The Grewe Archaeological Research Project, Volume 1: Project Background and Feature Descriptions

Summary

This volume and the two that follow document the results of the Grewe Archaeological Research Project (GARP). The project was carried out by Northland Research, Inc. (Northland), under contract to the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT). Portions of three prehistoric sites were investigated by the project - Grewe, Horvath, and Casa Grande Ruins. Each of the sites represents a separate spatial and temporal component of the Grewe-Case Grande settlement, one of the preeminent Hohokam settlements in southern Arizona between A.D. 550 and 1450.

In total, 1,310 cultural features were identified by GARP, including 271 structures, 3 or 4 adobe compounds, 148 cremations, 8 inhumations, 866 pits, segments of 10 canals, and 1 ballcourt. Summary information on these features is presented in this volume. The various lines of evidence used to date the GARP features are also discussed in Volume 1, along with a review of the nearly 200 chronometric samples that were submitted for independent analysis. Volume 2 presents information on the roughly 450,000 items of material culture that were recovered by GARP, including 401,042 ceramic artifacts, 39,400 pieces of flaked stone, 2,059 pieces of ground stone, and 2,413 shell artifacts. Over 9,000 animal bones, 150 botanical samples, and 140 pollen samples were also analyzed as part of the project. The research contributions of GARP are summarized in Volume 3. The sample of features and materials stands out for its size, diversity, and time depth. There are few occasions in which data from a single, preeminent site located in the heart of a cultural region and relevant to virtually every time period are available for comparative study.

Most of the GARP features were associated with a large residential district in the heart of downtown Grewe. The sample of features from Horvath and Casa Grande was much smaller and more limited in scope. It includes a few dozen houses and other features from a previously undocumented residential district on the outskirts of Casa Grande, along with segments of several canals that formed part of the Grewe-Casa Grande canal system. The occupations of Grewe spanned virtually the entire Preclassic period, ca. A.D. 550 to 1100. Multiple lines of evidence were used to subdivide this period of time into nine smaller age groups, each with a duration of between 50 and 125 years. The initial occupation of Grewe corresponds to the early Pioneer period of the traditional Snaketown sequence. Twenty-one houses dating to the early Pioneer period (Vahki phase) were identified at Grewe, along with an additional 28 late Pioneer period (Snaketown phase) houses. A sharp decline in the intensity of occupation appears to have taken place between the Pioneer and Colonial periods, followed by a continuous, large-scale occupation through most of the Colonial and Sedentary periods. A large ballcourt, comparable in size to Court 1 at Snaketown, was built during the middle Colonial period, coinciding with a shift in settlement over to the Casa Grande Ruins area. Most of the materials from Horvath and Casa Grande date to the early or middle Classic period, ca. 1150-1325; however, a late Classic component (ca. 1325-1450) was also identified during limited testing at Horvath.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Salt River Project Digital Library

Keywords

Temporal Coverage

Calendar Date: 550 to 1450 (Dates of occupation for the Grewe-Casa Grande Settlement)

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Salt River Project Cultural Resource Manager

Contributor(s): Richard R. Carlsen; Joseph Crary; Jeffrey L. Eighmy; John T. Marshall; Penny Dufoe Minturn; Bruce G. Phillips; Ellen Ruble; M. Kyle Woodson

Field Director(s): Mary-Ellen Walsh-Anduze

Principal Investigator(s): T. Kathleen Henderson

Project Director(s): Douglas B. Craig

Prepared By(s): Northland Research, Inc.

Submitted To(s): Arizona Department of Transportation

Record Identifiers

Anthropological Papers No.(s): 99-1

TRACS No.(s): H3156-03D

Contract No.(s): 96-01

File Information