Out in the quiet desert we hear and see two low flying Black Hawk helicopters coming towards us and hear their “Whap! Whap!” - sounds that cut through the desert peace.
They are very low. They look ominous! The desert peace is truly broken.
Many questions come to mind: Are they practicing? Are they watching us? Are they after someone?
We have driven to this area down a long, deep in silt, dirt road.
Dusty is an understatement. The dust is pinkish in color. It swarms and swirls about us as we drive along. The vehicle and its windows are covered in dust.
We have parked on the dirt road and have walked to the south out of the way of the sparse mesquite thicket — thorny you know!
We continue our survey, keeping the helicopters in sight.
They hover - hover for a long time at the base of the mountains that are to our northwest less than a mile away.
We finish our survey and head back to the car.
The helicopters are still there – hovering.
Bruce H. says, “They got someone!”
“Who?” We ask.
Shrugs!
We are in the mesquite thicket and thru the branches we see a camouflaged vehicle.
Startled I say, “There is their car!
We need to go back and get out. Wait a minute!
That is my car!”
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
The Challenge
The last words I heard as I left Andy’s office were, “Find a ballcourt!”
Ballcourts have been found on large pre-classic sites but they are not common. The Hohokam had ballcourts from about 750 -1000 AD. It is thought to be a Meso-American influence – some 1500 miles away - according to Haury in his writings on Excavations at Snaketown.
No one really knows why but the ballcourt system was abandoned. Then, Hohokam built large-scale platform mounds, either used for ceremonial rites or at times living structures. A full cultural shift at about 1000 AD is clearly in evidence.
Andy is leading an office crew for another County’s Resource Planning.
I am leading a field crew that is four strong; each of us has about 25 years field experience; we love a challenge and now we have one! Find a ballcourt!
Mainly though, our challenge on this survey project has been re-locating the sites!
The sites were discovered in the forties to mid eighties and map plotting was not the best. They were using 15’ topographical maps so the change over of re-plotting to 7.5’ topographical maps has caused some problems! And now the maps are changing from NAD (North American Datum) 27 to 83. And GPS (Global Positioning System) units were not existence at that time either! Yikes! What a confusing mess!
We re-located and surveyed a large Hohokam habitation site dated to the pre-classic time frame about 800-1000 AD give or take a few years depending on whose chart/writings are being used!
Sherds were everywhere along with ground stone and lithics. Very large trash mounds were also evident along with general large scale pot hunting activities. Pit house depressions were noted.
I had told the crew about Andy’s parting and challenging words to me, “Find a ballcourt!”
We found several large depressions and did our usual measurements and GPS’d the exact location for the site card.
As we were leaving the site we heard Ken F. in a soft voice call out, “Hey, come see this!”
We converged on the voice and WOW!
A ballcourt! We are sure it is a ballcourt.
It measured the same as the small ballcourt at Snaketown (court-2 Santa Cruz phase); has nice berms, the orientation is North – South not just a willy-nilly orientation as cattle tanks or water catchments usually have.
Following the measuring, GPS-ing and mapping we had a chatty, congratulatory lunch Bermside of a Hohokam ballcourt! (Listened to the roar of the crowds?)
The challenge thrown. The challenge met!
Ballcourts have been found on large pre-classic sites but they are not common. The Hohokam had ballcourts from about 750 -1000 AD. It is thought to be a Meso-American influence – some 1500 miles away - according to Haury in his writings on Excavations at Snaketown.
No one really knows why but the ballcourt system was abandoned. Then, Hohokam built large-scale platform mounds, either used for ceremonial rites or at times living structures. A full cultural shift at about 1000 AD is clearly in evidence.
Andy is leading an office crew for another County’s Resource Planning.
I am leading a field crew that is four strong; each of us has about 25 years field experience; we love a challenge and now we have one! Find a ballcourt!
Mainly though, our challenge on this survey project has been re-locating the sites!
