Archaeologists acknowledge that contemporary nation state boundaries were irrelevant to precolonial populations. Notwithstanding, the boundary between the United States and México both physically and ideologically impacts language, where archaeologists are trained, how knowledge is disseminated, and what research questions are asked. Sonora's archaeology is generally classified within the Southwest/Northwest culture area; however, English publications are rare when compared to literature from north of the international border. This has created misconceptions that Sonora is an unexplored landscape and undermines decades of diverse binational collaborations and internal research conducted by Centro INAH Sonora. It also stifles our understanding of cultural connectivity across the Southwest/Northwest. The articles within this special issue showcase diverse topics in Sonoran archaeology. They range from identifying Archaic and Early Agricultural occupations to exploring contemporary community-based archaeologies. In all cases, authors reframe Sonora within larger academic discourses and to expand our current knowledge of the region's diverse culture histories.