Free Archaeology Talk, Sep. 14th: Was there a huge prehistoric alliance in central AZ?

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Perry Mesa Area – Dave Abbot stands at edge of room block, probably part of Pueblo ruin.

David R. Abbot PhD will be featured speaker at Arizona Archaeology Society – Desert Foothills Chapter (AAS-DFC) meeting.

By Roger Kearney

 

Abbot’s presentation is titled It’s All About Scale: Polity and Alliance in Prehistoric Central Arizona.  The talk, which will be given on Wednesday, September 14, is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be available at 7 p.m. and the meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. and is expected to end before 9 p.m. The meeting is at the community building (Maitland Hall) at The Good Shepherd of the Hills Episcopal Church, 6502 East Cave Creek Road, Cave Creek, AZ  85331 (near the Dairy Queen).

 

In central Arizona, a large-scale confederation, labelled the Verde Confederacy, may have stretched along the middle and lower reaches of the Verde River and over to Perry Mesa.  It is said to have formed during the preceding period and ultimately incorporated large populations and an expansive territory for purposes of warfare against the Hohokam enemies to the south.

 

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Perry Mesa – Petroglyphs of Animals, Mountain Sheep, Deer, etc.

The Verde Confederacy may have been designed to provide for mutual security, such as a network of line-of-sight relationships that provided an early-warning mechanism and the means to mobilize assistance to neighboring parts of the alliance.  Atop Perry Mesa, the settlement arrangements indicate large pueblos were strategically built as components of an integrated defense in which the people of each pueblo protected the backs of the others while blocking access to all routes up the steep canyon walls from the foothills below.

 

The hypothesized scale of the Verde Confederacy was regional in size. It may have included -12,000 members living at -135 settlements, and a swath of land 125 km in length.  If so, the confederacy was organized at a scale that would have made it the largest alliance of its time.  But, did it truly exist?

 

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Perry Mesa – Packing Out Equipment for Exploration.

About the Speaker

 

David R. Abbott is an Associate Professor of Anthropology in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University.  Professor Abbott earned his PhD at Arizona State University and worked as a private consultant and research associate at Arizona State Museum before joining the faculty at ASU in 2004.  He has studied the archaeology of central and southern Arizona for 35 years.

 

About AAS-DFC

 

Desert Foothills Chapter of the Arizona Archaeology Society is based in Cave Creek.  AAS is a 501-C celebrating over 50 years of existence in 2016 and the Desert Foothill Chapter is a youngster at 40-years of age.  The chapter meets September through May on the second Wednesday of each month in Cave Creek and features well-known guest lecturers during these meetings.  The meetings are open to the general public at no cost, with the exception of the December Christmas Party that is members only.

 

Related Website

 

AAS-DFC website, www.azarchsoc.org/desertfoothills  Website

 

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Author: Les Conklin

Les Conklin is a resident of north Scottsdale He founded Friends of the Scenic Drive, the Monte de Paz HOA and is the president of the Greater Pinnacle Peak Association. He was named to Scottsdale's History Maker Hall of Fame in 2014. Les is a past editor of A Peek at the Peak and the author of Images of America: Pinnacle Peak. He served on the Scottsdale's Pride Commission, McDowell Sonoran Preserve Commission, the boards of several local nonprofits and was a founding organizer of the city's Adopt-A-Road Program.. Les is a volunteer guide at the Musical Instrument Museum.

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