Horses And People
By Julian Smith
One of the most enduring icons of the American West is a Native American rider on horseback, galloping into battle or chasing down a herd of buffalo. For all of its cultural...
The Maya Collapse Revisited
By Mike Toner
Ever since explorers John Stephens and Frederick Catherwood stumbled out of the Yucatán Peninsula’s jungles two centuries ago with headline-making tales of crumbling stone ruins, scholars have struggled to explain what happened...
Sacred Objects From The Heavens
By Tamara Jager Stewart
The Bloody Basin meteorite was in the Red Creek Ruin in the Tonto National Forest when it burned down around 1385. It’s not known if the ruin’s occupants venerated the meteorite....
Racing For A Purpose
By David Malakoff
Conducting field research on Arizona’s Perry Mesa, a rugged wedge of desert some forty miles north of Phoenix known for its dazzling rock art and ancient ruins perched atop spectacular cliffs, can...
Investigating Submerged Landscapes
By Wayne Curtis
“It's a huge area,” said Ashley Lemke. “It's really deep. It's really cold. And it's hard to get to.” Lemke was talking about the Alpena-Amberley Ridge, a sizeable geological feature that lies...
After the Eruption
By David Malakoff
Nearly twelve hundred years ago, one the largest volcanic eruptions to strike North America in millennia rocked the landscape of what is now southeastern Alaska. According to geologists, over three days millions...
The Revelations Of Aguada Fénix
By Mike Toner
Archaeologists have been discovering ruins of ancient civilizations in the jungles of Mexico and Central America for 200 years, filling libraries with investigations of the Olmec, Maya, and other pre-Hispanic cultures. The...
A Serendipitous Discovery
By Paula Neely
Searching for gold and other riches, Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto landed in Florida in 1539 and launched a four-year exploration of the Southeastern United States. But despite the duration and scope...
Examining The Salado Phenomenon
By Tamara Jager Stewart
For decades archaeologists have sought to understand what they refer to as the Salado Phenomenon, which occurred between roughly A.D. 1275 and 1450 in what is now south-central Arizona and southwestern...
Rethinking Hunter-Gatherers
By Julian Smith
The Poverty Point World Heritage Site covers almost three square miles of Mississippi River floodplain in northeastern Louisiana. The area was occupied by a hunter-gatherer culture as early as 1670 B.C. During...