the Southwestern Archaeology Conference–was first held in August, 1927, in Pecos, New Mexico, where Alfred Vincent Kidder of the Carnegie Institution of Washington had been excavating Pecos Pueblo. Kidder, the informal “dean” of Southwestern archaeology, called the conference so that archaeologists could share their fieldwork results and spend focused time developing a synthetic, summary interpretive framework to help classify Southwestern archaeological sites as they were then understood.
The result was the so-called Pecos Classification, which differentiates between two “Basketmaker” and four “Pueblo” periods based on widespread changes in artifacts, domesticated plants, architecture, and other criteria. Remarkably, the Pecos Classification was robust enough that is still generally applicable and in use today!
That said, it is difficult to conceive how radically different their understanding of Southwestern archaeology was a century ago from what we understand today. First, there were very few archaeologists working at that time—only about 40 men attended that first conference. There were a few women and students in attendance, but not many, and there were no avocational archaeologists present.
Second, fieldwork was difficult and could really be life-threatening back then. Places that are remote today were really, really remote and often unmapped back then, and much of the standard equipment we use today hadn’t even been dreamt of.
Third, archaeologists were largely focused on the Colorado Pueblo and the classic Ancestral Pueblo places found there. Archaeologically defined cultures such as “Mogollon” and “Hohokam” in the mountainous transition zone and southern deserts would not be described for another decade.
Most importantly from my perspective, however, is the fact that archaeologists attending that first Pecos Conference had literally no idea how old the sites actually were. They had no absolute dating techniques with which to date the sites. In short, they did not yet control Time.
As I outline in my book Time, Trees, and Prehistory, Astronomer Andrew Ellicott Douglass of the University of Arizona had in 1927 been working for more than a decade to try to date archaeological sites using tree-ring analysis. Douglass attended and presented at the first Pecos Conference, but did not announce dates until December 1929. When he did, his colleagues were astonished—the Great Houses of Chaco Canyon were less than 1,000 years old, and pithouse sites were less than 2,000 years old. Prior to the announcement of those dates, Kidder guessed that the Great Houses were about 2,000 years old, and that pithouse sites were roughly 4,000 years old. He wasn’t just wrong; he was off by about 100%!
At the other end of the temporal spectrum, archaeologists in the 1920s did not yet know that Native Americans lived in North America during the last Ice Age. Two hundred miles northeast of Pecos, however, is the town of Folsom, New Mexico, where paleontologists from the Colorado Museum of Natural History (CMNH; now the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, where I worked for 17 years) were in the midst of a stunning discovery: distinctive stone projectile points embedded in the ribs of an extinct form of bison (Bison antiquus)!
The history of science is replete with strange and interesting twists of fate: CMNH paleontologists had actually found projectile points at the Folsom Site in 1926 but did not leave them in place, so they could not prove their association with extinct Ice Age animals. In 1927, CMNH director Jesse Dade Figgins ordered the crew to leave any points they found in place until the external experts could confirm the find. On August 29, they uncovered the “Folsom point” and sent a telegram to Figgins, who then contacted prominent archaeologists including Kidder, Frank H.H. Roberts of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and Barnum Brown of the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
Here’s the fateful twist: Kidder, Roberts, and Brown were already in New Mexico at the first Pecos Conference! Instead of having make the long journey on multiple trains from the East Coast, they simply drove from Pecos to Folsom to confirm the discovery in the field.
Between tree-ring dates and the Folsom discovery, the late 1920s forced a series of temporal reckonings on Southwestern archaeologists. They had to acknowledge the fact that Native Americans had been in North American since the last Ice Age, thus telescoping their perceived chronology back in time. Then they had to shrink their Basketmaker–Pueblo sequence in half because they overestimated the age of Pueblo and Basketmaker sites. Those must’ve been head-spinning times, arguably unparalleled in their importance for our understanding of Southwestern archaeology.
What will come out of this year’s Pecos Conference? We’ll have to wait and see!
Until next time,
Steve Nash
President & CEO, Archaeology Southwest
Former Interior Analyst Speaks Out
Love for the land and for public service broke Jacob Malcom’s heart on Valentine’s Day 2025. That Friday, Feb. 14, he was ordered to terminate probationary employees at the U.S. Department of the Interior as part of sweeping layoffs throughout the federal government. In response, he resigned in protest.
