Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Kiva Journal @kivaswjournal.bsky.social · 4h

Curious how collective action shapes community resilience? Discover insights from La Quemada in Dr. Andrea Torvinen’s Oct 20 webinar! aahs1916.org/event/eric-c...
#Archaeology #Mexico #Zacatecas #Mesoamerica #Ceramics

Dr. Andrea Torvinen – The Role of Collective Action in Community Resilience in Northwest Mexico – Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society

Autumn Used Book Sale – November 14th and 15th – On the ASM lawn

aahs1916.org

2

Kiva Journal @kivaswjournal.bsky.social · 23h

This Week KIVA explores Southwest–Mesoamerica connections in honor of Dr. Torvinen’s upcoming webinar.
#Archaeology #Southwest #Mesoamerica #Mexico #SWArch

Kiva Journal @kivaswjournal.bsky.social · 1d

Where does Zuni Mountain Spotted Chert come from? Throgmorton & LeTourneau synthesize 60 years of data to identify its geological sources in western New Mexico. doi.org/10.1080/0023...
#Archaeology #Lithics #NewMexico #Southwest #Chert

Throgmorton and LeTourneau 2025. Images of Zuni Mountain Spotted Chert artifacts from archaeological sites in Cebolla Canyon (photos by Kellam Throgmorton).

1

Kiva Journal @kivaswjournal.bsky.social · 3d

Want to publish but don’t know where to start? KIVA is looking for research on archaeology, anthropology & history of the Southwest. Submit your paper today!
#Archaeology #Southwest #History #SouthwestArchaeology #SWArch

1 3

Kiva Journal @kivaswjournal.bsky.social · 4d

What can ceramic patterns tell us about community, identity & politics? A new study by Vivero-Miranda of Rio Sonora/Serrana ceramics styles offers fresh insights on social organization. doi.org/10.1080/0023...
#Archaeology #Sonora #Southwest #History #Ceramics

Vivero-Miranda 2025. Examples of ceramic sherds analyzed. The applied hierarchical approach allows us to deconstruct the decorative attributes in useful analytical units to understand the role and relationship between attributes. The combination of “Approach, treatment, and variants”, results in “styles”. However, this analysis targets approach and treatment, as the most communicative to address inquiries of identity at the inter-valley scale. Noteworthy, is the potential that some typological distinctions (decorative attributes) may be the result of small fragments of other styles.

1 4

Kiva Journal @kivaswjournal.bsky.social · 5d

What's for dinner? New Research by Roth & Lauzon highlights the Late Pithouse period (AD 550-1000) food processing and cooking technology from the Mimbres Mogollon region. doi.org/10.1080/0023...
#Archaeology #Mimbres #Southwest #Foodways #NewMexico

Roth & Lauzon 2025. Utah metate with red ochre and compatible mano from Pithouse 38 rooffall (photo by Lauren Falvey).

Kiva Journal @kivaswjournal.bsky.social · 5d

Were Classic Period (A.D. 1125/1150-1300) Hohokam ceremonies controlled by elites? Caseldine’s new study of platform mounds & ritual items reveals a more dispersed ceremonial landscape. doi.org/10.1080/0023...
#Archaeology #Hohokam #Southwest #Ceremonialism #Arizona

Caseldine 2025. Location of ritual items at AZ U:9:56 (ASM). Polygons represent adobe compounds. Redrawn from Haury.

Kiva Journal @kivaswjournal.bsky.social · 6d

Curious about what KIVA has been up to? This week we are highlighting some of our most recent articles. Stay tuned!
#Archaeology #Southwest #History #SouthwestArchaeology #SWArch

Kiva Journal @kivaswjournal.bsky.social · 12d

How did indigenous peoples shape the Southwest through art and architecture? Danielle Romero reviews Art in the Pre-Hispanic Southwest by Radoslaw Polanka. Check it out now! doi.org/10.1080/0023...
#Archaeology #Southwest #IndigenousHistory #Anthropology #BookReview

