The Lower Verde Archaeological Project: Vanishing River Reports

PROJECT Jeffrey A. Homburg. Richard Ciolek-Torello. Jeffrey Altschul. Stephanie M. Whittlesey. Steven D. Shelley. USDI Bureau of Reclamation, Phoenix Area Office.

The Lower Verde Archaeological Project (LVAP) was a four-year data recovery project conducted by Statistical Research, Inc. (SRI) in the lower Verde River region of central Arizona. The project was designed to mitigate any adverse effects to cultural resources from modifications to Horseshoe and Bartlett Dams. The Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Arizona Project’s Office sponsored the research program in compliance with historic preservation legislation. The LVAP’s...

DOCUMENT Full-Text WIlliam L. Deaver. Barbara A. Murphy. Douglas M. Pease. Jeffrey A. Homburg. Keith B. Knoblock. Karen R. Adams. Steven Bozarth. Kellie M. Cairns. Steven D. Shelley. Barbara K.. Montgomery. Robert A. Heckman. Ronald H. Towner. Alex V. Benitez. Margaret Newman. Linda Scott Cummings. Kathryn Puseman. Richard Hughes. Arthur W. Vokes. Carla R. Van West.

The Vanishing Rivers Appendices document contains all of the LVAP Vanishing River appendices. First, it presents a table of contents list of all appendices and referenced figures and tables. The document then provides each of the appendices associated with Vanishing River Volumes 1 - 3 (the pdf electronic volumes) and those associated with Vanishing River Volume 4 (the companion book).

DOCUMENT Full-Text Lynne Yamaguchi.

This document is a guide that describes the creation of Volumes 1 through 3 in electronic format, and that outlines the use of the electronic resources as originally presented on CD. It does contain some information that future users may find useful in working with the pdf files. For example, it contains very helpful information regarding the organization of information. It also contains a guide that explains how to cite all of the resources in these documents properly.

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The Vanishing River List of Figures, Plates, Vessels, and Tables contains a table-of-contents style list for all figures, photos, and tables referenced in the Vanishing River volumes.

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The Vanishing River Table of Contents document presents the titles of all report volumes (1 - 4) and the titles of all chapters and major chapter sections in the Vanishing River report series. Please note that the Vanishing River List of Figures, Plates, Vessels, and Tables is a separate document that can be located here: http://core.tdar.org/document/372141.

DOCUMENT Full-Text WIlliam L. Deaver.

The Scorpion Point site is located on a remnant of a Pleistocene terrace about 37 m above the Verde River. Researchers began the fieldwork expecting to find no more than a dozen pit houses representing a few small pre-Classic period farmsteads scattered along the terrace above the Verde River. Instead, they found the remains of a ball court village with at least 50, and perhaps as many as 300, pit houses. At the conclusion of fieldwork at Scorpion Point Village, archaeologists with the Lower...

DOCUMENT Full-Text WIlliam L. Deaver. Robert B. Neily. Robert P. Jones. Steven D. Shelley.

Volume 1, Part 2 summarizes archaeological data recovery and results of work at four sites (CTC, Two Farms, Middendrum, and Dam View) located in area south of Bartlett Dam along the lower Verde River. Originally, the research plan outlined a testing program for a sample of seven sites in the area. Flooding and associated erosion along the Verde River during the field season made it almost impossible to support excavation crews at the small sites situated on narrow remnants of terraces on the...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Robert B. Neily. Richard Ciolek-Torello. Su Benaron. Jeffrey A. Homburg. Lee Lindsay. Steven D. Shelley.

Volume 1, Part 3 describes archaeological data recovery and summary results from work at several Classic period farmstead sites and a few multicomponent hamlet/village sites in the Horseshoe Basin area of the lower Verde River. The Lone Juniper site, Usedtobe Ruin, and the Little House site are farmstead sites located within 1 km of one another on Pleistocene terraces above the Verde River floodplain. Excavation at these sites uncovered small rectangular domestic rooms, masonry walls, remnants...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Jeffrey A. Homburg. John R. Welch. Stephanie M. Whittlesey. Richard Ciolek-Torello. William C. Johnson. Alan F. Arbogast. Jeffrey A. Homburg. Karen R. Adams.

The environmental summary presented in Volume 2 forms a backdrop for examining the settlement and subsistence history and dynamics of the lower Verde region (see Volume 4). Because of its geographically and culturally transitional position between major culture areas, the Verde River valley has remained an archaeological and historical enigma. The same can be said with regard to environmental information, for the valley has been less intensively studied than other areas of central Arizona, and...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Richard Ciolek-Torello. Jeffrey A. Homburg. Jonathan Sandor.

