SCOUTING FOR APACHE ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE SUB–MOGOLLON RIM REGION

Abstract

The rugged landscape of central Arizona has been ethnographically and historically documented as a Western Apache homeland. Despite more than 400 years of occupation, our understanding of the period before A.D. 1850 remains poorly known, and the archaeological record has attracted little directed research. This is due, in part, to the problems identifying the material traces of an Apache past in this area. The results of two recent projects in the sub-Mogollon Rim region of the Tonto National Forest provide an opportunity to integrate archaeological research with written and oral histories. Examples from the Archer Site, Butterfly Springs, and Plymouth Landing demonstrate how survey and intensive excavation augmented by the knowledge of Apache cultural advisors and ethnography helped move our research from the documentation of faint archaeological traces to strong interpretations of Apache history. The identification of diagnostic artifacts and behaviors can facilitate the detection of Apache occupations at an early stage of research, permitting more systematic inquiry. Apache archaeology in this region will help us to understand the economy, social organization, and ideology of the mobile families and bands who lived beyond the sight of European settlers of the past and mainstream archaeology today.