Pithouse Excavation

Archaeologists from Desert Archaeology, Inc., are seen here in the process of mapping a small, shallow, plate-shaped depression in a deep layer of soil in the floodplain of the Santa Cruz River.

This depression is the remnant of an ancient farmer’s home, or pithouse.

In ancient times, the pithouse would have been covered by a dome-shaped structure made of bent wooden sticks, grass, and dried mud. Carbon dating of a burnt kernel of maize from this room indicated that this house was inhabited almost 4000 years ago.