1 3

Kiva Journal @kivaswjournal.bsky.social · 13d

Myles Miller highlights People in a Sea of Grass edited by Matthew Hill and Lauren Ritterbush, a groundbreaking volume on Indigenous lifeways in the Central Great Plains. Discover why this book matters. doi.org/10.1080/0023...
#Archaeology #GreatPlains #IndigenousHistory #Anthropology #BookReview

Book cover of "People in a Sea of Grass" edited by Hill and Ritterbush

3

Kiva Journal @kivaswjournal.bsky.social · 13d

Food or ritual? At Homol’ovi I, rabbit & hare bones show how deeply interconnected the sacred and the everyday were for ancestral Puebloans according to new research by Sheets. doi.org/10.1080/0023...
#Archaeology #Homolovi #PuebloanHistory #Zooarchaeology #SouthwestArchaeology

Sheets 2025. Homol’ovi I (map courtesy of HRP-ASM)

3

Kiva Journal @kivaswjournal.bsky.social · 14d

New isotopic evidence by Sharpe et al. shows bison roamed New Mexico’s San Agustin plains, far beyond today’s ranges—living alongside humans for centuries. doi.org/10.1080/0023...
#Archaeology #SouthwestHistory #Bison #Zooarchaeology #NewMexico

Photo of Bison by Andy Witchger Bison Badlands National Park.jpg on Wikimedia.org

4

Kiva Journal @kivaswjournal.bsky.social · 14d

This week, KIVA highlights articles from our latest volume! Explore new insights into Indigenous cultures of the Southwest through archaeology, anthropology & history.
#Archaeology #Southwest #Anthropology #SWarch

1

Kiva Journal @kivaswjournal.bsky.social · 15d

The deadline for AAHS’s Publication Subvention Award is fast approaching. This grant can help cover publication fees up to $5000! Be sure to apply by October 6th!
#Archaeology #Southwest #Anthropology #Grant

2

Kiva Journal @kivaswjournal.bsky.social · 18d

Centuries before Phoenix, the Hohokam built vast canals in the Salt River Valley. New research by Christopher Caseldine sheds light on their history and scale. doi.org/10.1080/0023...
#Archaeology #AncestralOOdham #SouthwestHistory #Hohokam #Arizona

Caseldine 2025. Development of Ancestral O’Odham irrigation along the lower Salt River through time. Period key: A – Pioneer Period, B – Colonial Period, C – Sedentary Period, D – early Classic Period, and E – late Classic Period.

3

Kiva Journal @kivaswjournal.bsky.social · 19d

What clues about the past can soil reveal? In this vintage 1992 article, Huckleberry, our AAHS speaker in September, looked at Arizona’s Salt River Valley where traces of ancient Hohokam irrigation still remain. doi.org/10.1080/0023...
#Archaeology #AncestralOOdham #SouthwestHistory #Arizona

Huckleberry 1992. Formation and depositional processes of a prehistoric canal.

2

Kiva Journal @kivaswjournal.bsky.social · 20d

In this classic 1987 KIVA article, Crown looks at native water storage across the Southwest, which empowered native peoples to not only survive, but thrive in arid conditions. doi.org/10.1080/0023... #Archaeology #WaterHistory #SouthwestHistory #IndigenousInnovation #DesertSurvival

Crown 1987. A typology of water storage features

2

Kiva Journal @kivaswjournal.bsky.social · 20d

Did failing canals cause Hohokam decline? In this vintage 1988 Kiva article, Ackerly looked at evidence which showed salinization and water-logging weren’t likely to blame. doi.org/10.1080/0023...
#Archaeology #AncestralOOdham #SouthwestHistory #IrrigationHistory #Arizona

Ackerly 1988. Map of the Phoenix Basin showing the various canals discussed in the text

2

Kiva Journal @kivaswjournal.bsky.social · 21d

In this vintage 1968 Kiva article, Frank Midvale mapped 315+ miles of Hohokam canals in the Salt River Valley—expanding our understanding of the scale of prehistoric irrigation. doi.org/10.1080/0023...
#Archaeology #AncestralOOdham #SouthwestHistory #IrrigationHistory #Arizona

