Recent Test Excavations at an Early Agricultural Period Cerro de Trincheras Site on the Upper Gila River, Arizona

Summary

Investigations on a cerro de trincheras site overlooking the Gila River were conducted in 2014. The Round Mountain site tentatively dates to the Early Agricultural period (2100 B.C.-A.D. 100). The 6 ha expanse of the site includes 1.9 km of constructed walls and terraces. The remains of 16 houses are defined by a constellation of rock rings in the central part of the site. Projectile points include five Tularosa corner-notched points. This style of point is associated with both Early Agricultural period and Pithouse period occupations. Other surface artifacts include 63 metates, and are largely basin and slab forms, as well as 14 complete one-hand manos. In addition two stone pipes and a rectangular stone mortar or tray were also found on the surface. This ground stone assemblage is consistent with that seen in other Early Agricultural period contexts. Early Agricultural period cerro de trincheras sites have been documented in the Rio Casas Grandes in northwestern Chihuahua and along the San Pedro River in the Tucson Basin where they are associated with the spread and adoption of maize agriculture. The Round Mountain site on the Upper Gila extends this phenomenon to a third major river valley in the Greater Southwest.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Recent Archaeological Research in the Upper Gila   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage