Trails, Rock Features, and Homesteading in the Gila Bend Area: A Report on the State Route 85, Gila Bend to Buckeye Archaeological Project

Editor(s): John L. Czarzasty; Kathleen Peterson; Glen E. Rice; J. Andrew Darling

Year: 2008

Summary

The Arizona Department of Transportation plans to widen State Route 85 to a four-lane freeway in the area between Buckeye and Gila Bend. This report presents the results of archaeological data recovery investigations conducted along State Route (SR) 85 for the Arizona Department of Transportation (Contract No. 02-59) by a research team assembled by the Office of Cultural Resource Management, Department of Anthropology at Arizona State University. The Area of Potential Effect (APE) was located between mileposts 121 and 147 on State Route 85 between the towns of Gila Bend to the south and Buckeye to the north. The Gila River Indian Community (CRMP) provided technical assistance on Traditional Cultural Property (TCP) and treatment, particularly trails, funded in part by the Pima-Maricopa Irrigation Project (P-MIP) and a National Park Service grant to support TCP inventory. The project consisted of the investigation of six sites, five of which were prehistoric and one that was historic. The project area is southwest of the Phoenix metropolitan area.

The historic site (T: 14:96) was a Depression era African-American homestead occupied during the 1930s. For the five prehistoric sites, the results of the investigations were that three of the sites (T: 14:113, T:14:94, T:14:92) contained rock cairns and rock circles associated with trails, one site (Z:2:46) was a roasting pit very likely associated with ak chin agricultural fields dating to the Pioneer Period, and the remaining prehistoric site (T: 10:86) was an area of irrigated agricultural fields on the terrace of the Gila River. The trails in the project area were generally oriented east-west, and could have been used by occupants from settlements west of the project area along the Gila River for procurement trips to the bajada and the Maricopa Mountains for lithic and food resources. Some of the trails also provided direct routes to other settlements on the upper portions of the Gila River.

Among the five investigated prehistoric sites, exclusively Hohokam wares were found at one site (T:10:86 [ASM]), exclusively Patayan wares were found at one site (T: 14:113 [ASM]), and a mixture of both wares was found at two sites (T:14:92 [ASM], T:14:94 [ASM]). No ceramics were recovered from Z:2:46 (ASM). Prehistoric occupation at the location of the historic site was not investigated. It appears that members of both Hohokam and Patayan cultural systems were present in the project area. An alternate explanation for the artifact distribution is movement of Patayan wares into the Hohokam area as a result of exchange.

This is a revised report of the original dated September 15, 2003.

Cite this Record

Trails, Rock Features, and Homesteading in the Gila Bend Area: A Report on the State Route 85, Gila Bend to Buckeye Archaeological Project. John L. Czarzasty, Kathleen Peterson, Glen E. Rice, J. Andrew Darling. 2008 ( tDAR id: 428086) ; doi:10.6067/XCV8428086

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

Keywords

Culture
African American • Historic • Hohokam • Patayan

Material
Building Materials • Ceramic • Chipped Stone • Fire Cracked Rock • Glass • Macrobotanical • Metal • Pollen • Shell • Wood

