When
Fridays, March 5, 12, 19, 26, 2027
10:00 a.m. – Noon
Hybrid. In-person space limited to 12.
In this four-part series, Dr. Edward A. Jolie, ASM's Clara Lee Tanner Associate Curator of Ethnology, explores the stylistic diversity and cultural significance of perishable material culture such as string, nets, baskets, textiles, and footwear through the rich archaeological record of Indigenous peoples in the Southwest cultural region over the last 20,000 years. Emphasis is placed on how these objects, which only survive under conditions of exceptional preservation, enhance our understanding of ancient Indigenous lives and livelihoods and illuminate venerable human-environment relationships with implications for contemporary peoples living in the Southwest and beyond.
Session One
First Peoples to Basketmakers: What's in a Name?
This session introduces the course, provides the relevant technological and cultural context, and then reviews the record of the earliest ancient Native Americans in the Southwest alongside corresponding evidence for their perishable technologies. Covering from about 20,000 years ago well up into the fluorescence of agricultural societies during the so-called “Basketmaker” period in the Four Corners region, we trace the trajectory of cultures and organic technologies while critically interrogating the historical legacy of the label “Basketmaker” for Southwestern archaeology and Indigenous peoples.
Session Two
Perishable Perspectives on Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde
Impressive architectural accomplishments in the form multistory adobe and stone buildings are but one element of the astounding Indigenous cultural achievements during the last 1,200 years in the Southwest. Many of these surviving structures also preserved examples of a wide array of perishable material culture that helps archaeologists dress and adorn the past. This session takes as its focus the fiber-based assemblages from Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde to explore regional cultural patterns and highlight how evidence for ancient cultural diversity bears on our understanding of contemporary Southwestern communities.
Session Three
Threads to the Present: Tracking the Movement of People
The movement of people across a landscape, whether near or far, has always been a hallmark of our species’ global story and the archaeology of the Southwest contributes to this narrative tapestry in numerous ways. In this session we consider how the Southwest’s perishable material culture record of the last 1,000 years sheds light on some episodes of large-scale population movement and the challenges posed by tracking people through objects, as well as the dangers of equating objects with people and contemporary ethnic identities with past social and cultural groups.
Session Four
Fibers among Friends: Ancient Fibers and Continuing Crafts
As a cultural region, the Southwest today reflects the endpoint or destination for diverse human stories that have been unfolding over many millennia. Embedded within the archaeological record are traces of past interactions that included the sharing or transmission of vital cultural knowledges which have shaped, and continue to shape, contemporary lives and livelihoods. Through the lens of select native fiber plants, this session explores how perishable technologies reveal venerable human-landscape relationships with implications for how we have and should care for lands in Arizona today.
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About Your Instructor
Edward A. Jolie is an anthropological archaeologist with broad interests in the Native American archaeology and ethnology of the Americas. Much of his research has focused on the study of perishable (organic) material culture (e.g., string, nets, footwear, baskets, and textiles) to address a wide range of anthropological questions including those that bear on technological innovation and change, social interaction and identities, and population movement. He is particularly interested in the social learning context and cultural transmission of crafting knowledge, and how that informs stylistic patterning in the archaeological record. Beyond perishable technologies, Dr. Jolie has long held an interest in Native American-Anthropologist relations, repatriation matters, and broader ethical practice within the discipline. Being of mixed Oglala Lakota (Sioux) and Hodulgee Muscogee (Creek) ancestry, and an enrolled citizen of the Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma, he strives to cultivate collaborative relationships and research partnerships with Native Americans and other descendant communities.
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$200 members/$230 non-members in person (includes campus parking, coffee and light snacks)
$150 members/$180 non-members on Zoom
Amount paid over $120 is a tax-deductible gift to ASM.
Reserve your spot now by contacting Darlene Lizarraga at dfl@arizona.edu or 520-626-8381.