Desert Archaeology

We have SO MUCH going on in southern and central AZ in 2026 and would love you, the experienced archaeological field technician, to help us on our mission of documenting and protecting the past. Sound fun? Check the crew/supervisor job postings at desert.com/open-positio... and hit us up.

We had a joke about flaked stone artifacts, but we’re too tired (we need to knap).

Del Bac has been making a habit of hosting great speakers from the worlds of Sonoran Desert history, anthropology, and ecology, so let's support them. Half the proceeds of this one go to the Presidio San Agustín del Tucson trust.

Historical archaeologist Homer Thiel will be talking about his new book, Saloons of Tucson, at the Whiskey Del Bac distillery on October 21. Homer is THE go-to guy for stories of historic Tucson, and this will be a treat. Details at the link.

whiskeydelbac.com/event/octobe...

Tucson at 250: Presidio past lurks just under surface for those willing to dig for it The founding of the Tucson Presidio on Aug. 20, 1775, is widely heralded as the start of what has become Arizona's second largest city. But the journey wasn't an easy

The 250th anniversary of Hugo O'Conor saying build it HERE is coming up this week. Pls enjoy this excellent story about the 1775 founding of the Tucson Presidio and everything Desert's work has added to its history, featuring our own Homer Thiel.

One like = 10,000 pieces of debitage

What

Desert Archaeology bioarchaeologist Rachael Byrd and lithic analyst RJ Sliva contributed to a new American Antiquity paper on how early agriculturalist groups moved around in what is now the borderlands region of the Sonoran Desert. Fascinating (really)! Free access here: doi.org/10.1017/aaq....

The clue for 70 Across in today’s NYT crossword is “Alternative to a trowel for an archaeologist,” three letters

NYT crossword is broken this morning, “backhoe” has way more than three letters

Former brick-makers who did the hard, hot work in the kilns will be there with their families too. To learn about these guys and what the Tucson Pressed Brick Co meant for their lives, check this Field Journal post by Dr. Mike Diehl: desert.com/brickyard/

Monier family descendants will be in attendance, including, possibly, Quintus' 90-yr-old grandson. Raise a glass and a taco!

Do you love going to the Mercado San Agustin like we do? Yes! Have you ever wondered why the very handsome Monier Building is named that? Probably! Come to a celebration this Fri (5/23) to eat, drink, and hear Homer Thiel talk about the people who made the bricks that built modern Tucson!

Who knew the xkcd guy was a lithic analyst

Kids building a model pithouse, or maybe a ramada in a pit, complete with tiny posts, reeds, ceramic vessels, and mats.

An inspector from the Arizona Herpetological Society examines the model pithouse (the inspector is a tortoise). No word on whether bites were taken out of the roofing materials.

Justin, Connie, and Lindsay repped us at the SRPMIC Earth Day fest over the weekend with shell-etching demos and a build-a-pithouse set Connie fabricated. Great fun for everyone!

We're looking for a records specialist to assist the Gila River Indian Community in Sacaton, AZ. You don't have to be an archaeologist for this position, just an organized records keeper who can put up with archaeologists 20-40 hrs/wk. See desert.com/open-positions for the listing.

A Marshalltown™️ trowel is clenched in a fist against an orange background, circled by text reading get dirty | protect the past | hydrate. The text at the bottom of the image yells DESERT ARCHAEOLOGY in a jaunty all-caps font.

Your regular reminder that we really like old things around here. And dirt. And waiting for some electrolyte product to hit us up with a major sponsorship

Don’t miss the chance to hang out with fellow scruffy Southwestern archaeologists this Friday as we celebrate an unexpected extension of Tucson Patio Weather™️

What is the Presidio San Agustín del Tucson, you ask? Sit back and get ready to open nine million tabs for all the fascinating things we have learned about life in 18th + 19th c Spanish, Mexican, and Territorial Tucson. Homer Thiel tells you all the stories here.

Want to find out more about the history of breweries and pubs in the Old Pueblo? We got you.

Presidio San Agustín Museum on Instagram: "Barrio Brewing Company, Arizona’s oldest brewery, today announced an historic collaboration with the Presidio San Agustin Del Tucson Museum to craft a limite... 2 likes, 0 comments - tucsonpresidiomuseum on March 17, 2025: "Barrio Brewing Company, Arizona’s oldest brewery, today announced an historic collaboration with the Presidio San Agustin Del Tucson Muse...

Our friends at the Presidio San Agustín have partnered with Barrio Brewing to bring Tucson this 250th birthday present!

Anybody want to hang out and be happy for two hours? Yowl archaeologically, or sit and watch the trains go by, we can facilitate either one. April 4 at Borderlands in downtown Tucson. 👷➡️😀

A panel from a very old Star Trek comic book depicts a dead Starfleet person (rank indeterminate) in a gold uniform shirt (if not redshirt, why redshirt shaped?) covered with blood (tar?). Mr. Spock stands in the background, examining a spear tipped with a huge blood (tar?)-covered stone point. He says: "This blade is remarkably similar to that of a Folsom point, characteristic of a Stone Age Earth culture located in the area formerly known as North America. A crude design, but efficient." We have no Vulcan ancestry, so who are we to say, really, but: Folsom points exhibited a sophisticated design and required excellent knapping skills. They were also maybe a quarter of the size depicted here. And shaped nothing like the overgrown Gypsum point drawn on the end of the spear.; maybe this is why he was rejected from the Vulcan Science Academy. Other than that, no notes.

If not lithic analysis, why lithic analysis shaped

Looking for part-time or seasonal cultural resources management work in Arizona? Check desert.com/open-positio... for listings and come work with the best port in any storm.

Two rusty trowels slightly overlap to form a heart shape with their blades. They are on a scabrous pink background. White vintage Corona typewriter text reads i dig you. The intern spent entire minutes on this five years ago, please enjoy.

Roses are red
We all do our part
The social media intern
Offers you this art

Trying to find an archaeology angle here and failing, other than science is: fun

(look at figure [d])

Waiting patiently for @pattmeeples.bsky.social to invite us over to play because helloooooooooooooo

Not obsidian, but super neat. Not a thing we encounter in Arizona.

Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate John Douglass. We’re freshly resolved to live our lives such that when we go, 50-odd people come stand in the cold to tell stories and raise a glass in love one last time. See you next time around, friends.

Please join us and Statistical Research Inc this evening at MotoSonora Brewing as we remember John Douglass. We have a corner of the beer garden reserved (with heaters!) and would love for you to come help us celebrate the memory of our friend and colleague. 1015 S. Park, Tucson, 5-7 pm

Here’s a fun thing for next week: Jim Watson will talk about the earliest farmers in the Tucson Basin, which our work has helped bring to light. Our corner of the desert has been kicking it for 4,000 years, Jim’s a great scientist AND a great presenter, go listen!

whiskeydelbac.com/event/8843/