Arizona State Museum

ASM Associate Director and bioarchaeologist, Dr. James Watson, is in the second week of work in Germany, leading students on a UA Study Abroad program and supporting the mission of DPAA*, excavating a WWII crash site. Last evening (after a long day in the field) he gave the students a lecture on distinguishing between human vs. animal bone in archaeological contexts.

*The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) is a US Department of Defense program with the mission of providing the fullest possible accounting for U.S. personnel missing from armed conflicts around the world.

Mark your calendar for our next FREE, in-person lecture at Whiskey Del Bac, featuring Jannelle Weakly, ASM’s photographic and multi-media collections manager. Join us on Thursday, August 20, 6:00 p.m.

Reflections and Connections: The Human Experience in the Southwest through ASM’s Photographic Collection Image When 6 – 8 p.m., Aug. 20, 2026 eventAdd to Calendar Add Event to Calendar Reflections and Connections: The Human Experience in the Southwest through ASM’s Photographic Collection 6 – 8 p.m., Aug. 20, 2026 Select your calendar type below: Google iCal File Outlook Enterprise (Office 365) O...

ASM faculty, current and retired, are on the move this summer, making an impact. Here is another example. Dr. Ann Hedlund shared her expertise on Navajo textiles at a panel discussion in New Hampshire on July 12.

Frank Stella's Navajo textile collection on display - Monadnock Ledger-Transcript Discover the fascinating story behind Frank Stella's Navajo textile collection and the exhibition that brought it to life.

Drs. Ed and Ruth Jolie are in New York conducting research on Haudenosaunee textiles.

Here you see Ed taking impressions of hair follicles found on Indigenous-spun wool cordage to try and determine what the species of animal hair was mixed in with it—white-tailed deer, elk, or maybe even caribou. Follicles are distinctive by species. Regardless of what it turns out to be, it will be interesting information. If it’s caribou, it can speak to extensive trade networks. If elk or deer, it would be coming from the Great Lakes region, but at the time of manufacture, were getting rarer from overhunting. The sample comes from a late 18th century piece created by Seneca women and worn by the Seneca orator, Red Jacket. It is curated at the Rochester Museum & Science Center.

Thanks to Dr. Ruth Jolie for the pic and info!

AMERICA 250: How the Haudenosaunee shaped America’s democracy - ICT How one Indigenous confederacy inspired the United State’s democracy and what America could still learn from them

Dr. James Watson, ASM's curator of bioarchaeology, will be involved in a UA Study Abroad program this summer in Europe supporting the U.S. government’s ongoing search for missing service members. He is quoted in the story below:

New U of A center joins mission to bring home America's missing in action The University of Arizona has a new center dedicated to identifying and recovering missing service members from Arizona and beyond.

Congratulations to Molly Stothert-Maurer, ASM head librarian and archivist, who just published a paper in the "Journal of Western Archives."

"Archiving in Advance of Mission Completion," presents a detailed case study of the born-digital archiving efforts associated with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security–Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) Asteroid Sample Return Mission at the University of Arizona Libraries Special Collections. From the perspective of an archivist, the project exemplifies the integration of digital archiving into an active scientific mission, conducted in collaboration with multiple departments across the university. By preserving mission-critical content, including project management documents, social media interactions, and web content, this initiative serves as a model for resource light digital products utilizing batch descriptive techniques.

Archiving in Advance of Mission Completion This paper presents a detailed case study of the born-digital archiving efforts associated with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security–Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) Asteroid Sample Return Mission at the Universit...

We're revved up today because "Traditions in Motion" is on the move.

A selection of 11 die-cast model cars and other small-scale vehicles from the larger exhibit is being featured at The Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures.

Hop in/on your set of wheels and go check it out!

June 16, 2026 – January 10, 2027
4455 E. Camp Lowell Drive, Tucson

We are grateful to our friends and colleagues at The Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures for their partnership.