March/April 2021 Issue

Features From the Issue

  • Features

    The Amazing True Story of Nathan Harrison

    Excavations of a mountain cabin uncover the hidden life of a formerly enslaved man who became a California legend

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    (Courtesy the Nathan “Nate” Harrison Historical Archaeology Project, Kirby Collection)
  • Features

    The Visigoths' Imperial Ambitions

    How an unlikely Visigothic city rose in Spain amid the chaotic aftermath of Rome’s final collapse

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    Yil Dori
  • Features

    The Lost World of Lihyan

    A forgotten city of spice traders once ruled the oases of northern Arabia

  • Features

    Mapping a City in the Clouds

    Drone-mounted lasers reveal a new view of an ancient Peruvian citadel

  • Features

    Golden Goats of Ur

    Decoding the meaning of a pair of 4,500-year-old Sumerian statuettes

Letter from Chihuahua

Letter from Chihuahua

Cliff Dwellers of the Sierra Madre

A recurring design motif found in northern Mexico’s ancient mountain villages reflects complex cultural ties between distant peoples

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(Photo by Stephen H. Lekson)

Artifact

Artifacts

Subeixi Game Balls

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(Courtesy Patrick Wertmann)

Digs & Discoveries

Off the Grid

Off the Grid March/April 2021

Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument, Texas

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(Courtesy Paul Katz)

Around the World

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  • INDONESIA

  • SOUTH KOREA

  • CHINA

Slideshow: Exploring Peru's Cliff Cemeteries

The Chachapoya people of northern Peru, who flourished in the tropical highland Andes from about 500 to 1500 A.D., created cliffside cemeteries to house their dead. With the support of local communities and landowners, University of Central Florida bioarchaeologist J. Marla Toyne has led a team that explored two of these sites, La Petaca and Diablo Wasi. To reach these cemeteries, the archaeologists worked with Asociación Ukhupacha, a Spanish spelunking group, to rappel down 300-foot cliffs. These images of the fieldwork are courtesy of J. Marla Toyne and were taken by Esteve Ribera.