A Hopi cultural advisory team interprets an excavated pithouse.

Hundreds of cultural sites are etched onto the landscape of the San Pedro Valley. The persistence of these places connect us to ten thousand years of human history. Like many places where archaeological sites are visibly abundant, numerous interest groups, or "stakeholders," are invested in these fragile and non-renewable resources. The San Pedro Valley is unique in that it not only has so many contemporary and historical stakeholders, but also that they have such different cultural values, land use practices, and interpretations of the past. Native Americans, local residents, ranchers, "new agers," environmentalists, developers, tourists, archaeologists, and still others all must negotiate with one another to experience the Valley's history.

Posted signs on a road leading to the historic Spanish site of Terrenate.

Recognizing that archaeological sites are integral to the living cultural landscape, the Center for Desert Archaeology seeks to better understand this dynamic in the San Pedro Valley and work in collaboration with its stakeholders. This goal is met through the Center for Desert Archaeology's research, preservation, and education programs. These endeavors allow the Center for Desert Archaeology to recognize how the past comes to have such powerful meanings for living people, and why it is worth safeguarding for future generations.

Some recent work:

	"One Valley, Many Histories: Tohono O'odham, Hopi, Zuni, and Western Apache History in the San Pedro Valley," an ethnohistory project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
	An Analysis of the Benson Public Library Collection
	"Conceptualizing Landscapes in the San Pedro Valley of Arizona: American Indian Interpretations of Reeve Ruin and Davis Ruin," a paper presented at the Fifth World Archaeological Congress by Chip Colwell-Chanthphonh, T. J. Ferguson, and Roger Anyon (PDF format)
	"Virtue Ethics and the Practice of History: Native Americans and Archaeologists along the San Pedro Valley of Arizona," a paper presented at the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics Twelfth Annual Meeting by Chihp Colwell-Chanthaphonh and T. J. Ferguson (PDF format)
	"The 'Camp Grant Massacre' in the Historical Imagination," a paper presented at the Arizona History Convention by Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh (PDF format)

Modern graffiti spray-painted over ancient petroglyphs in the Upper San Pedro Valley.