The Early Agricultural Period on the Upper Gila River, Arizona

Summary

Recent excavation and survey documents substantial use of the Upper Gila River Valley in Arizona during the Early Agricultural period. We have identified at least two classes of Early Agricultural period sites in the Duncan region, cerros de trincheras and river terrace sites. Both contain residential architecture and evidence of a diversity of activities. Round Mountain, a cerro de trincheras, contains 1.9 km of walls and terraces and 16 rock rings and was constructed on a 640 foot hill during the Cienega phase (ca. 800 B.C.–A.D. 100). The DotMon site is situated on a 400 foot ridge above the river and includes 250 m of walls and six rock rings. The Coati and Duncan Donut sites are small residential sites built on terraces overlooking the river and contain evidence of domestic architecture including pithouses and rock rings. We summarize radiocarbon, flotation, architectural, and artifactual data from these sites to assess their respective roles and chronology during the Early Agricultural period.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• A Flurry of Field Schools in the Upper Gila and Mimbres Drainages   •
• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 16902