The sites were discovered in the forties to mid eighties and map plotting was not the best. They were using 15’ topographical maps so the change over of re-plotting to 7.5’ topographical maps has caused some problems! And now the maps are changing from NAD (North American Datum) 27 to 83. And GPS (Global Positioning System) units were not existence at that time either! Yikes! What a confusing mess!
We re-located and surveyed a large Hohokam habitation site dated to the pre-classic time frame about 800-1000 AD give or take a few years depending on whose chart/writings are being used!
Sherds were everywhere along with ground stone and lithics. Very large trash mounds were also evident along with general large scale pot hunting activities. Pit house depressions were noted.
I had told the crew about Andy’s parting and challenging words to me, “Find a ballcourt!”
We found several large depressions and did our usual measurements and GPS’d the exact location for the site card.
As we were leaving the site we heard Ken F. in a soft voice call out, “Hey, come see this!”
We converged on the voice and WOW!
A ballcourt! We are sure it is a ballcourt.
It measured the same as the small ballcourt at Snaketown (court-2 Santa Cruz phase); has nice berms, the orientation is North – South not just a willy-nilly orientation as cattle tanks or water catchments usually have.
Following the measuring, GPS-ing and mapping we had a chatty, congratulatory lunch Bermside of a Hohokam ballcourt! (Listened to the roar of the crowds?)
The challenge thrown. The challenge met!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Lighting Again
Earlier I talked about lighting and how it affects artifacts or rather viewing of same in the field.
My Site Steward partner and I had discovered a new site. We asked our Land Manager, an Archaeologist, to come out with us and officially record the site for the Arizona Site Office. This recording gives it an official number and map plotting for future Archaeologists.
On site we take her to our datum – a rock feature.
We start walking the site and there are no artifacts!
We had done a full pin flag, controlled inventory/survey just months before and had the artifact list with us.
Now, no artifacts? Boy! How embarrassing. We were wasting the Land Manager’s time and we sure looked like idiots!
I walked away to sit by myself and think about this embarrassing - revolting - development.
On the surface next to me - obsidian flake - then sherd - then more lithics! I called out to the others and showed them the artifacts.
Soon they too began calling out artifacts they saw. Jasper flakes, tools, cores, chalcedony flakes, pottery sherds, ground stone and since we were next to the Rail Road lots of historic glass and metal.
Lighting! With the passing of a few minutes and the sun’s movement across the skies the artifacts once again began to reveal themselves!
At the end of the recording session, the Land Manager said, “This is an exciting and wonderful site.”
Whew!
My Site Steward partner and I had discovered a new site. We asked our Land Manager, an Archaeologist, to come out with us and officially record the site for the Arizona Site Office. This recording gives it an official number and map plotting for future Archaeologists.
On site we take her to our datum – a rock feature.
We start walking the site and there are no artifacts!
We had done a full pin flag, controlled inventory/survey just months before and had the artifact list with us.
Now, no artifacts? Boy! How embarrassing. We were wasting the Land Manager’s time and we sure looked like idiots!
I walked away to sit by myself and think about this embarrassing - revolting - development.
On the surface next to me - obsidian flake - then sherd - then more lithics! I called out to the others and showed them the artifacts.
Soon they too began calling out artifacts they saw. Jasper flakes, tools, cores, chalcedony flakes, pottery sherds, ground stone and since we were next to the Rail Road lots of historic glass and metal.
Lighting! With the passing of a few minutes and the sun’s movement across the skies the artifacts once again began to reveal themselves!
At the end of the recording session, the Land Manager said, “This is an exciting and wonderful site.”
Whew!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Off Road
When one travels, especially off road, one should have the vehicle well maintained so pursuant to that belief I take my vehicle in regularly for oil change, tire check, air filter change and all of that good stuff.
On one visit not too long ago, I asked the service manager what others thought about their vehicle like mine, a 4x4, in the off road setting.
He said, “You are the only customer I have that goes off road.”
He called another man over to look at my tires and they both laughed.
I thought, “Tires? They are fairly new. Now what?”
They continued to laugh then said, “Look at those thorns on the side walls!”