2

Kiva Journal @kivaswjournal.bsky.social · 21d

How did desert farmers thrive for centuries? This week we highlight the archaeology of Hohokam canals in Arizona.
#Archaeology #WaterHistory #SouthwestHistory #IndigenousInnovation #DesertSurvival

2 6

Kiva Journal @kivaswjournal.bsky.social · 26d

More than entertainers, Puebloan clowns connected ritual, healing, and leadership. Their origins may lie in Casas Grandes, Chihuahua(AD 1200–1450) doi.org/10.1080/0023...
#SouthwestHistory #Archaeology #PuebloCulture #CasasGrandes

Mathiowetz 2025. Clowns in the U.S. Southwest/Northwest Mexico. (a) Koshare, Classic Mimbres bowl (MimPIDD #4010), site unknown (after Brody 2004:fig. 34). (b) Graffito-style wall painting of striped figure, Unit 16, Paquimé, Chihuahua, Mexico. Digital image of line art drawing originally published in Casas Grandes, Volume 4, page 222, Figure 150–4. Courtesy of the Amerind Foundation, Inc., Dragoon, Arizona. Alice Wesche, Artist. (c) Koshare handprint. Pictograph at Feather Cave, NM (after Ellis and Hammack 1968:fig. 2). (d) Legs of probable Koshare, Awatovi kiva mural, Room 528, Left Wall Design 1 (after Smith 1952:fig. 69a). (e) Koshare with feathered serpent, Abo Painted Rocks, NM (after watercolor by Polly Schaafsma). (f) Koshare, Painted Cave, Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico (after Rohn 1989:116). (g) Koshare climbing tree, Group M Cavate M-100 (east wall), Frijoles Canyon, Pajarito Plateau, NM (after Liebmann 2012:fig. 7.1). Drawings by author unless noted otherwise.

3

Kiva Journal @kivaswjournal.bsky.social · 27d

What were armas de la tierra? Unconventional weapons from the Coronado expedition shed light on battles and first encounters with the Sobaipuri O’odham. doi.org/10.1080/0023...
#Archaeology #SouthwestHistory #CoronadoExpedition #FirstContact #IndigenousHeritage

Seymour 2025. Classic arrowheads, both metal and stone, all from the San Geronimo III site. S-1251 is the specimen used to define this type, but S-283 and S-1653 seem to be variations on this style, other than possessing only a single side notch.

3

Kiva Journal @kivaswjournal.bsky.social · 28d

How did El Niño and La Niña cycles shape Pueblo history? By driving maize farming success in wet years and hardship in dry ones. doi.org/10.1080/0023...
#Archaeology #ClimateHistory #SouthwestHistory #Maize #Pueblo

Gillreath-Brown & Kohler 2024. Low-frequency July temperature anomaly reconstruction for the southwestern
United States as defined in inset (based on Gillreath-Brown et al. 2024:Figure 5). The extent of the SWUS inset is approximately: xmin = −112.82, xmax = −105.52, ymin = 32.66, ymax = 38.90. Blue line fitted by loess (local polynomial regression fitting) smoothing (α = 0.15). Negative values on the y-axis indicate temperatures cooler than the 1961–1990 average; the horizontal line at 0 marks the average July temperature from 1961–1990. Negative values on x-axis indicate years BC.

3

Kiva Journal @kivaswjournal.bsky.social · Aug 22

Basketmaker II & III basket styles are examined to understand the cultural reasons behind certain designs that persisted over time. These deliberate patterns are tied to ancestral Puebloan cultural traditions. #Archaeology #Baskets buff.ly/4ipp14h

Location of sites mentioned in tables and text. Webster, L. D., & Hays-Gilpin, K. A. (1994).

2

Kiva Journal @kivaswjournal.bsky.social · Aug 20

Explore Kiva, a Q1 journal publishing research on the Southwest U.S. and Northern Mexico. We feature cutting-edge studies in archaeology, history, and anthropology. Follow us for the latest updates. #Archaeology #Southwest buff.ly/3NnADpT

1