Material Cultures and Lifeways of Early Agricultural Communities in Southern Arizona

Summary

This publication is one in a set of four related volumes. Its chapters summarize analyses of samples of material culture documented, or recovered, during recent excavations at two Early Agricultural period sites buried in the floodplain of the Santa Cruz River in southern Arizona: (1) Las Capas (AZ AA:12:111 [ASM]), occupied during the San Pedro phase (circa 1200-800 B.C.); and (2) Los Pozos (AZ AA:12:91 [ASM]), occupied during the Late Cienega phase (circa 400 B.C.-A.D. 50). With funding from the Arizona Department of Transportation, portions of these sites were excavated prior to construction work in the right-of-way of Interstate 10 through the city of Tucson.

The description of Las Capas —including its stratigraphy and spatial structure, excavation methods, canals and other features, artifact distributions, and dating —is published as a separate volume (Mabry 2005; see also the report of subsequent excavations in other areas of this site by Lascaux and Hesse 2001). A description of the most recent excavations at Los Pozos will also be published separately (Gregory et al. 2005). The findings of earlier excavations at Los Pozos are reported in two previous volumes (Gregory, ed. 1999, 2001). Finally, the third volume in this set contains studies of resource uses and subsistence strategies by early farmers at Las Capas, Los Pozos, and at other sites in the region (Diehl, ed. 2004).

The recent investigations at Las Capas and Los Pozos followed closely after several excavations at early farming sites in the middle Santa Cruz Valley; consequently, the studies in the third and fourth volumes are comparative and synthetic to summarize the current state of knowledge and research directions for the Late Archaic/Early Agricultural period in the region. For this reason, the authors in these volumes compare the Las Capas and Los Pozos assemblages with those from several other excavated early farming sites in southern Arizona (see Table 1.2, this volume). The primary artifact analysis data is published elsewhere (Adams 2005; Heidke 2005; Sliva 2005; Waters 2005). Several themes and topics connecting the studies herein are discussed in Chapter 1 (this volume).

The reader will note that two important aspects of material culture —architecture and agricultural features — are not treated in this volume. Variability and changes in architecture during the Late Archaic/Early Agricultural period have been explored in detail by previous studies (Gregory 2001a, 2001b; Gregory and Huckell 1998; Mabry 1998c), although significant new information from several sites has recently become available (Gage et al. 2000; Lascaux and Hesse 2001; Mabry n.d.; Stevens 2002). Canals and other agricultural features built by early farmers are treated elsewhere in this related set of volumes (Mabry 2003, 2004, 2005).

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Salt River Project Digital Library

Keywords

Temporal Coverage

Calendar Date: -1200 to -800 (Las Capas Occupational Period)

Calendar Date: -400 to 50 (Los Pozos Occupational Period)

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Salt River Project Cultural Resource Manager

Contributor(s): Jenny L. Adams; Janet L. Griffitts; James M. Heidke; Jonathan B. Mabry; Christopher I. Roos; R. Jane Sliva; Susan L. Stinson; Arthur W. Vokes; Jennifer A. Waters; Helga Wocherl

Prepared By(s): Desert Archaeology Inc.

Submitted To(s): Arizona Department of Transportation Environmental and Enhancement Group Phoenix, Arizona

Record Identifiers

Salt River Project Library Barcode No.(s): 00090905

Contract No. (s): 94-46; 97-03

TRACS No.(s): H308801D; H380601D

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