2015
19
May
Protection for Los Gigantes
Matt Peeples, Preservation Archaeologist
May 19, 2015—Archaeology Southwest is very pleased to announce that we've recently purchased the Los Gigantes archaeological site from the ranching family in the El Morro Valley of west-central New Mexico who has protected it for generations. This ancest...
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2015
23
Feb
George McJunkin and the Discovery That Changed American Archaeology
Matt Peeples, Preservation Archaeologist
On August 27, 1908, the small town of Folsom (population ~250) in northern New Mexico was hit by a cloudburst and drenched with a rapid and heavy rain. This storm caused some of the worst flooding ever recorded in the area. First-hand accounts in newspaper...
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2014
11
Sep
Flooding Down in Arizona
By Matt Peeples, Preservation Archaeologist
For those of us living in central and southern Arizona, Monday was a record-breaking day of rain. Many parts of the Phoenix metro area received more than 3 to 5 inches within a 24-hour period. To put that in perspective, the Phoenix area typically...
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2014
05
May
Atari Archaeology and Other Garbage
By Matt Peeples, Preservation Archaeologist
If you've been following the news over the last couple of weeks, you may have seen a story or two about a documentary film crew and a team of archaeologists heading to the New Mexico desert near Alamogordo to excavate the remains of the legendary ...
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2014
06
Mar
Heighten Your Awareness on March 29
By Matt Peeples, Preservation Archaeologist
March is Archaeology and Heritage Awareness Month for the State of Arizona. Setting aside a month to celebrate archaeology highlights the importance of our shared past, as well as the social and economic impacts of archaeology in the state. Of c...
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2014
11
Feb
Footprints
By Matt Peeples, Preservation Archaeologist
There have been some interesting archaeological news stories in the last couple of months revolving around the discovery of incredibly preserved human footprints. These stories, coming one right after the other, really got me thinking more about...
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2014
21
Jan
From Durango to Durango and from Las Vegas to Las Vegas, Part 2
By Matt Peeples, Preservation Archaeologist
In my previous post on the 14th biennial Southwest Symposium, I shared what I learned about the Fremont area. A number of other papers at the conference focused on the Virgin River area, which is the subject of today’s post.
Sometimes conside...
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2014
20
Jan
From Durango to Durango and Las Vegas to Las Vegas, Part 1
By Matt Peeples, Preservation Archaeologist
Several of Archaeology Southwest’s staff members attended the 14th biennial Southwest Symposium at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, held from January 9 to 11. Because it focuses on current research in the Southwest, this conference is one of...
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2013
28
Nov
Back to Basics, Part 3: Broad Research Themes
By Matt Peeples, Preservation Archaeologist
The archaeological culture areas I described on Wednesday are really just a means of conceptualizing similarities and differences among people living in different parts of the Southwest. These constructs do not represent cultures in the way we def...
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2013
27
Nov
Back to Basics, Part 2: Archaeological Cultures in the Southwest
By Matt Peeples, Preservation Archaeologist
On Monday, I wrote about how archaeologists define culture areas, which represent geographic zones in which people were living in generally similar ways and across which people were connected through shared history and practices. Before we look at...
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2013
25
Nov
Back to Basics, Part 1
By Matt Peeples, Preservation Archaeologist
As I reviewed recent posts, I thought we should take a moment to break it down for those who are interested in learning what Southwest archaeology is about, at the most basic level. This week, in three successive posts, I’ll try to summarize a...
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2013
03
Sep
Red or green?
By Matt Peeples, Preservation Archaeologist
Red or green? It's the state question of New Mexico—referring, of course, to the color of the chile sauce you want on your dinner. Synonymous with New Mexican cuisine, chile peppers are part of New Mexican identity. Even the road signs welcomi...
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