The Eastern Mining Area 115 kV Transmission Line Survey: Archaeological Resources in the Salt-Gila Uplands of Central Arizona

Author(s): Thomas N. Motsinger; Heidi Roberts; Richard V. N. Ahlstrom

Year: 1996

Summary

SWCA Inc, Environmental Consultants of Tucson, Arizona, conducted Eastern Mining Area (EMA) survey project under contract to Salt River Project (SRP) between October 1993 and February 1994. One central purpose of the project was to create an inventory of archaeological resources to assist in the planning of future improvements and other modifications to existing SRP transmission lines. The project included 107 person-field days of Class III archaeological survey along approximately 257 linear miles of existing 115 kV transmission lines and 92 linear miles of existing and proposed access roads in Pinal and Gila counties, Arizona. The survey crossed lands owned and/or administered by the Mesa, Globe, and Tonto Basin Ranger Districts of the Tonto National Forest; the Bureau of Land Management; the Arizona State Land Department; the Bureau of Reclamation; the National Park Service; the Department of Defense; the Gila River Indian Community; and private land owners.

The initial field survey was conducted between November 1 and December 10, 1993 and subsequent reconnaissance visits were made through March 1996 to address particular issues. The survey resulted in the recording of 81 new archaeological sites and the reevaluation of 40 previously recorded sites. The 121 sites within the transmission line rights-of-way include Archaic lithic scatters and possible Archaic roasting pits; Hohokam and Salado field houses, farmsteads, hamlets, villages, compound pueblos, rockshelters, agricultural sites, canals, ambiguous sherd and lithic scatters, and resource procurement and processing sites; Yavapai and Apache wikiup encampments, and historic Euroamerican townsites, habitations, dumps, trash scatters, and rockshelter encampments.

A second purpose of the project was to access the cultural context of the sites by conducting an exhaustive review of existing records of archaeological sites and survey projects within a two-mile-wide corridor centered on the targeted transmission lines. This archival component resulted in the documentation of over 100 previous survey projects and over 850 archaeological sites distributed along this corridor.

The report includes a chapter introducing the background of the project, the environmental setting of the project area, the chronological sequences applicable to the project, and field methods used (Chapter 1); a chapter detailing the methods and results of the archival component of the project (Chapter 2); a chapter describing the archaeological resources found along the right-of-way by this and previous projects (Chapter 3); and a chapter that synthesizes the project data into the existing archaeological models that prevail in the culture areas evaluated and evaluates the project sites’ eligibility for inclusion on the National Register of Historic places and the potential impacts of various transmission line maintenance and modification activities on the sites (Chapter 4). Two appendices present abbreviated versions of the archival data bases on archaeological sites and previous survey project located within the two-mile-wide corridor that was evaluated.

Includes errata sheet at the beginning of the document.

Cite this Record

The Eastern Mining Area 115 kV Transmission Line Survey: Archaeological Resources in the Salt-Gila Uplands of Central Arizona. Thomas N. Motsinger, Heidi Roberts, Richard V. N. Ahlstrom. 1996 ( tDAR id: 428070) ; doi:10.6067/XCV8428070

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Keywords

Culture
Archaic • Euroamerican • Historic • Hohokam • Salado • Yavapai/Apache

Material
Building Materials • Ceramic • Chipped Stone • Glass • Ground Stone • Metal • Wood