Volume 2, Part 2 provides the results of detailed research on prehistoric agricultural systems and sites in the LVAP area. Chapter 4 presents the results of SRI’s field investigations at Classic period dry-farming agricultural fields and associated field houses in an almost-300-acre area west of Horseshoe Dam. This area encompasses the hilly and gently undulating to nearly flat terrain of basalt flows, terraces, and escarpments west of the Verde River floodplain. Within this large area, 23...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Karen R. Adams. Steven Bozarth. Suzanne K Fish. Paul R. Fish. Steven D. Shelley. Kellie M. Cairns.

Chapter 8 discusses data from macrofossil and flotation samples from village, hamlet, farmstead, and field house settings along the lower Verde River. Chapter 9 treats the pollen and phytoliths that were isolated from sediment samples collected in a variety of agricultural features including rock piles and alignments, terraces, and field houses, in addition to habitation features such as hearths, living floors, middens, and roasting pits in the LVAP area. The overall goal of these analyses...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Stephanie M. Whittlesey. Barbara K. Montgomery. Robert A. Heckman.

Volume 3 of the Lower Verde Archaeological Project (LVAP) treats the material culture recovered during data recovery efforts at the Pre-Classic and Classic period sites in the project area. Volume 3, Part 1 describes the ceramic assemblages collected during LVAP field work, and provides results of stylistic and technological analysis performed on the colllections. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the analytic methods used for ceramics and the characteristics of LVAP ceramic collections. It...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Stephanie M. Whittlesey. Barbara Montgomery.

This chapter presents the analysis of flaked and ground stone artifacts from LVAP. It is divided into three sections. First, the analytic methods are presented. Second, an overview of lithic sourcing, technology, and typology is presented. Third, descriptions of the lithic collections from the project sites are provided. The chapter closes with discussion and conclusions. Detailed analytic methods are provided in appendixes. Specific attributes and definitions are provided in Appendix M....

DOCUMENT Full-Text Arthur W. Vokes. Kellie M. Cairns. Steven D. Shelley.

Volume 3, Part 3 continues the presentation of the material culture analysis recovered from Pre-Classic and Classic period sites investigated during the LVAP. Chapter 8 describes the shell artifacts collected from archaeological sites and activity areas in the project area. The Lower Verde Archaeological Project excavations produced a shell collection of 1,280 pieces from eight sites. It is estimated that this represents approximately 635 individual artifacts and unworked fragments or whole...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Marcia H. Regan. Christy G. Turner II.

Volume 3, Part 4 of the LVAP report discusses the mortuary remains encountered during the project's investigations. Chapter 10 describes the human skeletal and dental remains uncovered during data recovery efforts at three archaeological sites: Roadhouse Ruin (AZ U:2:73/167), Scorpion Point Village (AZ U:2:80/819), and CTC site (AZ U:2:95/1134). The chapter treats both inhumations and cremations. Note that the chapter does not describe mortuary features or burial treatment.

DOCUMENT Full-Text Stephanie M. Whittlesey. Richard Ciolek-Torello.

Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the synthesis of the Lower Verde Archaeological Project. Whittlesey and Ciolek-Torello describe the project's environmental context, with a focus on the Verde River and its surrounding landscape. They also offer a brief introduction to the people who inhabited and used this landscape. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the research themes that guided archaeological data recovery and interpretation of the lower Verde River area.

DOCUMENT Full-Text Stephanie M. Whittlesey.

In chapter 2, Whittlesey discusses some of the intellectual history of landscape theory and defines a landscape approach. She then considers the definition of archaeological landscapes. Finally, she discusses the utility of archaeological landscapes for interpreting both the prehistory and history of an area.

DOCUMENT Full-Text Stephanie M. Whittlesey.

In Chapter 3, Whittlesey provides a description of the current state of the Verde River and discusses the history of intensive landscape modifications to the Verde and other rivers in central and southern Arizona (including the Salt, Gila, Colorado, Little Colorado, San Pedro, and Santa Cruz) . She first reviews archaeological and documentary evidence for changes to Arizona's riverine environments in both the prehistoric and historic periods. She focuses on accounts from the Spanish Colonial...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Stephanie M. Whittlesey.

