Coastal Foragers of the Gran Desierto

Investigations of Prehistoric Shell Middens along the Northern Sonoran Coast

Douglas R. Mitchell, Jonathan B. Mabry, Gary Huckleberry, Natalia Martínez Tagüeña

• Publisher: University of Arizona Press
• Year: 2024
• Print ISBN:
  9780816552979
• eBook ISBN:
  9780816552986
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Archaeology
• Index: Social Sciences

The result of nearly twenty years of interdisciplinary research, this volume contributes to the archaeological and paleoenvironmental knowledge of an important but lightly investigated hyperarid coastline at the heart of the Sonoran Desert.

Focused on the coast near Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, Mexico, Coastal Foragers of the Gran Desierto examines the diverse groups occupying the coast for salt, abundant food sources, and shells for ornament manufacturing. The archaeological patterns demonstrated by the data gathered lead to the conclusion that, since ancient times, this coastal landscape was not a marginal zone but rather an important source of food and trade goods, and a pilgrimage destination that influenced broad and diverse communities across the Sonoran Desert and beyond.

Contributors
Jenny L. Adams
Karen R. Adams
Thomas Bowen
Tessa L. Branyan
Bill Broyles
Richard C. Brusca
David L. Dettman
Michael S. Foster
Gary Huckleberry
Jonathan B. Mabry
Natalia Martínez-Tagüeña
Richard J. Martynec
Douglas R. Mitchell
Kirsten Rowell
Melissa R. Schwan
M. Steven Shackley
R. J. Sliva
Kayla B. Worthey

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• About the Authors
• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• 1. Introduction and Project Background
• 2. A Sketch of Papaguerían Culture History
• 3. Coastal Ecology of the Northeastern Gulf of California and the Puerto Peñasco-Bahía Adair Region
• 4. Geomorphology and Shell Midden Stratigraphy along the Northern Sonoran Coast: Implications for Environmental Change and Archaeological Site Formation
• 5. Results of the Excavations
• 6. Chronology of the Puerto Peñasco Shell Middens
• 7. Artifacts
• 8. Obsidian Source Provenance from Archaeological Sites in the Puerto Peñasco Area of Northern Sonora
• 9. Archaeological Evidence of Marine Resources Used for Subsistence in Coastal Northern Sonora, Mexico
• 10. Plant Remains
• 11. Seasonality of Mollusc Collection from Shell Middens in the Puerto Peñasco Region
• 12. Prehistoric Foraging on the Gran Desierto Coast
• 13. Conclusions and Directions for Future Research
• Appendix A. The 1986 Survey in the Gran Desierto
• Appendix B. Thermofisher Scientific Quantx Analysis and Instrumentation
• Appendix C. Isotope Profiles
• References Cited
• Index
• Abstract
• Resumen