from the Investigating an ‘Olas Kii Pithouse guide, no. 19 in our Shelter series

The pithouse featured in this shelter investigation is based on one that was excavated at Honey Bee Village, north of Tucson, Arizona. Honey Bee Village is one of the largest Hohokam villages in the northern Tucson Basin. Lying near the base of Pusch Ridge in the Rancho Vistoso development, the site was occupied from about 750 to 1300 CE/AD. This ancient village covers about 75 acres. The core area, which consists of approximately 12 acres, contains a ball court for social gatherings, a large walled compound, and a series of trash mounds containing artifacts that represent nearly 500 years of occupation.

The Tohono O’odham have been part of the Sonoran Desert – and vice versa – for centuries. Their traditional lands spread across much of what is today southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico – from the Gulf of California to the San Pedro and Gila Rivers. That landscape – its plants, animals, climate, topography – has determined much of Tohono O’odham traditions and lifeways. The Tohono O’odham have found ways to survive and thrive in an environment that others find inhospitable today, with their beliefs, as well as their customs for daily life, developed in harmony with their homeland.

The Tohono O’odham use desert flora for multiple purposes. Wood from palo verde, ironwood, and mesquite is used to construct ramadas and pithouses. The seed-pods from the mesquite can be harvested, and the seeds dried and ground for food or stored for later use. Fiber from stripping yucca and bear-grass leaves can be used for cordage, sandals, sleeping mats, and incredible baskets, many with designs created from plant-based dyes. The fruit of several varieties of cactus can be cooked, eaten raw, or processed into beverages, jellies, and other staples.

Similarly, the Tohono O’odham make use of desert wildlife in diverse ways. Deer, bighorn sheep, rabbits, and various reptiles can be sources of food; their bones or antlers turned into needles for sewing and pressure tools for percussion flaking when knapping (making stone tools and points). Hides are used in clothing and for household purposes.

Just as important is their knowledge of the landscape, passed down across generations as part of Tohono O’odham beliefs through oral tradition. Above all, this historic cultural awareness provides access to water – which streams are flowing in different

Investigating Shelter guides students through a complete investigation of an archaeological site using artifacts, maps, historic photographs, drawings, and oral histories. The curriculum includes an investigation of an authentic archaeological site using real data and a living descendant. The PA National Program had developed 18 unique investigation guides for teacher use, but nothing specific to Arizona. With funding from the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society (AAHS) F. Lewis Orrell Jr. Bequest Curriculum Development Award, and in partnership with the Project Archaeology National Program, Arizona Project Archaeology (AzPA) created an Arizona-specific investigation – Investigating an ‘Olas Kii Pithouse.

This four-year curriculum development project started in 2020. With funding secured and the PA curriculum template in hand, AzPA partner and National Park Service (NPS) Archaeologist Sharlot Hart took the lead in developing this investigation. She coordinated with Tohono O’odham (TO) tribal members and teachers for content and questions. She worked with Desert Archaeology archaeologist Henry Wallace to use Honey Bee Village excavation maps and data. She worked with the University of Washington libraries and National Museum of Natural History to appropriately secure pithouse photographs and image permissions. She regularly met with TO Nation representatives and presented this curriculum at the Four Tribes meeting.

The curriculum development team worked closely with tribal members to ensure appropriate representation of their culture. We engaged in an extended conversation with tribal representatives and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) regarding the title and focus of this investigation. Our collaborative conversations led the curriculum development team to revise our verbiage in the investigation. As Hohokam are ancestors to the current O’odham tribes, we focused an O’odham Investigation.

From there, we recognized that there are several O’odham tribes to consider: Tohono O’odham, Gila River, the Ak-Chin and the Salt River (Pima Maricopa). Since our indigenous authors are from the Tohono O’odham tribe, we rebranded our investigation again.

A request from our indigenous teacher authors led to our last change. The teacher asked that we use the Tohono O’odham word for pithouse – ‘olas kii.

In tandem with Sharlot’s academic efforts, PA Master Teachers Nicole Armstrong-Best, Jeri Meeks, and Brooke Wheeler worked with the PA National Program to meet curriculum development benchmarks and resolve challenges – of which there were many! COVID complicated contact with the TO Nation, especially as offices and museums closed, physical resources became temporarily unavailable, and all meetings moved online. Then our team replaced our grant writer in 2021. During 2022 and 2023, the PA National Program moved from Montana State University (MSU), was temporarily hosted by the BLM, and then settled into its new headquarters at Southern Utah University (SUU).