In Chapter 4, Whittlesey presents a thorough summary of archaeological research and intellectual history in central Arizona. The author's goal is to situate the LVAP research in the context of central Arizona archaeology. Whittlesey provides histories of the research that has been conducted in the Verde drainage, the Tonto Basin, the Agua Fria drainage, and the Phoenix Basin. She concludes with a summary of the research trajectories and the different explanatory models applied to central...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Stephanie M. Whittlesey. Su Benaron.

In Chapter 5, Whittlesey and Benaron provide a synthesis of the ethnohistoric data and archaeological evidence for Yavapai and Western occupation of central Arizona. The authors summarize available information on Yavapai and Apache domestic remains and material culture to assist identification in the archaeological record. They also describe subsistence and land use patterns.

DOCUMENT Full-Text Stephanie M. Whittlesey. WIlliam L. Deaver.

This chapter reviews archaeological evidence for Yavapai and Western Apache occupation of central Arizona. Whittlesey begins with a description of the only site – Site 66//1157 -- in the LVAP project area to present clearly identified Yavapai or Western Apache material culture. She also discusses the archaeological data from the Yavapai construction camps at Bartlett and Horseshoe Dams. Whittlesey then provides an overview of archaeological evidence for Yavapai and for Western Apache archaeology...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Alan Ferg. Norm Tessman.

Chapter 7 documents two previously unpublished events that have figured prominently in Yavapai and Western Apache archaeology in central Arizona. First, Ferg details the Goodwin and Sayles 1937 Verde Survey. He argues that this three-day trip into the Verde Valley in the fall of 1937 marks the beginnings of ethnoarchaeological studies of the Western Apache. He provides thorough descriptions of all the sites located during the survey in an effort to differentiate Yavapai and Western Apache...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Stephanie M. Whittlesey. Terresita Majewski. John R. Welch. Matthew C. Bischoff. Richard Ciolek-Torello.

In Chapter 8, Whittlesey and her co-authors discuss the historical events and the cultural processes that shaped the use and occupation of central Arizona after AD 1540. The authors focus on broad trends in politics, economics, and the environment that contributed to changes in land-use patterns. They center their discussion on Euro-American populations, but also consider indigenous populations living on reservations. Furthermore, the authors examine patterns in the relations between...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Carla R. Van West. Jeffrey Altschul.

In Chapter 9, Van West and Altshcul examine late prehistoric period agriculture in the Transition Zone of central Arizona, and consider how agricultural production influenced population zone in this area. They begin with a description of the Transition Zone’s environmental context. They then present evidence for prehistoric agriculture in the LVAP project area. These authors use these data to model potential agricultural productivity in Horseshoe Basin. Next, they model the population sizes on...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Barbara Montgomery. Stephanie M. Whittlesey.

Chapter 10 presents results from a ceramic seriation of undecorated pottery to identify temporally-sensitive attributes. Montogomery and Whittlesey describe their analysis of particular undecorated pottery attributes, which were selected based on their potential sensitivity to temporal change. They identify several attributes that are particularly sensitive to time: temper, slip, and polish. They also note several other variables that display slight variation through time. These authors propose...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Stephanie M. Whittlesey.

In Chapter 11, Whittlesey describes the production and distribution of prehistoric ceramics in the lower Verde Valley. She then compares these patterns to similar data from the Agua Fria drainage and the Tonto Basin. Finally, she suggests that production and distribution patterns of ceramics in central Arizona may be better explained with a ceramic environment approach, which highlights the relationships between the landscape and the human use of resources. Whittlesey’s proposed approach centers...

DOCUMENT Full-Text WIlliam L. Deaver.

In Chapter 12, Deaver summarizes research on the chronology of archaeological sites, features, and material remains in the LVAP project area. He begins with a synthetic discussion of the chronologic sequence in the Verde Valley area. He then presents data for the chronologic assignment of archaeological features and sites investigated during the LVAP. Next, Deaver discusses a comparison of the chronologic sequence in the Verde Valley to the sequence in the Hohokam core area in order to evaluate...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Eric Klucas. Richard Ciolek-Torello. Charles R. Riggs.

Chapter 13 addresses changes in social organization from the pre-Classic to Classic periods in the lower Verde Valley through an examination of changes in domestic space. First, Klucas and co-authors identify the nature (i.e., composition, arrangement, size) of the domestic residential units that occupied the prehistoric settlements. They then examine differences in these variables between different settlements (e.g., between large settlements and small farmsteads) and across time periods. These...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Richard Ciolek-Torello.

