James Schoenwetter joined the ASU Department of Anthropology (now School of Human Evolution and Social Change) faculty in 1967 following four years at the Laboratory of Anthropology at Santa Fe, New Mexico; he retired in 2000. His research interests were in the areas of prehistoric cultural ecology, applications of pollen analysis in archaeology, and research methodology.
Prior to retirement, he directed the department's palynology laboratory. Pollen research by Schoenwetter and his students has involved a variety of sites in Mesoamerica, North America and Europe, and continued after his retirement. He directed archaeological and botanical fieldwork in the Midwestern and Southwestern United States, California, Oaxaca, Zacatecas, Jalisco, England, and France.
Schoenwetter pioneered the study of pollen records from archaeological site-context deposits in the Southwest and Midwest in the 1960s, identified palynological evidence of Archaic Horizon maize cultivation in Arizona, Illinois and Mexico in the 1970s, and was among the earliest students of the palynological records of Historic Archaeology site-context deposits.
This collection of unpublished professional writings have not been edited since they were written between 1958 and 2004. The palynological and archaeological information they contain, and the concepts and methods presented, will prove useful to others researching similar problems and situations. These writings have not been subject to professional peer review and should not be recognized as contributions to published scientific literature.
Schoenwetter, James. Preliminary Inventory of the James Schoenwetter Papers 1956-2005.
Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for American Archeology, 1962. Explores limitations of pollen studies intentionally designed to resolve problems of archaeological significance: issues of pollen preservation, cultural effects on the record, horizon/pollen zone duration, extraction technology, necessity to recognize interdisciplinary effects on methods and interpretation.
Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists, 1962. Discusses pollen sequence from Cahokia Creek slough profiles. Pollen diagrams missing.
Reports preliminary results of study of pollen samples from La Atalaya, La Cofradia and Cerro de Moctehuma archaeological sites. The 4-zone stratified pollen sequence from La Ayala allows the other two sites to be cross-dated. Subsequently published in Southern Illinois Museum Papers.
eport on the phytogeography, alluvial geology, and the specific archaeological problem that guided modern surface and fossil pollen sampling during field season.
Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for American Archeology, 1963. Explores the question of how archaeologists may use paleoecological information to best advantage.
Unpublished report, 1964
Pilot study of 3 pollen samples allows vegetation pattern reconstruction for period of occupation and suggests successful maize farming required water control technology.
Comparison of pollen records of 7 archaeological context samples from this site with the Colorado Plateau Pollen Chronology suggests occupation began before A.D. 850 and persisted at least until A.D. 900. These dates are consistant with associated ceramic styles.
This study of 23 pollen samples allows recognition of a sequence of ecosystem changes occurring in central New Mexico between A.D. 1280 and 1400 and also in the 1650 - 1750 period. It also discusses the effects of such changes on aboriginal maize agriculture. Draft of the report included in Archaeological Excavations at Pueblo del Encierro.
Pollen records of samples from four archaeological sites excavated as a highway salvage project in New Mexico allow feature cross-dating, chronological placement of the sites, and paleoenvironmental reconstructions.
Unpublished report, 1965.
Pilot pollen study for Anasazi Origins Project.