290 pages, 8 1/2 x 11
127 b&w illustrations, 9 color illustrations,
Paperback
Release Date:19 Mar 2024
ISBN:9780816552979
Coastal Foragers of the Gran Desierto
Investigations of Prehistoric Shell Middens along the Northern Sonoran Coast
SERIES:
The University of Arizona Press
The result of nearly twenty years of interdisciplinary research, this volume contributes to the archaeological and paleoenvironmental knowledge of an important but lightly investigated hyperarid coastline at the heart of the Sonoran Desert.
Focused on the coast near Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, Mexico, Coastal Foragers of the Gran Desierto examines the diverse groups occupying the coast for salt, abundant food sources, and shells for ornament manufacturing. The archaeological patterns demonstrated by the data gathered lead to the conclusion that, since ancient times, this coastal landscape was not a marginal zone but rather an important source of food and trade goods, and a pilgrimage destination that influenced broad and diverse communities across the Sonoran Desert and beyond.
Contributors
Jenny L. Adams
Karen R. Adams
Thomas Bowen
Tessa L. Branyan
Bill Broyles
Richard C. Brusca
David L. Dettman
Michael S. Foster
Gary Huckleberry
Jonathan B. Mabry
Natalia Martínez-Tagüeña
Richard J. Martynec
Douglas R. Mitchell
Kirsten Rowell
Melissa R. Schwan
M. Steven Shackley
R. J. Sliva
Kayla B. Worthey
Focused on the coast near Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, Mexico, Coastal Foragers of the Gran Desierto examines the diverse groups occupying the coast for salt, abundant food sources, and shells for ornament manufacturing. The archaeological patterns demonstrated by the data gathered lead to the conclusion that, since ancient times, this coastal landscape was not a marginal zone but rather an important source of food and trade goods, and a pilgrimage destination that influenced broad and diverse communities across the Sonoran Desert and beyond.
Contributors
Jenny L. Adams
Karen R. Adams
Thomas Bowen
Tessa L. Branyan
Bill Broyles
Richard C. Brusca
David L. Dettman
Michael S. Foster
Gary Huckleberry
Jonathan B. Mabry
Natalia Martínez-Tagüeña
Richard J. Martynec
Douglas R. Mitchell
Kirsten Rowell
Melissa R. Schwan
M. Steven Shackley
R. J. Sliva
Kayla B. Worthey
Douglas R. Mitchell, MA, is a research associate at S’edav Va’aki Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. He spent more than thirty-five years conducting archaeological investigations, and his research interests include prehistoric cultures of Arizona, chronology, settlement systems, northern Gulf of California coastal middens, and the study of prehistoric burial practices in the Southwest.
Jonathan B. Mabry, PhD, is an anthropologist and archaeologist with more than forty years of fieldwork experience in the deserts of the Middle East, North Africa, U.S. Southwest, and Northwest Mexico. His research has focused on Indigenous subsistence adaptations, social organizations, and cultural histories of prehistoric peoples of the U.S.-Mexico desert.
Gary Huckleberry, PhD, is an adjunct research associate and lecturer at the University of Arizona who specializes in geomorphology, soils, geoarchaeology, and environmental change. He was an assistant and then associate professor at Washington State University and served as co-editor of the journal Geoarchaeology.
Natalia Martínez-Tagüeña, PhD, is an environmental anthropologist and community archaeologist conducting participatory research for drylands sustainability. Her research topics include subsistence, climate change, coastal adaptations, governance, social innovation, and sustainable development. She is the co-editor of Stewardship of Future Drylands and Climate Change in the Global South.
Jonathan B. Mabry, PhD, is an anthropologist and archaeologist with more than forty years of fieldwork experience in the deserts of the Middle East, North Africa, U.S. Southwest, and Northwest Mexico. His research has focused on Indigenous subsistence adaptations, social organizations, and cultural histories of prehistoric peoples of the U.S.-Mexico desert.
Gary Huckleberry, PhD, is an adjunct research associate and lecturer at the University of Arizona who specializes in geomorphology, soils, geoarchaeology, and environmental change. He was an assistant and then associate professor at Washington State University and served as co-editor of the journal Geoarchaeology.
Natalia Martínez-Tagüeña, PhD, is an environmental anthropologist and community archaeologist conducting participatory research for drylands sustainability. Her research topics include subsistence, climate change, coastal adaptations, governance, social innovation, and sustainable development. She is the co-editor of Stewardship of Future Drylands and Climate Change in the Global South.