During this

Communication is an important basic need of culture. Communication allows individuals to interact with each other through customs, roles, rules, or rituals, thereby defining and establishing the characteristics of a particular culture. Culture is created through communication, and preserves and passes along cultural characteristics from one place and time to another.

Art is one form of communication. Artists create art to communicate ideas, thoughts, or feelings about their culture. Art at its simplest is a form of communication. Our knowledge of Roman painting comes almost entirely from the common practice of painting the interior walls of houses while the plaster was still damp. Romans decorated the interior walls of their houses and villas with paintings executed on wet plaster, a technique known as fresco. “Depending on the function of the room, walls might be painted with imaginary architecture, still lifes, mythological scenes, or purely decorative motifs” (Thompson 2007).

The decoration of the walls was meant to communicate the wealth and sophistication of the villa’s owner through the elegant details and the costly pigments used. For instance, Egyptian Blue and Cinnabar Red were the most expensive pigments. Cinnabar was 30 times more costly than other pigments. Cinnabar also caused miners to die excruciating deaths – it is the ore of mercury. 

Based on the frescos discovered in Pompeii, art historians have divided ancient Roman paintings into four styles. The first style reproduced the appearance of a wall built of stone or colored marble. The second style portrays actual architecture, painted in perspective, between which one can catch a glimpse of the landscape. The third style is divided into panels, in which a large mythical subject most often fills the central panel. The fourth style mixes elements from the second and third styles, but with greater diffusion of pictures in the central panel. Because there were few windows in most homes, frescoes decorated the interior walls.

The walls of the triclinium at Oplontis were painted around 50 B.C., in what is called the Second Style. The decoration has a podium at the bottom, over which rise columns of marble colored or decorated metal  segments. In the center of the east and west sides of the door, beyond which one can see temples, with statues of female divinities inside and perspective colonnades. On the north wall, beyond the gate, a  tall column supports a statue of a feminine divinity in a garden. The most interesting feature of this wall is the decorative motif consisting of figs. 

Southern Utah University (SUU), home of our Utah Project Archaeology Program, received a Landmarks of American History and Culture from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The project will employ the rich archaeological record, four notable landmarks, the oral traditions of contemporary descendant communities, and primary sources to illuminate the ancient Fremont. The Fremont, horticulturalists and part-time foragers, thrived in what is now the state of Utah between AD 1 and AD 1300. We will use four important landmarks (Parowan Valley Fremont sites, Cedar Breaks National Monument, Fremont Indian State Park, and Frontier Homestead State Park) to explore the impacts of climate change on cultures, how humans meet their universal needs for food and shelter, and how people communicated the circumstances of their lives through art work etched and painted on rock walls.

In the words of Utah writer Terry Tempest Williams (1989) “… of what value are objects of a past people if we don’t allow ourselves to be touched by them. They are alive. They have a voice.” Workshop participants will learn how to hear the voices of the past through engaging with artifacts, living descendants, and the magnificent landscape of southwestern Utah.

The voice of American Indians is a true ‘National Treasure’ and has long been disregarded. Their oral histories span all of human history and explain many of the natural occurrences inexplicable to scientists. Their cultural knowledge is irreplaceable and valuable to all. Oral histories of descendant community members representing the five tribes of Utah (Shoshone, Goshute, Ute, Paiute, and Navajo) claim Fremont ancestry. When asked what he thought happened to the Ancient Fremont, Paiute Elder Rick Pikyavit, simply said, “We are still here.” The Fremont are still here.

Sadly, the history and contributions of indigenous peoples are often omitted from American history and from state history. People who are invisible in the past continue to be invisible in contemporary society. The main goal of archaeology and of this project is to bring the rich history of these peoples to teachers and their students and help Native Americans take their rightful place in the national narrative and in present-day society. By honoring the history and cultural heritage of past peoples we are honoring the living descendants with whom we share citizenship.

Teachers attending the workshop will engage in meaningful interactions with tribal elders who are enthusiastic about sharing their culture and knowledge. Participants will forge friendships that transcend culture and time working together to bring the indigenous voice to the forefront and redefine the American narrative. This rare opportunity allows teachers and their students to know the Fremont through their living descendants.

The Voices of the Ancients workshops will bring 72 teachers from across the nation to southwest Utah in the summer of 2020 for two week-long institutes. Applicants can choose to attend Session 1 (June 28-July 3) or