Double Adobe Site
Encyclopedia
The Double Adobe Site is an archaeological site in southern Arizona, twelve miles northwest of Douglas
in the Whitewater Draw area. In October 1926, just three months after the first human artifact was uncovered at the Folsom Site
, Byron Cummings, first Head of the Archaeology
Department at the University of Arizona
, led four students to Whitewater Draw. Discovered by a schoolboy, the Double Adobe site contained the skull of a mammoth
overlying a sand layer containing stone artifacts. One of these students was Emil Haury
.
Later investigators found that the bones and artifacts were mixed by redeposited stream sediments, confusing the early interpretations. Fossil bones of mammoth, horse, bison
, antelope, coyote and dire wolf
were found associated with the artifacts, which included fire-cracked rock, projectile points, and small grinding stones.
The presence of grinding stones has been interpreted to mean that people were beginning to adapt to the changes brought by the end of the Ice Age
and the extinction of many of the large mammals
. The coming of the Holocene Era (10,000 years Before Present) brought warmer and drier conditions to the Southwest. As a result, by 11,000-10,500 BP the Clovis culture
was beginning to give way to more regional variants, which are generally called the Archaic cultures.
E. B. Sayles' and E. Antevs' 1941 definition of the Cochise culture (the name given to the southern Archaic tradition in the Southwest) was based upon excavations undertaken within the Double Adobe district. Many of the Southwest's most respected archaeologists have led investigations in the region over the years. Double Adobe has yielded important information on southern Arizona's prehistoric climate, ecology
, and animal life.
The Double Adobe Site was declared a National Historic Landmark
in 1961.
Douglas, Arizona
Douglas is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States. Douglas has a border crossing with Mexico and a history of mining.The population was 14,312 at the 2000 census...
in the Whitewater Draw area. In October 1926, just three months after the first human artifact was uncovered at the Folsom Site
Folsom Site
Folsom Site , in Folsom, New Mexico, is the archaeological site that is the type site for the Folsom tradition, a Paleo-Indian cultural sequence dating to between 9000 BC and 8000 BC...
, Byron Cummings, first Head of the Archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
Department at the University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
, led four students to Whitewater Draw. Discovered by a schoolboy, the Double Adobe site contained the skull of a mammoth
Mammoth
A mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus. These proboscideans are members of Elephantidae, the family of elephants and mammoths, and close relatives of modern elephants. They were often equipped with long curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair...
overlying a sand layer containing stone artifacts. One of these students was Emil Haury
Emil Haury
Emil Walter "Doc" Haury was an influential archaeologist who specialized in the archaeology of the American Southwest....
.
Later investigators found that the bones and artifacts were mixed by redeposited stream sediments, confusing the early interpretations. Fossil bones of mammoth, horse, bison
Bison
Members of the genus Bison are large, even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Two extant and four extinct species are recognized...
, antelope, coyote and dire wolf
Dire Wolf
The Dire Wolf, Canis dirus, is an extinct carnivorous mammal of the genus Canis, and was most common in North America and South America from the Irvingtonian stage to the Rancholabrean stage of the Pleistocene epoch living 1.80 Ma – 10,000 years ago, existing for approximately .- Relationships...
were found associated with the artifacts, which included fire-cracked rock, projectile points, and small grinding stones.
The presence of grinding stones has been interpreted to mean that people were beginning to adapt to the changes brought by the end of the Ice Age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
and the extinction of many of the large mammals
Quaternary extinction event
The Quaternary period saw the extinctions of numerous predominantly larger, especially megafaunal, species, many of which occurred during the transition from the Pleistocene to the Holocene epoch. However, the extinction wave did not stop at the end of the Pleistocene, but continued especially on...
. The coming of the Holocene Era (10,000 years Before Present) brought warmer and drier conditions to the Southwest. As a result, by 11,000-10,500 BP the Clovis culture
Clovis culture
The Clovis culture is a prehistoric Paleo-Indian culture that first appears 11,500 RCYBP , at the end of the last glacial period, characterized by the manufacture of "Clovis points" and distinctive bone and ivory tools...
was beginning to give way to more regional variants, which are generally called the Archaic cultures.
E. B. Sayles' and E. Antevs' 1941 definition of the Cochise culture (the name given to the southern Archaic tradition in the Southwest) was based upon excavations undertaken within the Double Adobe district. Many of the Southwest's most respected archaeologists have led investigations in the region over the years. Double Adobe has yielded important information on southern Arizona's prehistoric climate, ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
, and animal life.
The Double Adobe Site was declared a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in 1961.
External links
- Double Adobe Site (scroll down) at Center for Desert Archaeology