Heavens! I am out in the desert off road!
The desert has cacti.
What do they expect?
On one visit not too long ago, I asked the service manager what others thought about their vehicle like mine, a 4x4, in the off road setting.
He said, “You are the only customer I have that goes off road.”
He called another man over to look at my tires and they both laughed.
I thought, “Tires? They are fairly new. Now what?”
They continued to laugh then said, “Look at those thorns on the side walls!”
Heavens! I am out in the desert off road!
The desert has cacti.
What do they expect?
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Rare Find
We had a new crewmember join us on our weekly rounds of the Cienega sites.
He had just been introduced to archaeology through the Site Steward classes.
He was quick to identify ceramics - pottery sherds - on the ground but was having trouble identifying lithics – stone tools or debitage.
We found four projectile points one day and he was disgusted that he was not one of the ‘finders.’
Last week I heard this emphatic “YES!”
He walked to me hand outstretched on which he had a projectile point.
It was dirty so I cleaned it off a bit.
“Wow! Bingo!” I said to him.
“You have an archaic point and it is obsidian! A rare find indeed!”
I held the point up to the sun and by golly it was green obsidian - very rare in this area.
“You have green obsidian to boot. It comes from Mexico,” I said to him.
“Yep! I purchased it for $2.00 at the Gem and Mineral Show last week!”
I am such a fish and get hooked easily!
He had just been introduced to archaeology through the Site Steward classes.
He was quick to identify ceramics - pottery sherds - on the ground but was having trouble identifying lithics – stone tools or debitage.
We found four projectile points one day and he was disgusted that he was not one of the ‘finders.’
Last week I heard this emphatic “YES!”
He walked to me hand outstretched on which he had a projectile point.
It was dirty so I cleaned it off a bit.
“Wow! Bingo!” I said to him.
“You have an archaic point and it is obsidian! A rare find indeed!”
I held the point up to the sun and by golly it was green obsidian - very rare in this area.
“You have green obsidian to boot. It comes from Mexico,” I said to him.
“Yep! I purchased it for $2.00 at the Gem and Mineral Show last week!”
I am such a fish and get hooked easily!
Friday, February 18, 2011
Salvage
With an excavation expedition comes a cooking story - it has to! Right?
We were in Lake City with about 16 students for field school. Actually, we were about 30 miles in the middle of nowhere outside of Lake City.
We had a wonderful cook. She not only cooked she made the long trip into town to do the shopping.
The local grocery store had a special on bananas so she bought a ton of them.
We put them in our lunch bags – great for mid day snack or just as a treat for lunch. But we were not eating them fast enough and they were going brown/black then everyone ignored them.
She made banana bread but there were still a lot left and she was in the process of tossing them when I asked her if I could have a few.
“Sure but they are rotten.”
I grabbed a frying pan, a lump of butter (margarine doesn’t work) and proceded to peel the bananas, slice them in half lengthwise and fry them out.
This was after dinner and the students were playing board games but one came over to see what I was doing.
In my opinion, curiosity is the mark of a good student!
“Hmm-that smells good. May I try some?”
When really ripe bananas are fried out in butter they candy/carmelize and are delicious over ice cream!
“Oh! This is wonderful,” she said as she scooped fried banana with the attendant brown syrup and ice cream into her mouth.
Her ohs and ahs immediately caught the attention of the rest of the board players! They left their games to see what we were doing.
We cooked up more bananas - cooked until all the bananas were gone! No one had ever had this treat before they said.
We had this treat several more times during the excavation.
And no banana went wasted again!
We were in Lake City with about 16 students for field school. Actually, we were about 30 miles in the middle of nowhere outside of Lake City.
We had a wonderful cook. She not only cooked she made the long trip into town to do the shopping.
The local grocery store had a special on bananas so she bought a ton of them.
We put them in our lunch bags – great for mid day snack or just as a treat for lunch. But we were not eating them fast enough and they were going brown/black then everyone ignored them.
She made banana bread but there were still a lot left and she was in the process of tossing them when I asked her if I could have a few.
