Archeological Survey at Organ Pipe National Monument, Southwestern Arizona: 1989-1991

Summary

The Western Archeological and Conservation Center, National Park Service conducted archeological inventory surveys of selected portions of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in southwestern Arizona between 1989 and 1991. The section 110 planning surveys (ORPI 1989 D, 1990B

and 1991A) were undertaken to locate, identify and evaluate the cultural resources of the monument. A total of 7,675 acres was surveyed and 188 field loci, representing 178 sites, were recorded. Five of these sites had been recorded previously. In addition, twelve clearance surveys covering 140 acres were conducted between 1989 and 1991 (ORPI 1989E, 1989F, 1989G, 1989H 1990A, 1990C, 1990E, 1991B, 1991C, 1991D, 1991 E, 1991F). Five sites were recorded as a result of these clearance surveys.

Descriptive information for 183 sites is included in this report. An additional fifty sites identified during the surveys were not recorded. All fieldwork was directed by Adrianne G. Rankin.

Recorded sites span the range of time from the Early Archaic (8500 B.C.) through the historic period (ca. A.D. 1900). Cultural traditions identified include the southwestern Archaic (8500 B.C.-A.D. 150); the Hohokam, Patayan, and Trincheras prehistoric ceramic cultures (A.D. 300-1400); Protobistoric groups (A.D. 1450-1700); and the bistoric Tobono O'odham (Papago) and Hia C'ed O'odham (Sand Papago). The majority of the archeological sites consist of surface artifact scatters. Artifact scatters with associated surface and subsurface features are common throughout the monument; features include sleeping circles or cleared areas, rock rings, roasting pits, pit-house structures, trash mounds, a canal, and a

reservoir. These sites represent not only limited activity sites but also large and small villages that probably were occupied on a year-round basis. The limited activity sites reflect use for resource procurement, processing and preparation of plants and animals, quarrying of lithic raw materials, manufacture of shell artifacts, and temporary camps. Rock art sites include both petroglyphs (pecked) and pictographs (painted). The survey crews also identified rock shelters, some containing deeply stratified deposits, and rock niches where vessels and grinding implements were stored as well as multiple mortars pecked into bedrock located around tinajas. Three bistoric Hia C'ed O'odham cemeteries also were recorded. Trail networks were identified and these routes, used from the Early Archaic period to the present, are part of the larger transportation system from the desert to the Sea of Cortez.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Organ Pipe National Monument, Arizona   •
• Arizona   •
• WACC documents 1990-1999

Keywords

Temporal Coverage

Calendar Date: -8500 to 1900

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contributor(s): Steven M. Baumann; M. Steven Shackley; Arthur Vokes

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