Phase 1 and Phase 2 Cultural Resource Investigations at AZ T:4:150(ASM), a Multicomponent Rockshelter at Lake Pleasant Regional Park

At the request of the Bureau of Reclamation–Phoenix Area Office (PXAO), Archaeological Consulting Services, Ltd. (ACS) conducted Phase 1 cultural resource assessments and investigations at AZ T:4:150(ASM), a multicomponent rockshelter site in Lake Pleasant Regional Park, in 2008. The site was being impacted by increased visitation and Reclamation was seeking to mitigate those impacts. ACS archaeologists completed surface collection, mapping, and soil at the site. These investigations confirmed that the site held the potential to yield important information about the Prehistoric, Protohistoric, and Historic period occupations of the Lake Pleasant area. ACS recommended data recovery based on the outcome of these tasks.

Based on the results of Phase 1 investigations conducted at the site (Pinter et al. 2009), Reclamation determined that potentially significant subsurface cultural deposits were present and that Phase 2 data recovery was necessary. ACS conducted Phase 2 data recovery at the Lake Pleasant Rockshelter site (AZ T:4:150[ASM] in 2010 at the request of the Bureau of Reclamation PXAO. The proposed work plan for Phase 2 (Pinter et al. 2009) was accepted by Reclamation, and was implemented in two sessions due to inclement weather and rising lake levels. The first session occurred in January 2010, followed by a hiatus to allow the lake level to drop and the weather to cool; the second and final session occurred in late September 2010. Controlled Phase 2 excavations at AZ T:4:150(ASM) revealed an initial Gila Butte phase (Colonial period) use, with intermittent Hohokam use through at least the early Classic period. A Protohistoric through Historic period Yavapai use of the shelter was documented, followed by a final Late Historic period use of indeterminate origin (Yavapai or Euroamerican) primarily during the 1920s–1940s. The evidence suggests Yavapai but the nearby Brown Homestead was occupied during this time span as well. The results of Phase 2 data recovery, which completely excavated the interior of the shelter, documented the long history of use of the site and provided substantial new evidence of subsistence and tool use practices for the Yavapai.