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Chapter History & Mission  Top

• The Agua Fria Chapter was voted into the Arizona Archaeological Society on May 5, 2001.

• The mission of the chapter is to provide an opportunity for those residents of western Maricopa County and the West Valley area of greater metropolitan Phoenix to become involved in archaeological site preservation.

• Special attention is given to cultural resources located in the Greater Metropolitan Phoenix area, to become involved in archaeological site education and preservation, and to become better stewards of our collective heritage.

• Knowledge about these cultural resources is gained through classes, lectures, and field trips.

• All archaeological field and laboratory activities are conducted as directed by federal and state preservation laws as well as guidelines provided by both the AAS Certification Department and the Governor-appointed Arizona Archaeology Advisory Commission.

• The Agua Fria Chapter completed a 5 year project inventorying rock art for the White Tank Regional County Park in 2007.  The project consisted in a complete inventory of  the sites along the Black Rock Loop Trail and the Waterfall Trail.  The Park used the Chapters's work to determine how to realign trails and finish an interpretive project along the Waterfall Trail. Chapter member's volunteer hours on this project lead to a $120,000.00 grant for construction of the trail and signs to interpret the rock art that lines the trail.  We are proud of our accomplishments and to the service we provided for the Park and the hundreds of visitors each year who come to see the petroglyphs.

Chapter Officers  Top

Chapter Meetings  Top

All meetings are held in the Glendale Public Library Auditorium at the corner of 59th Avenue and Brown in Glendale, AZ.  The meeting time is from 6:00-8:00 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month from September through May. 

Pre-Meeting Dinner with the speaker is held at Applebee's (59th & Peoria, Northeast Corner) at 4:00 pm.  Anyone who wants to meet with the speakers for dinner before the General Meetings is welcome.  The Chapter will pick up the tab for the speaker's dinner and all members present will pay for their own.

Field Trips  Top

You must be a current member of the Arizona Archaeological Society to attend field trips and hikes.

Chapter Projects  Top

Calderwood Project  Return

The Agua Fria Chapter has continued work on the Calderwood project which was conducted as AAS' first excavation from 1965 - 1971. Through Don Dove and Ed Pritchett, Donna Ruiz y Costello located the excavation materials in 2001 and retrieved them from Richard Bliss who had them stored very carefully and in an organized fashion at his home in west Phoenix. As suggested by general chapter advisor Maurice Shoger, Larry Robertson conducted a complete inventory of the materials received from Richard Bliss over several months in 200l. At a preliminary planning meeting held at Mr. Shoger's home, the inventory list was shared by laboratory principals with professional archaeologists Mark Hackbarth and Tom Wright in late summer of 2001. In the fall of 2001, sorting, assignation of laboratory specimen numbers and washing began with a series of laboratory classes taught by Maurice Shoger. These classes have continued throughout the chapter's first five years and have included: Laboratory Techniques I, Ceramics ID and Analysis, Lithic ID and Analysis, and Shell ID and Analysis. Faunal ID and Analysis was conducted by Lydia Pyne, Dr. Curtis Marean's Ph. D. candidate, at the ASU faunal laboratory in the summer 2005. From 1965 through 1971, under leadership of Don Dove and others, principal investigators for the Calderwood excavation were Ed Pritchett (field director) and Walter "Dutch" Duering (assistant field director in the final years). Materials are in process of being analyzed by the Agua Fria Chapter with report(s) and curation decision pending.

In 2003, Walter "Dutch" Duering came on board as the Calderwood project advisor. His presence has served as a valuable bridge between 1971 and the present and will ensure continuity for the final report.

Walter "Dutch" Duering is the primary laboratory director. Specialists for the project are Dutch Duering (ceramics & lithics), Paulette Gehlker (shell), Donna Ruiz y Costello (faunal and human osteology), Dutch Duering (architecture, overall site report, and ACCESS database). Donna Ruiz y Costello is the excavation historian. As of January 2007, all ceramic sherds (~11,00) have been labeled and level 1 Analysis has begun. A Ceramic Analysis Manual is being written by Walter "Dutch" Duering as part of this project. All primary lithic specimens have been labeled and Level 1 analysis has been completed. Level 2 analysis has begun on the lithic materials. Work on shell analysis and Faunal analysis is progressing well

The various analysis projects present an opportunity for all members to get involved and to learn. Previous experience is not required. Experienced members are available to train newcomers to the project. Any member who is interested in joining this effort should contact Linda Dorsey or the specialist for the specific area of interest.

The initial 2001 research design is pending rewrite by Walter "Dutch" Duering. Temper typologies, lithics studies, shell trade and production, faunal studies coordinated with lithics and Don Dove's previous agricultural work, and architectural affinities with upper Agua Fria sites will play a role in response to informal questions already realized from the literature review and inferred from the materials during processing

Casa de Piedras, Coldwater and Quass Site Materials Preservation  Return

Materials from these three sites in the West Valley were excavated in the 1980's and have never been curated into a museum. Chapter member Donna Ruiz y Costello, now working on her ASU Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies, has taken on this project as part of her internship with the Archaeological Research Institute.  Chapter members have worked with Donna to ready these collections for temporary curation.  To date, the materials from Casa de Piedras are now in repository at ASU's CRM department under the direction of Dr. Arleyn Simon.

Pierpoint Project  Return

The Agua Fria Chapter continues with work started on this site in 2001.  We are working in conjunction with the Bureau of Land Management archaeologist Cheryl Blanchard and with our Advisor, Dr. David Doyel, archaeologist at Luke Air Force Base.  We have completed a thorough survey and mapping project as well as recording all the rock art found at the site.  Chapter members now are in the process of writing the report for publication

The Pierpoint Site is located in the Gila Bend Mountains, just upriver from the town of Gila Bend.  It is a late Classic Period Hohokam site situated up a narrow, boulder filled canyon with arroyos that empty into the Gila Bend River in rainy weather.  There are numerous “rock circles” which are perhaps habitation sites as well as remnants of two stone walls that span the canyon.  Except for a few “clean-up” details at the site, the crew is beginning the writing phases of the report to be published by the Chapter.

Local Museums  Top