In Chapter 14, Ciolek-Torello presents one of the first full syntheses of indigenous settlement and demographic patterns in the Verde Valley, without reference to interaction in the Hohokam core area. He begins with a summary of prehistoric settlement patterns from pre-ceramic periods through the Late Classic period across the entire Transition Zone of central Arizona. He then characterizes settlement systems in the lower Verde Valley through time and describes the archaeological sites and...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Stephanie M. Whittlesey.

In Chapter 15, Whittlesey reviews the Hohokam core-periphery model in light of the new data generated by the LVAP. She begins with a description of the intellectual history and the key concepts of the Hohokam core-periphery model and the Hohokam regional system model. She then examines the utility of the core-periphery model for explaining current data on Hohokam prehistory. After reviewing the distribution of several quintessential Hohokam traits among sites in the “core” and in the...

DOCUMENT Full-Text J. Jefferson Reid.

In Chapter 16, Reid considers the impact that a return to questions about migration, population movement, and ethnic identity has on the interpretation of Arizona’s prehistory. He begins with an intellectual history of migration research in the Southwest, and offers perspective on the strength of making inferences about migration with archaeological data. He uses the arguments for migration at Grasshopper as an example of building such inferences. Reid then advances into a discussion of...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Jeffrey Altschul.

Chapter 17 highlights the full scope of the LVAP as a big project and places it in the context of other big archaeological projects. Altschul begins with historical sketches over other large archaeological projects, ranging from WPA efforts to the River Basin Surveys to large NSF-funded research. He then provides a history of the LVAP to illustrate how a large CRM-based project is conducted. He concludes with a discussion of four components that he defines as critical to the ultimate success of...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Richard Ciolek-Torello. Stephanie M. Whittlesey.

Chapter 18 provides a summary of the LVAP’s research themes and offers an overview of the research results. Ciolek-Torello synthesizes the chronology and cultural sequence of the lower Verde Valley. He places this sequence and its cultural developments in the context of other cultural sequences in central and southern Arizona. Whittlesey then summarizes the argument for an indigenous cultural tradition in the Transition Zone of central Arizona, one with roots in Mogollon prehistory and with...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Stephanie M. Whittlesey.

Chapter 19 summarizes and compares the prehistoric, historic-period Yavapai and Western Apaches, and Euroamerican landscapes. Whittlesey considers the land-based units (i.e., domestic space, food production spaces, ritual spaces) that define interaction with the landscape during each of these cultural historical periods and attempts to identify landmarks associated with these units. She focuses on the following units: territorial boundaries, agricultural landscapes, procurement spaces, dwelling...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Jeffrey Altschul. Stephanie M. Whittlesey. Richard Ciolek-Torello.

Chapter 20 provides a brief retrospective of the LVAP. Altschul and the other authors discuss changes to the archaeological data recovery efforts and re-orientation of theoretical perspectives that took place over the six years of the project. They conclude with an overview of the project’s results and its implications for the prehistory and history of the Southwest.

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This document contains the references cited for the Lower Verde Archaeological Project summary volume. It also provides a list of contributors and a brief summary of Statiscal Research, Inc. and its mission.

DOCUMENT Full-Text Barbara K.. Montgomery. Stephanie M. Whittlesey.

This report presents the results of an experimental study of ceramics from the Lower Verde Archaeological Project (LVAP) designed to test the effectiveness of inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy (ICPS) as a tool for sourcing the locale of ceramic manufacture. A major theme of LVAP research was to explore the parameters of human interaction and exchange within the lower Verde region and adjacent areas of desert Arizona (Ciolek-Torrello et al. 1992). It is necessary to understand...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Henry D. Wallace.

This report is focused on the rock art present at a small ridge top agricultural locality in the lower Verde Valley near Horseshoe Dam known as the Crash Landing site, AZ U:2:78/01-278. Four boulders that exhibited over 24 petroglyph design elements were found at this site, as well as numerous other cultural features including a two-room isolated masonry field house and a large agricultural complex with rock piles, contour terraces, and boundary walls. The research design for the Lower...

DOCUMENT Full-Text James M. Heidke. Diana C. Kamilli. Elizabeth Miksa.

The goal of the present study is to identify the provenance of ceramics recovered from the Lower Verde Archaeological Project (LVAP) sites on the basis of the temper found within them (Ciolek-Torrello et al. 1992:III-75 to III-85). The focus of this attached report is on sand temper used in pottery vessels. Ceramic wares and/or types produced within the study area are distinguished from those imported from other areas. A reconnaissance sample of wash sands from the lower Verde River area was...