National Archaeology Day in the Arizona Desert October 26, 2011
On National Archaeology Day the Central Arizona Society
participated in a mudslinging activity at Pueblo Grande Museum
in Phoenix, AZ. Mudslinging is a stabilization technique for
earthen structures, and the AIA volunteers worked with the
Pueblo Grande Museum Mudslingers - a volunteer organization that
has worked at Pueblo Grande for eighteen years. Pueblo Grande
Museum presents and conserves the Native American ruins,
including an earthen platform mound, from the Hohokam culture
that lived in central Arizona between 450 and 1450. Mudslinging
involves four basic steps: 1) Remove the loose/flaky earth 2)
Wet the wall surface 3) Sling the freshly produced mud onto the
surface 4) Smooth the new surface. The Pueblo Grande Museum
Mudslingers volunteer one Saturday morning a month (9-10 months
a year), and the work that was done on Saturday will last for
three to four years. The Bayon Information Center in Siem Reap,
Cambodia has joined as a new Collab