Medallion Papers

The Medallion Papers is a series of 39 publications issued between 1928-1950 by the Gila Pueblo Archaeological Foundation. Gila Pueblo, as it later became known, was one of the earliest Arizona institutions doing archaeological surveying and research in the Southwest. It was founded by Winifred and Harold S. Gladwin as a private foundation and employed professional archaeologists whose research was published in the Medallion Papers. Their work was instrumental in defining the Hohokam, Mogollon, San Simon and Cochise cultures and in describing early pottery types including Hohokam red-on-buff, Salado polychrome, Casas Grandes and others.

Gila Pueblo was located in east-central Arizona, several miles south of Globe, Arizona. It was in operation until 1950, at which time, the Foundation was dissolved. The buildings were acquired by the National Park Service and became the Southwest Archaeological Center from 1950 to 1971. They are now occupied by the Gila Community College (formally the Globe Campus/Eastern Arizona College). The Foundation's artifacts, photographs, library and documents were donated to the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona.

Distinguished archaeologists published in the Medallion Papers are: Charles Avery Amsden, Ernst Antevs, Alice M. Brues, Nora Gladwin, Winifred and Harold Gladwin, Emil W. Haury, Fred Hawley, M. M. Leighton, Deric O'Bryan, E. B. Sayles, George C. Vaillant, and George and Edna Woodbury.

The Medallion Papers are digitally presented here in their full-text. The original issues Nos. 1-3 carry the imprint "Privately printed for the Medallion, Pasadena, California", while issues Nos. 4-39 have the imprint "Gila Pueblo, Globe, Arizona". The earliest issues were not published with authors or numbering and it wasn't until they became more widely distributed that stick-on labels were prepared with this information. All print work was done by Lancaster Press, Inc., Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Each volume was beautifully crafted on heavy cream-colored paper stock and most issues included color plates and line art. Covers displayed a design taken from a Querino polychrome bowl as the Medallion Papers colophon. The original format was 6 5/8 by 9 3/4 inches until issue No. 25, at which time the format changed to 8 1/2 by 11 1/8 inches. Issue No. 25, Excavations at Snaketown: Material Culture, which was originally printed in 1937, was later reprinted in 1965 by the University of Arizona Press, which retains its distribution rights.

Also presented here are the Amsden Pottery Paintings, a collection of 18 oil paintings commissioned by the Gila Pueblo Archaeological Foundation for use as illustrations in the Medallion Papers. The paintings were executed by Theodore ("Ted") Price Amsden between 1929 and 1936. The images of the paintings are presented in the order in which they appear in the Medallion Papers.