1. Introduction and Project Background (Mitchell, Mabry, Huckleberry, Martinez-Tagüeña, Foster)
a. Environmental Setting
b. Previous Research
c. Research Themes
d. Field Methods
2. A Sketch of Papaguerían Culture History (Mitchell and Martynec)
a. The Pre-Ceramic Period (11,000 BC – AD 700)
b. The Ceramic Period (AD 700–1800)
c. Historic Period Native Americans (AD 1800+)
3. Coastal Ecology of the Northeastern Gulf of California and the Puerto Peñasco-Bahía Adair
Region (Brusca)
a. The Northern Gulf of California
b. Coastal Environment of the Puerto Peñasco-Bahía Adair Region
c. Estero de Morúa
d. Bahía Adair
e. Summary
4. Geomorphology and Shell Midden Stratigraphy along the Northern Sonoran Coast: Implications
for Environmental Change and Archaeological Site Formation (Huckleberry)
a. Geologic Setting
b. Geomorphology
c. Sea Level Change
d. Shell Midden Stratigraphy
e. Summary
5. Results of the Excavations (Mitchell)
a. Sites in the Adair Bay Study Area
b. Other loci at Adair Bay
c. The Morúa Site Investigations
d. Summary
6. Artifacts (Sliva, J. Adams, Mitchell, Mabry)
a. Ceramics (Mitchell and Mabry)
b. Flaked Stone Artifacts (Sliva)
c. Ground Stone Artifacts (Adams and Martin)
d. Shell Artifacts (Mitchell and Mabry)
e. Summary
7. Obsidian Artifact Analysis (Shackley)
a. Results of this Analysis
b. Sources West of the Colorado River
c. Summary
8. Archaeological Evidence of Marine Resources Used for Subsistence in Coastal Northern Sonora,
Mexico (Mitchell, Rowell, Brusca)
a. Fish Remains
b. Mollusks
c. Sea Turtle Remains
d. Crabs
e. Summary
9. Plant remains (K. Adams)
a. Useful Plants in The Puerto Peñasco Region: Modern Ethnographic Perspective
b. Evidence of Plant Use by Ancient Groups: Archaeological Perspective
c. Discussion
10. Seasonality of Mollusk Collection from Shell Middens in the Puerto Peñasco region (Worthey, Dettman, Schwan)
a. Mollusk Shell Growth and Δ18o Values in the Northern Gulf of California
b. Methods
c. Results
d. Discussion
e. Conclusion
11. Chronology of the Puerto Peñasco Shell Middens (Mitchell, Huckleberry)
a. Radiocarbon dating
b. Artifacts
c. Chronological Reconstruction of shell midden use near Puerto Peñasco
12. Prehistoric Coastal Foraging on the Gran Desierto Coast (Mabry, Mitchell, Martinez-Tagüeña)
a. Coastal Adaptations in Human Prehistory
b. Cross-Cultural Patterns of Intertidal Zone Foraging
c. Historical Records of Indigenous Foraging on the Gran Desierto Coast
d. A Human Behavioral Ecology Model of Prehistoric Coastal Foraging on the Gran Desierto Coast
e. Lessons about Coastal Foraging in Arid Environments
13. Concluding Thoughts and Directions for Future Research along the Northern Coast of the Gulf of
California (Mabry, Mitchell, Huckleberry, Martinez-Tagüeña)
Appendices
a. The 1986 Survey in the Gran Desierto (Bowen)
b. Thermofisher Scientific Quant'x Analysis and Instrumentation
c. Isotope Profiles
a. Environmental Setting
b. Previous Research
c. Research Themes
d. Field Methods
2. A Sketch of Papaguerían Culture History (Mitchell and Martynec)
a. The Pre-Ceramic Period (11,000 BC – AD 700)
b. The Ceramic Period (AD 700–1800)
c. Historic Period Native Americans (AD 1800+)
3. Coastal Ecology of the Northeastern Gulf of California and the Puerto Peñasco-Bahía Adair
Region (Brusca)
a. The Northern Gulf of California
b. Coastal Environment of the Puerto Peñasco-Bahía Adair Region
c. Estero de Morúa
d. Bahía Adair
e. Summary
4. Geomorphology and Shell Midden Stratigraphy along the Northern Sonoran Coast: Implications
for Environmental Change and Archaeological Site Formation (Huckleberry)
a. Geologic Setting
b. Geomorphology
c. Sea Level Change
d. Shell Midden Stratigraphy
e. Summary
5. Results of the Excavations (Mitchell)
a. Sites in the Adair Bay Study Area
b. Other loci at Adair Bay
c. The Morúa Site Investigations
d. Summary
6. Artifacts (Sliva, J. Adams, Mitchell, Mabry)
a. Ceramics (Mitchell and Mabry)
b. Flaked Stone Artifacts (Sliva)
c. Ground Stone Artifacts (Adams and Martin)
d. Shell Artifacts (Mitchell and Mabry)
e. Summary
7. Obsidian Artifact Analysis (Shackley)
a. Results of this Analysis
b. Sources West of the Colorado River
c. Summary
8. Archaeological Evidence of Marine Resources Used for Subsistence in Coastal Northern Sonora,
Mexico (Mitchell, Rowell, Brusca)
a. Fish Remains
b. Mollusks
c. Sea Turtle Remains
d. Crabs
e. Summary
9. Plant remains (K. Adams)
a. Useful Plants in The Puerto Peñasco Region: Modern Ethnographic Perspective
b. Evidence of Plant Use by Ancient Groups: Archaeological Perspective
c. Discussion
10. Seasonality of Mollusk Collection from Shell Middens in the Puerto Peñasco region (Worthey, Dettman, Schwan)
a. Mollusk Shell Growth and Δ18o Values in the Northern Gulf of California
b. Methods
c. Results
d. Discussion
e. Conclusion
11. Chronology of the Puerto Peñasco Shell Middens (Mitchell, Huckleberry)
a. Radiocarbon dating
b. Artifacts
c. Chronological Reconstruction of shell midden use near Puerto Peñasco
12. Prehistoric Coastal Foraging on the Gran Desierto Coast (Mabry, Mitchell, Martinez-Tagüeña)
a. Coastal Adaptations in Human Prehistory
b. Cross-Cultural Patterns of Intertidal Zone Foraging
c. Historical Records of Indigenous Foraging on the Gran Desierto Coast
d. A Human Behavioral Ecology Model of Prehistoric Coastal Foraging on the Gran Desierto Coast
e. Lessons about Coastal Foraging in Arid Environments
13. Concluding Thoughts and Directions for Future Research along the Northern Coast of the Gulf of
California (Mabry, Mitchell, Huckleberry, Martinez-Tagüeña)
Appendices
a. The 1986 Survey in the Gran Desierto (Bowen)
b. Thermofisher Scientific Quant'x Analysis and Instrumentation
c. Isotope Profiles
