Archaeology at Estrella Mountain Ranch: Prehistoric and Historic Settlement in the Foothills of the Sierra Estella Mountains

Editor(s): Julie P. Solometo

Year: 2001

Summary

This report presents the results of archaeological survey, testing and data recovery investigations conducted in the Estrella Mountain Ranch Development, near Goodyear, Arizona. The project area includes over 11,000 acres that is part of a residential development. In order to develop the area, the property owners were required to obtain a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to comply with Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. The Corps is the lead federal agency for this project since they issued the permit. As lead federal agency, the Corps is responsible for assessing the impacts of their action on cultural resources, under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.

The results of SWCA’s investigations indicate that the project area was used by prehistoric groups on a short-term basis for the acquisition of lithic, vegetal, and faunal resources. An expedient lithic technology based on locally available raw materials was practiced and lithic procurement was associated with petroglyphs and portions o f a trail network that led into the Sierra Estrella foothills. Cholla bud roasting, saguaro syrup production, and initial processing of the pods of leguminous trees appear to have been pursued in the project area, indicating use in both spring and late summer. Both Hohokam and Patayan wares are found on all sites with large ceramic inventories, suggesting that participants in both cultural systems were utilizing the project area. The most intense use of the area occurred during the Colonial and Sedentary periods, particularly in the Santa Cruz phase. The small number of isolated projectile points located during survey also indicates Archaic period use. Mining, cattle ranching, and homesteading were pursued in the project area in the first half of the 20th century.

Cite this Record

Archaeology at Estrella Mountain Ranch: Prehistoric and Historic Settlement in the Foothills of the Sierra Estella Mountains, 349. Julie P. Solometo. 2001 ( tDAR id: 441097) ; doi:10.48512/XCV8441097

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Keywords

Culture
Archaic • Historic • Hohokam • Huhugam • Patayan

Material
Amethyst Glass • Andesite • Axe • Basalt • Buffware • Ceramic • Chipped Stone • Chopper • Core • Diorite • Fauna • Felsite • Fire Cracked Rock • Glass • Ground Stone • Hammerstone • Macrobotanical • Mano • Metal • metate • Plainware • Pollen • Projectile Point • Quartz • Quartzite • Red-on-Buff • Redware • Rhyolite • Scraper • Siltstone • Tabular Knife Show More

Site Name
AZ T:11:27 (ASM) • AZ T:11:51 (ASM) • AZ T:11:52 (ASM) • AZ T:11:55 (ASM) • AZ T:11:56 (ASM) • AZ T:11:57 (ASM) • AZ T:11:58 (ASM) • AZ T:11:59 (ASM) • AZ T:11:62 (ASM) • AZ T:11:63 (ASM) • AZ T:11:64 (ASM) • AZ T:11:65 (ASM) • AZ T:11:68 (ASM) • AZ T:11:71 (ASM) • AZ T:11:72 (ASM) • AZ T:11:73 (ASM) • AZ T:11:75 (ASM) • AZ T:11:76 (ASM) • AZ T:11:77 (ASM) • AZ T:11:78 (ASM) • AZ T:11:79 (ASM) • AZ T:11:80 (ASM) • AZ T:11:81 (ASM) • AZ T:11:82 (ASM) • AZ T:11:83 (ASM) • AZ T:11:84 (ASM) • AZ T:11:85 (ASM) • AZ T:11:86 (ASM) • AZ T:11:87 (ASM) • AZ T:11:88 (ASM) • AZ T:11:89 (ASM) Show More

Site Type
Archaeological Feature • Cairn • Checkdam • Hilltop • Isolated Artifact • Lithic Scatter • Midden • Petroglyph • Pit • Resource Extraction / Production / Transportation Structure or Features • Road, Trail, and Related Structures or Features • Rock Art • Trail

Investigation Types
Archaeological Overview • Data Recovery / Excavation • Historic Background Research • Reconnaissance / Survey • Records Search / Inventory Checking • Research Design / Data Recovery Plan • Site Evaluation / Testing

General
Lithic Analysis • Pollen Analysis

Geographic Keywords
Arizona (State / Territory) • Estrella Mountain Ranch • Goodyear, AZ • Maricopa (County) • Phoenix Basin • Sierra Estella Mountains

Temporal Keywords
Classic Period • Colonial Period • Gila Butte Phase • Preclassic Period • Prehistoric • Proto-Historic • Sacaton Phase • Santa Cruz Phase • Sedentary Period

Spatial Coverage

min long: -112.487; min lat: 33.366 ; max long: -112.356; max lat: 33.446 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): SWCA Environmental Consultants

Contributor(s): Joshua S. Edwards; John D. Goodman; Lisa W. Huckell; Ronald F. Ryden; Susan Smith; Pat Haigh Stein; Mary-Ellen Walsh

Principal Investigator(s): Douglas R. Mitchell

Prepared By(s): SWCA Environmental Consultants

Submitted To(s): Sunchase Estrella, LP; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Environmental Resources Branch

File Information

  Name Size Creation Date Date Uploaded Access
01-349-A-_OCR_PDFA_Redacted.pdf 15.70mb Feb 8, 2021 9:25:14 AM Public
01-349-A-_OCR_PDFA.pdf 18.87mb Oct 1, 2001 Mar 30, 2018 1:42:10 PM Confidential
This file is the unredacted version of the resource.

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Contact(s): SWCA Environmental Consultants

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