Doctoral Dissertation Research: Macroregional Interactions at the Onavas Valley, Sonora, Mexico, during the late Pre-Hispanic Period

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Under the supervision of Dr. Paul R. Fish Mr.. Emiliano Gallaga Murrieta will collect archaeological data recording pre-Hispanic (A.D. 1000-1550) material remains in the Onavas Valley in the Middle Yaqui River area in southern Sonora, Mexico. Geographical and physical conditions make the Yaqui River a natural causeway between three well-established archaeological regions: Mesoamerica, the U.S. Southwest, and Casas Grandes, Chihuahua. While researchers have debated at great length about the connections during pre-Hispanic times between Mesoamerica and the U.S. Southwest little is known about the regions in between where the suggested interaction took place. What little archaeological evidence there is suggests that people, shell (used for jewelry), and other products moved through the Yaqui River Valley from the Sonora coast and may have reached as far as Casas Grandes on the east side of the Sierra Madre Occidental, or the U.S. Southwest to the north. The Onavas Valley Project will provide important data allowing preliminary but critical insights into how pre-Hispanic communities interacted with their environment and their neighbors in a poorly known portion of Northwest Mexico.The main objective of this project is to compare the cultural landscape of the Onavas Valley with those of the Hohokam (in the U.S. Southwest), Cerro de Trincheras (northwest Sonora), and Casas Grandes cultures. The comparison will provide the basis for an examination of interactions among these areas and with Mesoamerica. To achieve this, we first intend to discern and define the archaeological traditions within the Onavas Valley and then examine non-local interactions with the aforementioned neighboring areas. We plan to accomplish this goal via three approaches: 1) by building a local chronology and a diagnostic inventory of recorded material culture; 2) by establishing the landscape structure (settlement pattern and ritual and ethnic landscape) of the area; and 3) by collecting and analyzing evidence for the manufacture, use, and exchange of trade goods.Beyond research questions of interest to archaeology, this project will have a broader impact by enhancing the level of public understanding of archaeology in the communities of the Onavas Valley and in Sonora, and in the Southwest of United States. The project will establish a basis for future archaeological research and education in the area by enhancing research collaboration between U.S. and Mexican scholars, and collaboration with the local communities by involving students and volunteers from both countries, and employing local workers. Public outreach efforts (posters, school visits, town meetings) have been undertaken already in the principal communities of the Onavas Valley and will continue during and after data collection and analysis. Furthermore, the results of this investigation will be disseminated at scientific meetings and in journals in both countries, in both Spanish and English. Mexican and American students will gain personal and educational experience by participating in a bi-national project and training in the methods of field survey and material analyses.