Todd A Pitezel
- Associate Curator
Contact
- (520) 621-6312
- Arizona State Museum North, Rm. 218
- Tucson, AZ 85721
- pitezel@email.arizona.edu
Biography
Todd Pitezel earned his doctorate in 2011 from the School of Anthropology, University of Arizona. He joined the faculty at the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, in 2010 as Assistant Curator of Archaeology for Mandated Programs. In 2018 Dr. Pitezel was designated Associate Curator of Archaeological Collections, wherein he administers the Arizona State Museum's cataloged specimens.
Dr. Pitezel's research focuses on the archaeological culture refered to as Casas Grandes in northern Chihuahua, Mexico. His dissertation documented systematic research and insights into the Casas Grandes Medio period (ca. AD 1200-1450) ritual landscape. He currently is researching the precursor of the Medio period, known as the Viejo period (ca. AD ? - 1200). This long-term research program, called the Roots of Casas Grandes, focuses on identifying and recording previously unrecorded Viejo period sites; excavation of Viejo period sites; Viejo period chronology; Viejo period ceramic definitions; and continuities between the Viejo and Medio periods.
Degrees
- Ph.D. Anthropology
- The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
- From Archaeology to Ideology in Northwest Mexico: Cerro de Moctezuma in the Casas Grandes Ritual Landscape
- M.A. Anthropology
- University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma
- Typological and Temporal Definition in the Casas Grandes Ceramics: A Study from the Casas Grandes Volumes
- B.A. Anthropology
- University of North Texas, Denton, Texas
Work Experience
- Arizona State Museum, The University of Arizona (2016 - Ongoing)
- Arizona State Musuem, The University of Arizona (2010 - 2016)
- Arizona State Musuem, The University of Arizona (2010)
- Arizona State Musuem, The University of Arizona (2008 - 2010)
Awards
- Land Manager of the Year
- Arizona Site Stewards Program, Arizona State Parks, Spring 2015
- Appreciation Award
- Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society, Spring 2014
Interests
No activities entered.
Courses
No activities entered.
Scholarly Contributions
Chapters
- Whalen, M. E., & Pitezel, T. A. (2016). Casas Grandes and Its Closest Neighbors. In Discovering Paquimé(pp 41-46). Tucson, AZ and Dragoon, AZ: The University of Arizona Press and the Amerind Foundation.
- Whalen, M. E., & Pitezel, T. (2015). Settlement Patterns in the Casas Grandes Area. In Ancient Paquimé and the Casas Grandes World(pp 101-125). Tucson: The University of Arizona Press.
Journals/Publications
- Searcy, M. T., & Pitezel, T. A. (2017). An Ethnoarchaeological Perspective on Ground Stone Production at the Santiago Quarry in the Casas Grandes Region of Chihuahua, Mexico. Latin American Antiquity, 29(1), 1-16.
- Whalen, M. E., MacWilliams, A. C., & Pitezel, T. (2010). RECONSIDERING THE SIZE AND STRUCTURE OF CASAS GRANDES, CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO. AMERICAN ANTIQUITY, 75(3), 527-550.More infoThe site of Casas Grandes (or Paquime) in northwest Chihuahua, Mexico, originally was estimated to contain some 2,300 rooms, placing it at the top of known prehispanic pueblo sizes. Its rooms were seen as arranged in blocks of as many as five stories, forming a vast, U-shaped pueblo. This room count and configuration are cited often in the past and present literature. We contend that Casas Grandes originally was interpreted in the most liberal terms. We reexamine it with a more conservative approach, and a different characterization emerges. The U-shaped configuration cannot be supported. Instead, we see a central, linear room block, a small part of which contained three stories. It was flanked on the west by well-known ritual architecture and surrounded on all sides by small, scattered, contemporary, one-story room units. The original room count estimation is reduced by about 50 percent, as is the concomitant estimate of nearly 5,000 residents. This has implications for extant models of the internal and regional organization of Casas Grandes.
Presentations
- Searcy, M., & Pitezel, T. A. (2017, April). Sourcing Basalt from the Santiago Quarry in Chihuahua, Mexico, using X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry. 82nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
- Searcy, M., & Pitezel, T. A. (2016, April). Excavations at Vista del Valle, a Viejo Period Site of teh Casas Grandes Cultural Tradition in Chihuahua, Mexico. 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Orlando, FL.
- Searcy, M., & Pitezel, T. A. (2016, October). Assessing Mesoamerica as a Concept and a Region in the Archaeology of the Southwest United States and Northwest Mexico. 19th Biennial Mogollon Archaeology Conference. Las Vegas, NV.
- Pitezel, T., & Searcy, M. (2015, April 15-19). Recent Explorations for Casas Grandes Viejo Period Settlement. Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. San Francisco.
- Searcy, M., & Pitezel, T. (2014, April). Using Ethnoarchaeology to Interpret the First Ground Stone Quarry Discovered in the Casas Grandes Region. Paper presented at the 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Austin, TX.
Poster Presentations
- Cajigas, R. M., Watson, J. T., & Pitezel, T. (2016, January 15). Anthropogenic Influences on Terrace Soil Development at Tumamoc Hill. Southwest Symposium.
- Rachel, C., Watson, J. T., & Pitezel, T. A. (2016, January). Anthropogenic Influences on Terrace Soil Development at Tumamoc Hill. 15th Biennial Southwest Symposium. Tucson, AZ.
Others
- Pitezel, T. (2015, November). ASM Policy on Qualifications of Project Directors.
- Pitezel, T. (2015, November). Principal Investigator Qualification Form.
- Pitezel, T. (2015, November). Project Director Qualification Form.
- Pitezel, T. A. (2015, August). Records Management and Repository Agreement.
- Pitezel, T. A. (2015, December). Internal ASM Policy, Procedure, and Workflow for Final Reports Submitted to ASM under Arizona Antiquities Act Permits.
- Pitezel, T. (2013, January). ASM Policy Regarding Excavation of Human Remains on Private Land.
- Pitezel, T. (2014, March). Arizona Antiquities Act Project-specfic Permit Recommendation to the Director Form.
- Pitezel, T. (2014, March). Illuminating the Hohokam: A Celebration of the Archaeological Legacies of Paul R. Fish and Suzanne K. Fish.More infoTemporary Exhibit, Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona: 2 cases using 45 archaeological objects to showcase the scholarship of Dr. Paul Fish and Dr. Suzanne Fish from their 30 years of Hohokam archaeology. Text writing. Coordination of video display.
- Pitezel, T. (2014, November). ASM Policy on Qualifications of Principal Investigators.
- Pitezel, T., & Watson, J. T. (2014, September). Defining the Chronology of Terrace Constructions at Tumamoc Hill in Tucson, Pima County: A Research Design and Work Plan.
- Watson, J. T., Mcclelland, J., & Pitezel, T. (2013). "Stand fast and suffer long": The ethics of repatriation. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY.