Site Name
AZ AA:2:2 (ASM) • AZ U:10:49 • AZ U:10:50 • AZ U:11:2 (BLM) • AZ U:11:37 • AZ U:11:38 • AZ U:11:4 • A Z U:11:65 • AZ U:11:66 (ASM) • AZ U:11:67 (ASM) • AZ U:11:68 (ASM) • AZ U:12:57 • AZ U:12:74 (ASM) • AZ U:12:75 (ASM • AZ U:12:76 (ASM) • AZ U:12:77 (ASM) • AZ U:12:78 (ASM) • AZ U:12:79 (ASM) • AZ U:12:80 (ASM) • AZ U:12:81(ASM) • AZ U:12:82 (ASM) • AZ U:12:83 (ASM) • AZ U:12:84 (ASM) • AZ U:12:85 (ASM) • AZ U:12:86 • AZ U:14:112 (ASM) • AZ U:14:113 (ASM) • AZ U:15:127 (ASM) • AZ U:15:237 (ASM) • AZ U:15:238 (ASM) • AZ U:15:239 (ASM) • AZ U:15:240 (ASM) • AZ U:15:241 (ASM) • AZ U:15:242 (ASM) • AZ U:15:243 (ASM) • AZ U:15:244(ASM) • AZ U:15:245 (ASM) • AZ U:15:246 (ASM) • AZ U:15:335 (ASM) • AZ U:15:46 (ASM) • AZ U:16:248 (ASM) • AZ U:16:249 (ASM) • AZ U:16:250 • AZ U:16:251 (ASM) • AZ U:16:252 (ASM) • AZ U:7:12 (ASM) • AZ U:7:15 (ASM) • AZ U:7:26 (ASM) • AZ U:7:27 (ASM) • AZ U:7:28 (ASM) • AZ U:7:29 (ASM) • AZ U:7:30 (ASM) • AZ U:7:31 (ASM) • AZ U:7:32 (ASM) • AZ U:7:33 (ASM) • AZ U:7:34 (ASM) • AZ U:7:36 (ASM) • AZ U:7:4 (ASM) • AZ U:7:40 (ASM) • AZ U:7:52 (ASM) • AZ U:7:7 (ASM) • AZ U:8:101(ASU) • AZ U:8:105(ASU) • AZ U:8:142 (ASM) • AZ U:8:143 (ASM) • AZ U:8:145 (ASM) • AZ U:8:172 (ASM) • AZ U:8:593 (ASM) • AZ U:8:594 (ASM) • AZ U:8:595 (ASM) • AZ U:8:81 (ASM) • AZ V:13:132 • AZ V:13:142 • AZ V:13:144 (ASM) • AZ V:13:145 (ASM) • AZ V:13:146 (ASM) • AZ V:13:147 (ASM) • AZ V:13:148 (ASM) • AZ V:13:149 (ASM) • AZ V:13:150 (ASM) • AZ V:13:151 (ASM) • AZ V:13:152 (ASM) • AZ V:13:153 (ASM) • AZ V:13:154 (ASM) • AZ V:13:155 (ASM) • AZ V:13:156 (ASM) • AZ V:13:157 (ASM) • AZ V:13:158 (ASM) • AZ V:13:159 (ASM) • AZ V:13:160 (ASM) • AZ V:13:161 (ASM) • AZ V:13:162 (ASM) • AZ V:13:18 • AZ V:13:27 (ASM) • AZ V:13:28 (ASM) • AZ V:13:50 (ASM) • AZ V:13:51 (ASM) • AZ V:5:193 • AZ V:5:194 • AZ V:5:198(ASM) • AZ V:9:177 • AZ V:9:316 (ASM) • AZ V:9:317 (ASM) • AZ V:9:318 (ASM) • AZ V:9:319 (ASM) • AZ V:9:320 (ASM) • AZ V:9:321 (ASM) • AZ V:9:322 (ASM) • AZ V:9:323 (ASM) • AZ V:9:324 (ASM) • AZ V:9:325 (ASM) • AZ V:9:365 (ASM) Show More

Site Type
Archaeological Feature • Artifact Scatter • Canal or Canal Feature • Cemetery • Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex • Domestic Structures • Encampment • Funerary and Burial Structures or Features • Hamlet / Village • Midden • Mine • Mine-Related Structures • Resource Extraction / Production / Transportation Structure or Features • Rock Art • Rock Shelter • Room Block / Compound / Pueblo • Settlements • Trash Midden

Investigation Types
Heritage Management • Historic Background Research • Records Search / Inventory Checking • Systematic Survey

General
115 kV Transmission Line • Salt River Project • SRP

Geographic Keywords
Arizona (State / Territory) • Central Arizona • Dripping Springs Mountains • Pinal Creek • Pinal Mountains • Salt-Gila Basin • Sonoran Desert • Superstition Mountains • Tonto Basin • Tortilla Mountains

Temporal Keywords
Archaic • Historic

Spatial Coverage

min long: -111.65; min lat: 33.236 ; max long: -110.79; max lat: 33.66 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Salt River Project Cultural Resource Manager

Contributor(s): Vern Hensler

Field Director(s): Thomas N. Motsinger

Principal Investigator(s): Richard V. N. Ahlstrom

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

Prepared By(s): SWCA Environmental Consultants

Submitted To(s): Salt River Project

Record Identifiers

BLM Permit No.(s): AZ-000001

TNF Permit No.(s): 4306-02

GRIC Archaeological License No.(s): AL-02-94

Arizona State Museum Permit No.(s): 93-16

File Information

  Name Size Creation Date Date Uploaded Access
1996_MotsingerRobertsAhlstrom_EasternMining_OCR_PDFA_Redacted.pdf 43.98mb Oct 20, 2021 9:21:36 AM Public
This file is a redacted copy.
1996_MotsingerRobertsAhlstrom_EasternMining_OCR.pdf 31.85mb May 1, 1996 Apr 11, 2017 8:58:23 AM Confidential
This file is unredacted.

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Contact(s): Salt River Project Cultural Resource Manager

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