Lunch Club provides affiliates of the Stanford Archaeology Center with a community-oriented forum for engagement with current issues in archaeology. On June 4, 2025,  we will host Dr.Wade Campbell from Boston University.

Abstract:
 

From the northern edge of the San Juan Basin in the east to Black Mesa in the west, nearly two hundred stone fortresses are known to be spread across the landscape of the Navajo Nation. These buildings are not Ánaasází in origin, but were instead built over the past three centuries by previous generations of Diné people in order to protect their communities from Utes, Spanish, Americans, and other enemies. Commonly known as "pueblitos," these strongholds represent important points of intervention for better understanding pre-reservation Diné history, a history that has long been constructed without input from Diné people themselves. This presentation will review the history and extent of previous pueblito-related research in combination with new data from other defensive sites located on the reservation proper. Together, this information will demonstrate why these unique voices of Diné strength and resilience in the Southwest must be better documented and protected going forward.