Malcom, who led Interior’s Office of Policy Analysis, has since founded a new group, Next Interior, whose mission is to build public awareness of Interior’s many roles and support the agency’s past and present employees. Shaun Griswold with Jacob Malcolm for High Country News | Read more »
Continuing Coverage: Incipient Censorship at US National Parks
According to internal documents reviewed by The New York Times, employees of the National Park Service have flagged descriptions and displays at scores of parks and historic sites for review in connection with President Trump’s directive to remove or cover up materials that “inappropriately disparage Americans.”
In an executive order in March, the president instructed the Park Service to review plaques, films and other materials presented to visitors at 433 sites around the country, with the aim of ensuring they emphasize the “progress of the American people” and the “grandeur of the American landscape.” Maxine Joselow and Lisa Friedman for the New York Times | Read more »
Call to Action: Save Our Signs
The Data Rescue Project (DRP) and partners need your help in preserving American history – but this time, we need you to put on your ranger hat and boots, and trek to your local national park to #SaveOurSigns (https://saveoursigns.org).
The National Park Service is the nation’s largest outdoor history classroom. Spanning 400 sites, the Parks work tirelessly to fulfill their legal mandate to steward our nation’s stories and make them accessible to all Americans. As we approach the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we need your help creating a community archive of these stories! Help us preserve signs that capture the history of America. Data Rescue Project | Learn more »
Who’s Currently Overseeing the National Park Service?
[The administration has] quietly put a Texas wealth manager with no conservation experience in charge of all national parks and wildlife refuges. Kevin Lilly is the acting assistant secretary for fish, wildlife, and parks at the Interior Department—a position that oversees both the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Lilly resigned his position as the chair of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission in order to join the Trump administration as a political appointee. SFGate reports that Lilly founded Avalon Advisors, the “largest privately owned wealth management firm in Texas,” according to Southwestern University. Center for Western Priorities | Read more »
Sacagawea in Hidatsa History
The Hidatsas’ portrait of Sacagawea is both richer and more ambiguous than the one found in standard histories. By adding decades to her life, they have changed its meaning: The journey to the Pacific, rather than the whole of her existence, becomes a two-year blip in a story that stretches across the 19th century, from the opening of the Western frontier to the Civil War and beyond. Almost all those years were spent back where Lewis and Clark found her, among the Hidatsa. Christopher Cox for the New York Times Magazine | Read more »
Tribes, Conservation Orgs Challenge Mine Approval in Southern AZ
Environmental groups are urging the Bureau of Land Management to redo an environmental assessment for the Copper Creek Exploration Project near Mammoth, Arizona. The proposed copper mine is operated by Redhawk Copper, a subsidiary of the Canadian company, Faraday Copper, which was recently approved to modify 18 acres of public land and expand 67 existing drill sites. …
“BLM rushed the decision process again, without honoring tribal sovereignty and they again ignored and dismissed tribal cultural property concerns and they really substituted corporate engagement for formal government consultation,” [Russ McSpadden] said. Katya Mendoza for AZPM | Read more »
Commentary: Respect Tribal Knowledge for Bears Ears
Bears Ears National Monument is more than a public lands designation. It is a vital part of Ute Mountain Ute culture. Our connection to this land goes back thousands of years. We call this place Kwiyagatu Nukavachi. … We don’t see Bears Ears as a partisan political issue. It is a place of prayer, healing and deep meaning. Efforts to shrink or weaken the Monument’s protections harm our culture, our rights and our future. Malcolm Lehi in the Salt Lake Tribune | Read more »
Chimney Rock Interpretive Association to Host Lecture Series on Chaco Beginning Aug. 15
The Chimney Rock Interpretive Association (CRIA) is proud to announce its upcoming Lecture Series, featuring “The Chaco Phenomenon,” a captivating three-part program that explores the rise and fall, influence, and legacy of the Ancestral Puebloan Chaco Culture and its enduring connection to Chimney Rock National Monument. The series will take place over three consecutive Fridays in August at 6:00pm, at the United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall. Doors will open at 5:45pm. Each lecture will feature a distinguished expert in Southwestern archaeology and anthropology. CRIA in the Pagosa Daily Post | Learn more »