“Sure but they are rotten.”
I grabbed a frying pan, a lump of butter (margarine doesn’t work) and proceded to peel the bananas, slice them in half lengthwise and fry them out.
This was after dinner and the students were playing board games but one came over to see what I was doing.
In my opinion, curiosity is the mark of a good student!
“Hmm-that smells good. May I try some?”
When really ripe bananas are fried out in butter they candy/carmelize and are delicious over ice cream!
“Oh! This is wonderful,” she said as she scooped fried banana with the attendant brown syrup and ice cream into her mouth.
Her ohs and ahs immediately caught the attention of the rest of the board players! They left their games to see what we were doing.
We cooked up more bananas - cooked until all the bananas were gone! No one had ever had this treat before they said.
We had this treat several more times during the excavation.
And no banana went wasted again!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Hiding
Topo map in hand. Sites plotted on map. Site cards (description of site) in hand. GPS in hand, and a very experienced survey crew. All things necessary to re-find sites recorded in 1972!
The area we are to survey for these 3 sites is flat and quite barren. Not quite the same as we are used to in the Tucson area. The creosote bush is smaller and grows further apart but then this desert is almost 1000 feet below the desert area we are used to. It is also hotter during the summer. It has been reported that the desert surface during the summer can reach 165° F.
First site.
We are at ground zero according to the UTMS/GPS. Nothing here. Land looks sheet washed and has areas of deep erosion. Hmm - there should be something here in the eroded areas. Not a sherd or lithic! Has the site been buried since it was first recorded in 1972? We have had 2 major flooding situations. But something is usually on the surface and in the eroded area! Nada.
Second site.
Same scenario. Nada.
We survey great distances around the two illusive sites that are supposed to be quite close to each other. Another eroded area examined and it has sherds, lithics and a roasting pit. Is this the first site? Heck it is only about 400 meters off the official plotting!
We get the UTMs and record it on the map. Then do a quick write up of the artifacts. Hmm.
Third site.
Site map shows the site about ¼ mile SW of a huge cattle tank. We are at the cattle tank and there are sherds galore at the NORTH side! This area matches the description on the site card. There is nothing at the SW area. Is the site really on the north side?
The original recorders were here in August, 1972. Did they suffer from the desert heat and miss plot the sites? Or????
This situation reminds me of what a Ute girl told me years ago when we were trying to find a site we had recorded just the day before and now couldn’t find.
She said, “Our ancestors come and go. Sometimes they show up for you, other times they go into hiding.”
The area we are to survey for these 3 sites is flat and quite barren. Not quite the same as we are used to in the Tucson area. The creosote bush is smaller and grows further apart but then this desert is almost 1000 feet below the desert area we are used to. It is also hotter during the summer. It has been reported that the desert surface during the summer can reach 165° F.
First site.
We are at ground zero according to the UTMS/GPS. Nothing here. Land looks sheet washed and has areas of deep erosion. Hmm - there should be something here in the eroded areas. Not a sherd or lithic! Has the site been buried since it was first recorded in 1972? We have had 2 major flooding situations. But something is usually on the surface and in the eroded area! Nada.
Second site.
Same scenario. Nada.
We survey great distances around the two illusive sites that are supposed to be quite close to each other. Another eroded area examined and it has sherds, lithics and a roasting pit. Is this the first site? Heck it is only about 400 meters off the official plotting!
We get the UTMs and record it on the map. Then do a quick write up of the artifacts. Hmm.
Third site.
Site map shows the site about ¼ mile SW of a huge cattle tank. We are at the cattle tank and there are sherds galore at the NORTH side! This area matches the description on the site card. There is nothing at the SW area. Is the site really on the north side?
The original recorders were here in August, 1972. Did they suffer from the desert heat and miss plot the sites? Or????
This situation reminds me of what a Ute girl told me years ago when we were trying to find a site we had recorded just the day before and now couldn’t find.
She said, “Our ancestors come and go. Sometimes they show up for you, other times they go into hiding.”
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