Cultural Resources Surveys and Overviews of the Rillito River Drainage Area, Pima County, Arizona

Summary

This volume presents the results of two archaeological surveys conducted by Statistical Research for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District, in what is known in planning circles as the Rillito Corridor. When Statistical Research began these studies, we quickly realized that the Rillito Corridor was one of the most surveyed areas in southern Arizona. Several comprehensive overviews of the culture history of the area were available, but despite this microscopic attention, no detailed description of the archaeological resources of the project area had been published. Numerous small and redundant surveys had been completed, often only a few acres in size or along very narrow corridors. As might be expected, sites were rarely encountered in these types of surveys, and only letter reports were produced to document the results. The only large-scale survey along the Rillito River was conducted in the 1930s by Frank Midvale. No report of this survey was ever produced, and many of the sites found by Midvale disappeared as a result of flood damage or development before any more could be learned about them. The archaeological resources at the 49'ers Country Club further upstream along Tanque Verde Wash had suffered a similar fate. With the exception of the Milagro site, only a few small salvage efforts had been completed in this area with little understanding of the nature of archaeological resources in the area. We undertook to remedy this situation. We had three goals in mind: (1) to update and expand upon the previous overviews of the areas' culture histories; (2) to complete an intensive survey of previously unsurveyed portions of the project area; and (3) to document in detail the all available information and the current condition of all known sites within the project area.

These investigations were carried out as separate work orders under a single contract. The Corps of Engineers, however, required two separate reports for these studies. The first report covers the cultural resources along the entire length of the Rillito River. The second report covers the cultural resources of the 49'ers Country Club. The Rillito River report also includes a general overview of the regional prehistory and history. The second report focuses on the history and prehistory specific to the 49'ers Country Club and its immediate surroundings.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SRI Press

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): SRI Press

Sponsor(s): U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District

Prepared By(s): Statistical Research, Inc.

Submitted To(s): U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District

Record Identifiers

Contract No.(s): DACW0987-D-0022

Notes

Redaction Note: One of these files has been redacted. The redacted figures in this file include 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4.8 in part I and figures 1.1, 2.1, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.6, 3.7, 3.10, 3.11, 3.12, 3.13 in part II.

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