Dance Hall of the Dead (1973)

Dance Hall of the Dead (1973)

pistol

A pistol is a firearm, or gun, that can be used with one hand, leaving the other hand free for defense or the use of another weapon. There are two main classes of pistols: revolvers and automatics. Revolvers are multi-shot firearms, meaning individual bullets are encased in a revolving element. Automatic pistols are more modern and involve multiple bullets stored in a magazine chamber just below the barrel of the gun.

piñon jay

A large blue-grey song bird similar to a crow, the piñon jay is found in the Western Great Basin of North American, including the U.S. Southwest, especially in foothills and lower mountain slopes where the Pinyon-Juniper forest type is found. These jays harvest piñon pine seeds, storing them against the winter months.

pickup

A way of referring to the exchange of an illicit substance for money, usually as part of a prearranged plan. Either the money, the illicit substance, or both are left at a prearranged location and then picked up by a courier or runner.

Pickup can also refer to the act of transferring human cargo, as in an arranged pickup of a prisoner for transfer from one detention center to another.

Phoenix, Arizona

The capital city of the state of Arizona, Phoenix is also known as the “Valley of the Sun.” It was originally settled as an agricultural area that modeled its early irrigation systems on the ancient Hohokam canal system that riddled the valley floor. As with most Southwestern frontier towns Phoenix went through several iterations including periods of Mexican and New Mexican territorial management. The entrance of the railroad, and later the post-World War Two automobile and baby booms, led the city’s population to soar. Phoenix became one of the largest cities in the U.S., despite being located in one of the most water-poor fringes of the Sonoran desert.

petrified wood

Fossilized wood that is often banded in color, for which it is highly valued.Because of the fossilization process, which replaces organize materials with minerals, petrified wood is essentially wood that has been turned into stone and can therefore be used to create stone artifacts, including bowls, knives, and beads. One of the richest deposits of petrified wood in North America is the Petrified Forest National Park in northeastern Arizona, near the Navajo, Hopi, and Zuni reservations.

mole

The mole is a small burrowing rodent, an industrious and persistent tunneler that is sensitive to light, sound, and vibration.

Among the pueblo cultures of the American Southwest, moles are considered an important medicine animal, representing the downward direction, the color black, earth and agriculture, and also sickness and health. The Zuni carve stone mole fetishes for protection, ascribing to them both healing and hunting powers. The mole also symbolizes an awareness of externalities as well as an awareness of self derived from deep introspection. In the mole, these various perceptions come together to form a being who is sensitive, grounded, and inquisitive. The mole also symbolizes intuitiveness, as his hyperawareness and ability to think deeply unite to help him see beyond the obvious. In this sense, the mole is also always searching, exploring beneath the surface.

pickup truck

A vehicle with an enclosed cab and an open rear compartment for transporting cargo.

patrol

The act of surveillance, with the potential for taking disciplinary actions, as well as offering other peace-keeping services, throughout a particular area. In small areas, called "beats," police personnel, called patrolmen, may patrol on foot or on horseback, moving through the streets as a way to ensure order and enforce the law. A highway patrol unit, typically maintained at the state level, is a police unit in charge of enforcing traffic laws and safety regulations on U.S. roads and highways. A patrol car is the most common of several vehicular options utilized for maintaining a police presence in larger areas. Bicycles, motorcycles and helicopters can be used to patrol as well.

paratrooper

A soldier in the army who is part of a special unit that is trained to jump out of airplanes using prarachutes.

parallel flaked

A process in which stone flakes are removed from a sstone tool so that the flake "scars" are parallel. Parallel flaking is used for both finish and detail work on stone tools and is considered the sign of a master stone worker. Parallel flaked stone tools are relatively rare.

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