Pahoehoe
Basaltic lave of low viscosity so that it flows easily and smoothly. Solidified flows are characterized by smooth, ropey, undulating surfaces.

Paleo-art
Rock art relating to early cultures.

Paleo-Indian
(More than 10,000 years ago to 6500 B.C.)
Small nomadic bands moved over large areas gathering wild plants and hunting big game, including mammoth and large bison, with stone spear points.

Paleontology
The study of fossils.

Parasite
A plant or animal deriving its nutrition from another organism.

Parched
Toasted; cooked quickly in a dry pan or open flame until browned.

Patina
Also known as desert varnish. A dark surface formed very slowly by weathering and microbial/chemical alterations.

Pediment
An eroded bedrock surface that slopes away from the base of mountains in arid regions and is thinly or discontinuously covered by alluvium.

Pemmican
A mixture of shredded, dried meat and dried berries with an equal amount of beef fat. Seeds or meal may be included.

Perennial
Lasting throughout the year (as in a stream).

Pestle
A handheld stone used to grind food or other materials in a mortar hole.

Petrified Wood
Fossilized wood, formed when wood is buried and replaced by an equal volume of mineral matter.

Petroglyph
Petroglyphs are a form of ancient rock art that was carved, pecked, or chiseled into the rock. Usually the markings are made in the veneer of dark rock varnish on the face of lighter-colored rock for good contrast.

Petrology
The study of rocks.

Pictoglyphs
Rare rock art figures that are both pecked and painted.

Pictograms
A system of writing that uses symbols based on simple pictures of objects instead of letters.

Pictograph
Pictographs are a form of ancient rock art that was painted on the surface of rock with natural pigments.

Pile
Fleece, used in summer sleeping bags.

Pillow Lava
A lava flow that has rounded or tube-like masses making up its surface as a result of having occurred underwater where each emerging surge of lava was rapidly cooled to create the distinct shapes.

Pinole
Usually refers to meal made from the seeds of wild plants; the meal often being a mixture of seeds.

Pipe
A vertical, cylindrical mass of igneous rock.

Pitch
A climbing term describing the vertical distance between segments of the climb.

Pith
The soft, spongy, usually white tissue found in the center of a stem, leaf stalk, or root.

Pithouse
A room built partially underground and entered through a hole in the roof or by an entry room that slopes to the surface.

PKWY
Parkway.

Placer
A deposit of heavy mineral particles (e.g., gold) that have weathered out of the bedrock and been concentrated mechanically, usually by the action of streams.

Plastron
The lower part of a tortoise or turtle shell.

Plateau
A relatively elevated area of comparatively flat land which is commonly limited on at least one side by an abrupt descent to lower land. Sometimes called a table or tableland. See also Mesa.

Platform Nest
A large, flat-surfaced nest built of sticks and similar material.

Playa
The flat, vegetation-free, lowermost area of a desert basin, where water gathers after a rain and evaporates. See also alkali flat.

Playa Lake
A shallow, intermittent lake in an arid or semiarid region, covering or occupying a playa in the wet season but drying up in summer; an ephemeral lake that upon evaporation leaves a playa.

Plunge Pool
A pool at the bottom of a pouroff, often scoured deeply into the canyon bottom by powerful floodwaters plunging over a pouroff.

Polarguard
In sleeping bag fill, the long continuous fibers that are more durable than short-staples, but heavier and bulkier.

Posterior
Located at or toward the rear end of the body.

Potable
Water that is potable is clean and free from harmful chemicals and disease-carrying microbes.

Potherb
Any plant that is boiled to be eaten.

Pothole
A hole generally deeper than wide, worn into the solid rock at falls and strong rapids by sand, gravel, and stones being spun around by the force of the current. In desert country a pothole often collects water during rains and can contain a variety of small freshwater creatures. After rain they can be an important water source for the local wild animals. Care should be taken around potholes to not contaminate or unnecessarily waste the precious water. We try not to walk through them even when they are dry, knowing that the little critters are encapsulated in the dust, just waiting for the next rain storm. See also Tank, Tinaja, and Water Pocket.

Potshard
See Potsherd.

Potsherd
(also sherd, shard, or potshard) A piece of a broken ceramic pot.

Pouroff
A dry waterfall in a drainage.

Precipitation
The process by which a suspended or dissolved solid is separated out of a liquid. Also, rain or snow.

Prehensile
Adapted for grasping or wrapping around.

Prehistoric
Before the arrival of Europeans to America. In the southwest, this means anytime before the Spaniards arrived in 1539 A.D.

Prescribed Fire
Any fire ignited by management actions, when environmental conditions are favorable, to meet specific objectives. A written and approved prescribed fire plan must exist prior to ignition.

Proboscis
A prolonged set of mouthparts adapted for reaching into or piercing a food source.

Projectile Point
The stone point attached to the end of a wooden shaft.

Public Land
Land owned or administered by an federal or state agency or any political subdivision of the state.

Pueblo
A stone building located on flat, open ground or on top of a hill (as opposed to being built into the side of a cliff). Spanish for "town."

Pueblo I
(A.D. 750-900)
Pueblo I people lived in both large and small communities, in houses made of wood and adobe or masonry. Dwelling arrangements included room blocks (connected rooms with common walls) and pit structures dug into the ground with vent shafts for air. Plain pottery and pottery with neck bands are associated with this time period, as well as some decorated black-on-white pottery and redware.

Pueblo II
(A.D. 900-1150)
Pueblo II people began to gather in larger communities. Masonry construction was widely used in kivas and room blocks. Corrugated gray pots and black-on-white decorated pots were widespread.

Pueblo III
(A.D. 1150-1300)
Pueblo III people began to build large pueblos in addition to small villages, often located near the heads of canyons. Puebloans built alcove cliff dwellings and towers during this time. Corrugated gray and decorated black-on-white pottery was widespread. Near the end of the Pueblo III period, people left the area and migrated south, joining or establishing large pueblos in the Rio Grande, Hopi, Zuni, and Mogollon Rim areas of Arizona and New Mexico.

Pueblo IV
(A.D. 1300-1600)
Pueblo IV communities concentrated in large villages near the Rio Grande River. Corrugated pottery was replaced by plainer utility pots. There was less black-on-white pottery and more red, orange, or yellow pottery.

Pupa
The inactive stage of insects during which the larva transforms into the adult form, completing its metamorphosis.

Puparium
The hardened cuticle of the last larval stage, within which a maggot forms a pupa and metamorphoses into an adult stage.

Purgative
Generally used to refer to something that will evacuate the intestine.

Pyramid / Tepee Tent
This minimalist shelter typically consists of a rain fly that is supported by an upright center pole and staked out to create a tepee. Though the space-to-weight ratio is excellent, it is prone to condensation.