2018
11
Dec
Life in the Cliff Valley, 1300-1450
Our guest author for this post is undergraduate Chris LaRoche. Chris received his Associate’s Degree from Pima Community College’s archaeology program, and also attended the Preservation Archaeology Field School as a Pima student. He is now an anthropology major at the University of Arizona, whe...
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2016
18
Feb
Where Are They Now? Part 1
Karen Gust Schollmeyer, Preservation Archaeologist
(February 18, 2016)—This summer’s field school in the Upper Gila area of southwest New Mexico will mark the fifth year of our successful partnership with the University of Arizona (UA) to offer archaeological field training as a college-level ...
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2014
21
Sep
Agnese Haury Bequeaths Her Legacy to the University of Arizona
Agnese Haury Bequeaths Her Legacy to the University of Arizona
The University of Arizona has received $50 million from the estate of philanthropist Agnese Nelms Haury. It will be used to fund scholarships and research on issues of the environment, social justice, and the Southwest. It will also e...
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2011
05
Jul
Student Post: Anthropology Across the U.S. - Regional Variation in Archaeological Questions and Methods
One of the reasons I was most excited for this field school—aside from the charm of the Upper Gila and the completely foreign ways of life I was told I'd encounter every day—was because it gave me a chance to compare how archaeology was practiced across regions, particularly within the U.S. and ...
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2011
16
Jun
Still Dusty: Archaeology of the Day
One of our major research questions for the summer is the large depression in the center of the south room block at Fornholt. We are currently calling this the plaza/kiva—both type...
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2011
14
Jun
Barbacoa
On our first day off of the season, most of the students headed in to Silver City to do laundry and pick up necessities that had been used up or forgotten. A few stayed behind to help our hosts with the yearly task of branding and castrating their cattle, and did a fine job as ranch hands. To ...
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2011
09
Jun
Fire Update
It's not that often that this part of New Mexico makes the news. Unfortunately, the extra wet summer last year and the extra dry one this year have led to one of the largest fires in Southwestern history, burning up more than forty miles away and across two rivers, but we are making plans should w...
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2011
08
Jun
Camp Life
We get out on the site only a little after sunrise and make it back in the late afternoon, which is often taken up with artifact washing, lecture, and the business of trying to get the New Mexico silt scrubbed off. The field house is for cooking, reading, and getting out of the rain (if we had any...
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2011
05
Jun
Underground
The first few days are always a little tough, as folks grow calluses where there were none, and stretch muscles that haven't been called on before. Sometimes, even bloggers get too worn out to get much blogging done (sorry). But now we've hit our stride. We have five active excavation units: three i...
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2011
31
May
Lunch for Twenty
The nearest grocery stores are either an hour east in Silver City, New Mexico, or an hour west in Safford, Arizona, so we have to stock up. We've got limited refrigeration and storage in the field house, so we generally keep about a week of food at a time. This can be shocking for the check-ou...
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2011
30
May
Field Prep
After a month of gathering gear, compiling reading lists, and writing plans of work, we departed Tucson to set up camp in Mule Creek ahead of the students. One of the challenges of working more than an hour away from the nearest store is being absolutely sure that nothing (or at least nothing esse...
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2011
26
May
Welcome to Mule Creek Underground
Welcome to the inaugural edition of Mule Creek Underground! We've started this blog to give you a feel for the process of planning, conducting, and living through an archaeological research project.
First, a little history is in order. This will be our fourth year working in Mule Creek, and our l...
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