Publication Announcements
Bourgeois, R. L., K. Supernant, and N. Gupta. 2025. “Reconceptualizing Repatriation as the Power to Decide.” Museum Anthropology e70012. Read now (open access) »
Schleher, Kari L., and Michelle I. Turner. 2025. “Local or Distant?: Items of Personal Adornment and Great House Identity in the Central Mesa Verde Region.” KIVA, June, 1–29. Read abstract »
August In-Person Lectures (Santa Fe NM)
Aug. 4 TONIGHT, Tom Johnson, Lienzo de Quauhquechollan: Captivating Geohistory of 16th C. Mexico & Guatemala; Aug. 11 Rob Martinez, Alabados, Alabanzas, Inditas & Corridos! Hispanic Musical Traditions; Aug. 18, Lynda Teller Pete & Barbara Ornelas (Diné), Navajo Culture through Weaving; Aug. 25, Deborah Jackson Taffa (Kwatsaán/Laguna Pueblo), Looking Back: A Memoir. Admission fees apply. Southwest Seminars | Learn more »
REMINDER: Aug. 7 Online Event: Nuwu Astronomy Views
With Autumn Gillard. This presentation will explore the connection to the night sky as a Southern Paiute, including the importance of preserving the night sky. Autumn will discuss southern Paiute astronomy views and the recognition of how the sky can also be subjected to Indigenous cultural appropriation. Crow Canyon Archaeological Center | Learn more and register (free) »
Aug. 13 In-Person Event (Tucson AZ): Pursuing the American Dream: Tucson Chinese-Owned Grocery Stores
With Howard J. Eng. Eng will discuss his book Pursuing the American Dream: Tucson Chinese-Owned Grocery Stores, followed by a Q&A. During the gold rush era in California (1848–1855), the Chinese referred to the United States as “Gold Mountain” or “Gam Saan” in Cantonese, a name inspired by the gold fields of California. Thousands of Chinese immigrants came to Gam Saan to seek their fortunes and live the American Dream, and for many of them, owning a grocery store provided the means to pursue it. Tucson, Arizona, is one of many US communities that have Chinese-owned grocery stores. 3:00 p.m., Martha Cooper Library, 1377 N. Catalina Ave. Free, but registration is required. Biblio Lotus and Pima County Public Library | Learn more and register »
Aug. 14 Online Event: The FAIR+CARE Cultural Heritage Network: Advancing Practices to Support Ethical Data Management in Archaeology
With Neha Gupta, Desireé Reneé Martinez, Chris Nicholson, and Sarah Whitche Kansa. This webinar presents ongoing work by the FAIR+CARE Cultural Heritage Network, a group working to investigate, develop, demonstrate, and promote more equitable cultural heritage data curation practices. The Network aims to reconcile the apparent social and technical contradictions between two highly regarded data management principles: CARE (collective benefit, authority to control, responsibility, and ethics) and FAIR (findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reuse). Crow Canyon Archaeological Center | Learn more and register (free) »
REMINDER: Aug. 21 Online Event: Copper Networks in the U.S. Southwest, Mexican Northwest, and Mesoamerica
With Dr. José Luis Punzo Díaz. He will show how metal artifacts, especially copper, emerged in western Mesoamerica 1,000+ years ago and quickly got into exchange networks extending thousands of kilometers from there to the southwestern US. Third Thursday Food for Thought series (Old Pueblo Archaeology Center) | Learn more and register (free) »
Video Channel Roundup
NEW! Glen Canyon Rising, film screening and Q & A, featuring Lyle Balenquah and Craig Childs. Film by Laura Brown. Hosted by Crow Canyon Archaeological Center. Watch now »
NEW! The Great Rock-Art of Chaco Canyon with Jane Kolber, hosted by Old Pueblo Archaeology Center as part of their Third Thursday Food for Thought series. Watch now »
Catch up on some presentations not highlighted above that we might’ve missed, too! A simple click on any of the links to the YouTube channels of our Partners and Friends should catch you up. (And please do let us know if your channel isn’t in this list but should be.)
Albuquerque Archaeological Society
American Rock Art Research Association
Amerind Foundation
Archaeology Southwest
Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society
Arizona State Museum
Aztlander
Bears Ears Partnership
Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA
Crow Canyon Archaeological Center
Grand Canyon Trust
Grand Staircase Escalante Partners
Mesa Prieta Petroglyphs Project
Mission Garden (Friends of Tucson’s Birthplace)
Museum of Indian Arts and Cultures
Museum of Northern Arizona
Old Pueblo Archaeology Center
Pacific Coast Archaeological Society
San Diego Archaeological Center
School for Advanced Research
SHUMLA Archaeological Center
Southwest Seminars
The Archaeological Conservancy
Verde Valley Archaeology Center
Remember to send us notice of upcoming events and webinars, tours and workshops, and anything else you’d like to share with the Friends. Thanks!