Under the supervision of Dr. Catherine M. Cameron, Devin Alan White will conduct research on prehistoric footpath networks in the Sonoran Desert region (specifically the Papagueri a) during the time periods that correlate with the Hohokam Preclassic (AD 775-1150) and Classic (AD 1150-1300), the societies that created them, and their complex relationships with the physical environment that contained them. He will investigate how footpaths acted as mechanisms for multiscalar community and regional integration over time and space through the use of multispectral and hyperspectral data obtained from airborne and spaceborne sensor systems, Geographic Information System spatial analyses, quantitative predictive modeling, ethnographic data, and pedestrian survey. Additionally, there will be a focus on the development of efficient methods for detection, identification, and recording of footpath networks and associated archaeological features.
Footpaths are a rarely studied part of the global archaeological record-especially in regions of the New World such as the North American Southwest. While formal roads and causeways can facilitate daily activities and ritual processions, footpaths are traveled more regularly by people carrying out daily tasks that range from the mundane to the spiritual, from nearby food procurement to long distance trade of exotic materials. Most often, footpaths are routes that link communities to valuable resources, to sacred places, and to each other. Where these paths begin and end, what directions they take, and what they connect can reveal much about how ancient peoples lived their lives and how their cultures operated because many of these activities are carried out on an informal, routine level. More specifically, footpath networks can speak to the degree of interconnectedness between communities, especially when connections are difficult to see through traditional material culture such as trade items, grave goods, architecture, and refuse.
The intellectual merits of the research program for archaeologists include proving the utility and efficiency of several new remote sensing techniques for archaeological fieldwork; demonstrating that studying the structure, waypoints, and endpoints of footpath networks can reveal the motivations of travelers as well as the foci and complexity of societies within a particular region; and filling in a significant gap in the archaeological understanding of the Papagueria. Beyond the concerns of social scientists, however, there are several impacts of importance to the public at large. First, this award will assist in the formal training of a graduate student. Second, the research will further promote the idea that archaeology does not necessarily need to involve excavation to both ask and answer important questions about the past. Third, Mr. White will be working closely with two government entities (United States Air Force and the National Park Service) in a mutually beneficial arrangement. Each entity will provide access to data, facilities, and land to support his research in exchange for his assistance with their efforts to preserve ancient footpaths in areas affected by the activities of the Air Force and the movements of illegal immigrants across the U.S.-Mexico border. Last, this project will provide native peoples in the region with an opportunity to rediscover a part of their history and mythology. Footpaths are very important to many groups in the Southwest and, due to many factors outside of their control, those that live in the Sonoran Desert have lost track of where most of their ancient paths are located. Mr. White will be working with these groups to strengthen their connection to the landscape and their past.