Site Name
AZ T:10:1 (BLM) • AZ T:10:128 (ASM) • AZ T:10:129 (ASM) • AZ T:10:130 (ASM) • AZ T:10:131(ASM) • AZ T:10:184 (ASM) • AZ T:10:186 (ASM) • AZ T:10:187 (ASM) • AZ T:10:21 (ASU) • AZ T:10:22 (ASU) • AZ T:10:23 (ASU) • AZ T:10:24 (ASU) • AZ T:10:25 (ASU) • AZ T:10:27 (ASU) • AZ T:10:28 (ASU) • AZ T:10:31 (ASU) • AZ T:10:34 (ASU) • AZ T:10:36 (ASU) • AZ T:10:38 (ASM) • AZ T:10:40 (ASM) • AZ T:10:41 (ASU) • AZ T:10:42 (ASU) • AZ T:10:43 (ASM) • AZ T:10:43 (ASU) • AZ T:10:44 (ASM) • AZ T:10:45 (ASU) • AZ T:10:46 (ASM) • AZ T:10:48 (ASM) • AZ T:10:53 (ASM) • AZ T:10:54 (ASM) • AZ T:10:57 (ASM) • AZ T:10:58 (ASM) • AZ T:10:6 (ASU) • AZ T:10:73 (ASM) • AZ T:10:74 (ASM) • AZ T:10:75 (ASM) • AZ T:10:76 (ASM) • AZ T:10:77 (ASM) • AZ T:10:79 (ASM) • AZ T:10:85 (ASM) • AZ T:10:86 (ASM) • AZ T: 10:86 (ASM) • AZ T:10:87 (ASM) • AZ T:10:88 (ASM) • AZ T:13:10 (ASM) • AZ T:13:11 (ASM) • AZ T:13:120 (ASM) • AZ T:13:121 (ASM) • AZ T:13:18 (ASM) • AZ T:13:21 (ASM) • AZ T:13:30 (ASM) • AZ T:13:34 (ASM) • AZ T:13:35 (ASM) • AZ T:13:36 (ASM) • AZ T:13:38 (ASM) • AZ T:13:42 (ASM) • AZ T:13:43 (ASM) • AZ T:13:44 (ASM) • AZ T:13:45 (ASM) • AZ T:13:46 (ASM) • AZ T:13:47 (ASM) • AZ T:13:48 (ASM) • AZ T:13:49 (ASM) • AZ T:13:53 (ASM) • AZ T:13:69 (ASM) • AZ T:13:8 (ASM) • AZ T:13:9 (ASM) • AZ T:14:1 (BLM) • AZ T:14:10 (BLM) • AZ T:14:11 (ASM) • AZ T:14:11 (BLM) • AZ T:14:113 (ASM) • AZ T: 14:113 (ASM) • AZ T:14:114 (ASM) • AZ T:14:115 (ASM) • AZ T:14:116 (ASM) • AZ T:14:117 (ASM) • AZ T:14:118 (ASM) • AZ T:14:12 (ASM) • AZ T:14:12 (BLM) • AZ T:14:124 (ASM) • AZ T:14:125 (ASM) • AZ T:14:130 (ASM) • AZ T:14:132 (ASM) • AZ T:14:14 (ASM) • AZ T:14:15 (ASM) • AZ T:14:15 (BLM) • AZ T:14:16 (ASM) • AZ T:14:17 (ASM) • AZ T:14:19 (ASM) • AZ T:14:23 (ASM) • AZ T:14:24 (ASM) • AZ T:14:26 (ASM) • AZ T:14:28 (ASM) • AZ T:14:3 (BLM) • AZ T:14:32 (ASM) • AZ T:14:39 (ASM) • AZ T:14:4 (BLM) • AZ T:14:41 (ASM) • AZ T:14:42 (ASM) • AZ T:14:43 (ASM) • AZ T:14:44 (ASM) • AZ T:14:5 (BLM) • AZ T:14:5 (MNA) • AZ T:14:52 (ASM) • AZ T:14:59 (ASM) • AZ T:14:6 (BLM) • AZ T:14:61 (ASM) • AZ T:14:62 (ASM) • AZ T:14:63 (ASM) • AZ T:14:64 (ASM) • AZ T:14:66 (ASM) • AZ T:14:67 (ASM) • AZ T:14:68 (ASM) • AZ T:14:69 (ASM) • AZ T:14:7 (BLM) • AZ T:14:70 (ASM) • AZ T:14:71 (ASM) • AZ T:14:72 (ASM) • AZ T:14:73 (ASM) • AZ T:14:74 (ASM) • AZ T:14:75 (ASM) • AZ T:14:76 (ASM) • AZ T:14:78 (ASM) • AZ T:14:79 (ASM) • AZ T:14:8 (BLM) • AZ T:14:80 (ASM) • AZ T:14:81 (ASM) • AZ T:14:82 (ASM) • AZ T:14:83 (ASM) • AZ T:14:84 (ASM) • AZ T:14:85 (ASM) • AZ T:14:86 (ASM) • AZ T:14:87 (ASM) • AZ T:14:88 (ASM) • AZ T:14:89 (ASM) • AZ T:14:9 (BLM) • AZ T:14:90 (ASM) • AZ T:14:91 (ASM) • AZ T:14:92 (ASM) • AZ T: 14:92 (ASM) • AZ T:14:93 (ASM) • AZ T:14:94 (ASM) • AZ T: 14:94 (ASM) • AZ T:14:95 (ASM) • AZT: 14:96 (ASM) • AZ T:14:97 (ASM) • AZ T:15:6 (ASM) • AZ T:9:3 (ASU) • AZ Z:1:11 (ASM) • AZ Z:1:20 (ASM) • AZ Z:1:29 (ASM) • AZ Z:1:30 (ASM) • AZ Z:1:31 (ASM) • AZ Z:1:7 (ASM) • AZ Z:1:8 (ASM) • AZ Z:2:1 (ASM) • AZ Z:2:1 (ASU) • AZ Z:2:10 (ASM) • AZ Z:2:2 (ASM) • AZ Z:2:2 (BLM) • AZ Z:2:3 (BLM) • AZ Z:2:36 (ASM) • AZ Z:2:38 (ASM) • AZ Z:2:39 (ASM) • AZ Z:2:41 (ASM) • AZ Z:2:42 (ASM) • AZ Z:2:44 (ASM) • AZ Z:2:45 (ASM) • AZ Z:2:46 (ASM) • AZ Z:2:47 (ASM) • AZ Z:2:48 (ASM) • AZ Z:2:49 (ASM) • AZ Z:2:5 (ASM) • AZ Z:2:50 (ASM) • AZ Z:2:51 (ASM) • AZ Z:2:52 (ASM) • AZ Z:2:53 (ASM) • AZ Z:2:54 (ASM) • AZ Z:2:55 (ASM) • AZ Z:2:57 (ASM) • AZ Z:2:6 (ASM) • AZ Z:2:7 (ASM) • AZ Z:3:3 (BLM) • Bartley Site • Butterfield Stage Route • Cranky Site • Enterprise Ranch • Figimag Site • Fortified Hill Site • Gate Site • Gatlin site • Gila Bend • Hawk's Nest • Hi-Vu Ranch • NA12,486 • NA13,602 • Rock Ball Court site • South Allentown Site • Wards Site • Wash Away Site • Wide Trail Site • Wood Site Show More

