Arizona Department of Transportation Archaeological Testing Program: Part 2, East Papago Freeway

Summary

This document is a report upon cultural resources found in the western portion of the East Papago Freeway corridor. It represents the second phase of testing to be reported for the entire corridor, data recovery at three small sites suspected of being Hohokam fieldhouse loci (AZ T:12:48(ASM), AZ T:12:50(ASM), and AZ T:12:51(ASM)), and testing at El Caserío (AZ T:12:49 (ASM)) and La Lomita (AZ U:9:67(ASM)). The investigations reported herein were conducted by Soil Systems, Inc. of Phoenix for the Arizona Department of Transportation (Contract No. 85-33). The relevant fieldwork was begun in December 1985 and concluded by the end of 1986. The testing report for the eastern portion of the corridor and the data recovery report for the hamlet of La Lomita Pequeña (AZ U:9:66(ASM)) already have been issued. Reports of data recoveries at El Caserío and La Lomita and one on the canals in the corridor will be produced in the coming months.

Topically, this report consists of project, environmental, and cultural backgrounds, the latter focused on the growth and development of the prehistoric Hohokam Canal System 2; discussion of chronology, settlement and subsistence patterns, and canals as research domains under investigation; and explanation of the test-trench sampling design: project results; feature and site descriptions as specialist studies on canals, ceramics, lithics, flotation, pollen, faunal remains, and mollusks; a summary of biological studies; evaluation of the fieldhouse frequencies: testing scheme and and a summary and conclusions regarding the results of these investigations.

A historic component is present in the corridor, but minimally so and of little consequence. were of greater significance. Prehistoric components AZ T:12:48(ASM) was a Pioneer period farmstead near the northeast edge of La Ciudad/Los Solares. AZ T:12:51(ASM) contained five Colonial and Sedentary period fieldhouses as well as Classic period materials likely from a village north of the project area. El Caserío (AZ T:12:49(ASM)) was a Colonial/Sedentary period hamlet with at least 10 pithouses, and La Lomita (AZ U:9:67(ASM)) was a village of similar date with at least 22 pithouses in the northern portion tested. Each site had a minor Classic period component, and canals were found in association with all but AZ T:12:50(ASM) and AZ T:12:48(ASM). The arrangement of these sites across the landscape is examined in relation to the research domains and draws heavily upon central placement and agricultural circumspection models developed, in part, from the previous work at La Lomita Pequeña in the eastern freeway corridor. All of the work performed and reported herein is commensurate with the appropriate laws and regulations concerning cultural resources. It is recommended that a finding of "no adverse affect" be made for all portions of the corridor except El Caserío and La Lomita, for which reports are pending.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Phoenix Basin Archaeology: the Intersections Project

Keywords

Temporal Coverage

Calendar Date: 200 to 1450

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contributor(s): John S. Cable; Suzanne K. Fish; G. Timothy Gross; Jerry B. Howard; Gary Huckleberry; Steven R. James; Scott Kwiatkowski; Daniel G. Landis; Robert Pratt

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