Archaeological Testing of the East Papago Freeway Corridor from 52nd Street, Phoenix, to College Avenue, Tempe, Arizona

Summary

Test excavations were performed in the corridor of the East Papago Freeway between November 15 and December 19, 1988. The project area extends from the 52nd Street alignment at Washington Street to College Avenue and is divided into three segments: 52nd to 56th streets, 56th Street to Mill Avenue, and Mill Avenue to College Avenue. The project area is approximately 3 km in length and is located almost entirely within the active geological floodplain of the Salt River on low terraces north of the modern channel. It is conventional wisdom that a braided stream floodplain like that of the Salt River is not a good location for containing high integrity cultural resources. This is due to the high frequency and erosive nature of flooding. Historic records indicate that the Salt River has flooded the project area at least in 1891, 1905, 1916, 1920, 1938, 1978, and 1980 (see Bales et al. 1986; Graf 1983). Thus it was expected prior to test excavations that recent flood sediments would dominate the stratigraphy. However, it was not known if older, buried prehistoric surfaces would be preserved. Given the nature of the project area, archaeological testing was designed not only to locate possible cultural resources but also to expose Salt River stratigraphy for purposes of learning more about Salt River stream behavior (Cable 1988:216-219).

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Salt River Project Digital Library

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Salt River Project Cultural Resource Manager

Principal Investigator(s): Cory Dale Breternitz

Repository(s): Salt River Project, Tempe, AZ

Prepared By(s): Soil Systems, Inc.

Submitted To(s): Arizona Department of Transportation, Environmental Planning Group

Record Identifiers

SRP Library Call No.(s): E99.P37H94 1989

SRP Library Barcode No.(s): 00090545

Contract No.(s): 87-53

ASM Permit No.(s): 87-55

Soil Systems Technical Reports(s): 89-8

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