Site Type
Agricultural or Herding • Animal Pen • Archaeological Feature • Artifact Scatter • Concrete Foundation • Corral • Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex • Domestic Structures • Fire-Cracked Rock Scatter • Homestead • Petroglyph • Pit • Resource Extraction / Production / Transportation Structure or Features • Road, Trail, and Related Structures or Features • Roasting Pit / Oven / Horno • Rock Art • Rock Feature • Trail

Investigation Types
Data Recovery / Excavation • Site Evaluation / Testing

General
Historic Trail • Homesteading • Rock Feature

Geographic Keywords
Arizona (State / Territory) • Buckeye, AZ • Gila Bend, AZ • Maricopa (County) • State Route 85

Temporal Keywords
Classic Period • Colonial Period • Depression Era • Historic • Patayan II to III • Pioneer Period • Prehistoric • Sedentary Period

Spatial Coverage

min long: -112.736; min lat: 32.91 ; max long: -112.571; max lat: 33.37 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Salt River Project Cultural Resource Manager

Contributor(s): Karen Adams; Matthew Chamberlin; John L. Czarzasty; J. Andrew Darling; B. Sunday Eiselt; Kathleen Peterson; Glen E. Rice; Arleyn Simon; Susan Smith; Pat H. Stein; Erik Steinbach; Michael Waters

Collaborator(s): Gila River Indian Community, Cultural Resource Management Program

Prepared By(s): Arizona State University, Department of Anthropology

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

Record Identifiers

ECS Contract (s): 02-59

Arizona State University Anthropological Field Studies No. (s): 43

TRACS NO. (s): 085 MA 120 H3225 02L

Gila River Indian Community Anthropological Research Papers No.(s): 4

File Information

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2009_CzarzastyPetersonRice_TrailsRockFeatures_OCR.pdf 138.77mb Apr 1, 2008 Jun 19, 2017 10:55:31 AM Confidential
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Contact(s): Salt River Project Cultural Resource Manager