The Undiscovered Country: New Insights into the Anchan Tradition of Central Arizona

Summary

Between November 2016 and September 2017 archaeological surveys performed by Logan Simpson on behalf of the Tonto National Forest in the Hell's Hole region of central Arizona revealed an abundance of previously undocumented Anchan and early Salado Tradition Settlements. Numerous single room habitations or field houses and large masonry structures with fully enclosing plaza or compound walls indicate a substantial population in an area traditionally considered a hinterland between the Sonoran Desert and the Colorado Plateau. GIS-based analysis of the distribution of architectural features and artifacts demonstrates changes in settlement and land use patterns across the landscape over time. Comparisons with survey data from other areas of the Tonto National Forest, the southern Colorado Plateau, and the Phoenix Basin suggest a blending of in-situ social and economic developments with in-migration from adjacent areas to the north and south.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20758