Douglas_Gann's Most Recent Favorites

Casa Grande National Monument

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:18:35 Z

by Douglas_Gann "This is a collection of photos from Casa Grande National Monument. One of the most well known constructions of the ancient Southwest, this "big house" structure is made of puddled adobe, an architectural technology very similar to what modern builders call "rammed earth" construction. Big houses like these were built by a people archaeologists call the Hohokam, but the native O'odham people call Huhugam. These types of "puddled" adobe buildings were constructed throughout southern Arizona and parts of northern Mexico from around AD 1225 to AD 1400. There may have been several ancient "big houses" and at least 100 more similar structures called "Platform Mounds" across the desert Southwest. But none of these buildings were as well preserved as the Casa Grande. Its also important to note that the Casa Grande, and the adobe walled compound that surrounds it, are only one small part of the ancient village here. If you follow the Geotag for this Photosynth, you might be amazed to see how well other surrounding adobe compounds and another ancient feature called a "ballcourt" show up on the satellite photography. Zoom out slightly from the geotag and look to the north of the big house compound. The ballcourt will look like a pair of parenthesis marks So look for the shape that looks like this () ! From there, look just slightly to the north east. The rectangular object is another adobe compound, with a large platform mound inside. These features remain unexcavated so they can be preserved for future generations. The Center for Desert Archaeology is working the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Friends of Casa Grande National Monument, and the communities of Coolidge and Florence Arizona, along with National Park Service to expand the boundaries of the Casa Grande National Monument in order to preserve the ancient towns that were located near the features that you can see here."

Las Capas Area F

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:14:27 Z

by Douglas_Gann "This Photosynth documents Area F of the site of Las Capas. The main point of this Photosynth project is to explore how the system can be used to document large profile exposures containing detailed stratigraphy. There are a couple of ancient canal cross sections as well. Photography by Mat Devitt"

Ketley Crags

Tue, 19 May 2009 06:43:54 Z

by PGRic "Ketley Crags is the most elaborately carved prehistoric rock / outcrop in England – if not the UK. The motifs come from a tradition known as ‘cup and ring’ which generally gets attributed to the late Neolithic – early Bronze Age period (6000-4000yrs ago). A complex design represented by cups, multiple rings and interlinking grooves."

Homol'ovi IV Mk II

Thu, 21 May 2009 12:03:42 Z

by Douglas_Gann "This is a second try at Photosynthing the site of Homol'ovi IV. This is getting better, try to get to the views on top of the site, or use your mouse wheel to "drill" down into some of the rock art images. Almost like you were there! To get photosynth right, you really need to photograph things in a different way, I'll get better coverage of this place next month. Cheers- Doug"