OBSERVATIONS ON THE ARCHAEOLOGY, PALEOENVIRONMENT, AND GEOMORPHOLOGY OF THE PUERTO PEÑASCO AREA OF NORTHERN SONORA, MEXICO

Abstract

Recent observations and archival research on the archaeology of the Puerto Peñasco area at the northern end of the Gulf of California, Sonora, Mexico, have provided additional insights into the prehistory of the region. The northern Gulf of California has long been recognized as the source of raw marine shell used in the production of shell ornaments by the Hohokam of southern and central Arizona. The most obvious archaeological manifestations in the area are the shell midden sites that occur along the margins of the ocean and estuaries of the region. Based on a small sample of diagnostic flaked stone and ceramic artifacts, a Late Archaic period through Late Ceramic period (Hohokam) use of the area is evident. A small number of independently derived radiocarbon dates appear to support this conclusion. We summarize archaeological, chronometric, environmental, and geomorphic data from the area.