Archaeological Investigations of Portions of the Las Acequias-Los Muertos Irrigation System: Testing and Partial Data Recovery within the Tempe Section of the Outer Loop Freeway System, Maricopa County, Arizona

Author(s): W. Bruce Masse

Year: 1987

Summary

During the period between 27 August and 21 November 1986, the Cultural Resources Management Division (CRMD) of the Arizona State Museum (ASM) conducted a seven-week long program of archaeological testing and data recovery within the Tempe Section of the proposed Outer Loop Freeway System (TSOLFS) corridor in Maricopa County. This program was coordinated through DeLeuw, Cather and Company, consultants to the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) under ADOT Contract 85-14. Archaeological work was conducted under Arizona Antiquity Permit 86-83. The majority of archaeological features documented in the project corridor are associated with the Las Acequias-Los Muertos irrigation system, the largest single irrigation system known from Precolumbian North America. These features, which appear to date from the Hohokam late Colonial through Classic periods (about A.D. 800 to 1400), include numerous canals, field houses, and probable field locations. We were able to document segments of at least 29 prehistoric canals and 1 historic canal, by far the largest sample of Hohokam canals studied within the framework of a single project.

Cite this Record

Archaeological Investigations of Portions of the Las Acequias-Los Muertos Irrigation System: Testing and Partial Data Recovery within the Tempe Section of the Outer Loop Freeway System, Maricopa County, Arizona. W. Bruce Masse. Arizona State Museum Archaeological Series ,176. Tucson, AZ: Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona. 1987 ( tDAR id: 427187) ; doi:10.6067/XCV8427187

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Keywords

Culture
Hohokam

Material
Bird bone • Bos taurus • Casa Grande Red-on-Buffware • Ceramic • Charcoal • Chipped Stone • Equus caballus • Fauna • Ground Stone • Human Remains • Macrobotanical • Mammal Bone • Marine Shell • Metal • Plainware • Redware • Sacaton Red-on-Buffware • Salt Redware • Santa Cruz Red-on-Buffware • Shell • Snaketown Red-on-Buffware

Site Name
AZ U:9:68 • AZ U:9:68 (ASM) • AZ U:9:69 • AZ U:9:69 (ASM) • AZ U:9:70 (ASM) • AZ U:9:71(ASM) • La Cuenca del Sedimento

Site Type
Agricultural or Herding • Archaeological Feature • Canal Alignment • Canal Lateral • Canal or Canal Feature • Domestic Structures • Field House • Funerary and Burial Structures or Features • Inhumation burial • Pit • Post Hole / Post Mold • Refuse Pit • Resource Extraction / Production / Transportation Structure or Features • Roasting Pit / Oven / Horno

Investigation Types
Archaeological Overview • Data Recovery / Excavation • Site Evaluation / Testing

Geographic Keywords
Arizona (State / Territory) • Maricopa (County) • Phoenix Basin • Tempe, AZ

Temporal Keywords
Hohokam Classic period • Hohokam Late Colonial Period

Spatial Coverage

min long: -111.926; min lat: 33.387 ; max long: -111.891; max lat: 33.436 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Salt River Project Cultural Resource Manager

Contributor(s): DeLeuw, Cather and Company; W. Bruce Masse; Ronald Gardiner; Carl D. Halbirt; James Lombard; Robert W. Layhe; Gary Huckleberry; Suzanne K. Fish; Charles Miksicek; Arthur W. Vokes; Charles Sternberg

Prepared By(s): Arizona State Museum, Cultural Resource Management Section

Submitted To(s): Arizona Department of Transportation

Record Identifiers

ADOT Contract(s): 85-14

Arizona Antiquity Permit(s): 86-83

File Information

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1987_Masse_ArchaeologicalInvestigations_OCR_PDFA_Redacted.pdf 163.48mb Sep 30, 2021 3:54:10 PM Public
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Contact(s): Salt River Project Cultural Resource Manager

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