Recent Investigations of the Barranca Canal at the Dutch Canal Ruin, NANT Property, Phoenix, Arizona

Summary

The results of data recovery investigations of a prehistoric canal within the city-owned NANT property are presented in this report. The canal was identified in June 2012, while boundary testing the southern limits of the prehistoric site, Dutch Canal Ruin, AZ T:12:62 (ASM), and could be recognized as a continuation of the Barranca Canal, a previously identified alignment within the Canal Patricio System, AZ T:12:131 (ASM). Because testing had established that archaeological resources significant to Dutch Canal Ruin were not present within the NANT project area, the purpose of data recovery was to mitigate adverse effects any future development of the NANT property might have on the newly identified member of the Canal Patricio System.

The current investigation provided an opportunity to trace the Barranca canal several hundred meters downstream and to revisit its stratigraphic and hydraulic properties in relation to surrounding Salt River floodplain deposits. The investigation establishes the Barranca Canal as an irrigation main, which significantly revises the previously held interpretation that the canal was akin to a drain running into Turney's Gully. Geoarchaeological information presented in this report provides further context for understanding how this canal operated within the dynamic environment of the Salt River floodplain. The late Pioneer to Colonial period age, approximately A.D. 700-900, of this canal based on newly acquired chronometric information is discussed and related to our current understanding of regional paleoflood hydrology and Salt River floodplain dynamics.

Cite this Record

Recent Investigations of the Barranca Canal at the Dutch Canal Ruin, NANT Property, Phoenix, Arizona, 03. Gary Huckleberry, T. Kathleen Henderson, Connie A. Darby. 2014 ( tDAR id: 445605) ; doi:10.48512/XCV8445605

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Spatial Coverage

min long: -112.053; min lat: 33.417 ; max long: -112.025; max lat: 33.466 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): City of Phoenix Archaeology Office

Contributor(s): Paul R. Hanson

Landowner(s): City of Phoenix

Prepared By(s): Desert Archaeology, Inc.

Submitted To(s): City of Phoenix, Aviation Department

Record Identifiers

Desert Archaeology Project No.(s): 10-131D

PGM No.(s): 2011-36

Arizona Antiquities Act Project Specific Permit No.(s): 2012-101ps

Arizona State Museum Accession No.(s): 2012-360

COP Cost Center No. (s): GL510025; AV6652111044

File Information

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DA_tr2013-03_NANT-data-recovery--final_OCR_PDFA_Redacted.pdf 35.61mb Mar 19, 2021 11:23:52 AM Public
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DA_tr2013-03_NANT-data-recovery--final-_OCR_PDFA.pdf 30.28mb Mar 1, 2014 May 10, 2018 2:47:36 PM Confidential
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Contact(s): City of Phoenix Archaeology Office

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