The Besh Ba Gowah Archaeological Park and Museum will host a Free Public Admission Day on Saturday, March 15th, 2025, in celebration of Arizona Archaeology and Heritage Awareness Month. Visitors may enjoy self-guided tours of the Archaeological Park and Museum at no cost. Food vendors will be available from 11 am-3 pm, and archaeologist Allen Dart (Old Pueblo Archaeology Center) will present “Old-Time Religion? The Salado Phenomenon in the US Southwest” at 1 pm.
Presentation description: The Besh Ba Gowah archaeological site preserved by the City of Globe is a prime example of what archaeologists call the “Salado phenomenon.” When first recognized by archaeologists in the early twentieth century, a constellation of peculiar cultural traits – including polychrome (three-colored) pottery, above-ground housing often enclosed in walled compounds, and monumental architecture – at Besh Ba Gowah and some other southwestern US archaeological sites was thought to be indicative of a distinct group of people: “the Salado.” As more and more research was done and the widespread distribution of Salado material culture became apparent, interpretations of what the Salado phenomenon represents were debated. In this presentation archaeologist Allen Dart illustrates pottery and other cultural attributes of the so-called Salado culture, reviews some of the theories about the Salado, and discusses how Salado related to the Ancestral Pueblo, Mogollon, Hohokam, and Casas Grandes cultures of the "Greater Southwest" (the U.S. Southwest and Mexico's Northwest).
