Limited Archaeological Testing at Site AZ EE:2:50 In the Pima County Cienega Creek Preserve, Arizona

Summary

Between December 1 and 13, 1995, SWCA, Inc., Environmental Consultants (SWCA), conducted archaeological monitoring on a 9.7-ha (24-acre) parcel of land in the Pima County Cienega Creek Preserve. The Pima County Flood Control District, which administers the preserve, proposes to restore the mesquite bosque and sacaton plant communities that formerly dominated the parcel, in order to provide wildlife habitat. A grant (FWS No. 1448-00002-95-__) from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will support this revegetation project. At the request of Linda Mayro, Pima County Archaeologist, a total of 360 m of trenches were excavated by backhoe and monitored to determine if prehistoric or historic cultural deposits were present that would be affected by the proposed undertaking. The project was performed under Project-specific Permit No. 1996-32PS granted by the Arizona State Museum (ASM).

The exposed portion of a Late Archaic site on the south bank of Cienega Creek immediately to the north of the project area had been previously recorded and designated AZ EE:2:50 (ASM). This site designation now includes a Formative component (a Hohokam Classic period village of the Tanque Verde phase) and a historic component (the original late-nineteenth-century site of the railroad settlement of Pantano), both of which are located in the present project area. An updated ASM Archaeological Site Card will be submitted to the Museum along with other project records.

For this project, Mark Slaughter served as Principal Investigator and Morgan Rieder as Project Director; Dan Arnet operated the backhoe. Andrea Freeman inspected the trenches and contributed the geoarchaeological analysis of the project area. Linda Gregonis analyzed the collected sherds and contributed the section on prehistoric ceramics; Laurel Myers did the same for collected lithic artifacts. Particular thanks are due Neil and Diane Hanna, the resident caretakers of the property, who were helpful throughout the project.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SWCA DAHA Resources   •
• Digital Archive of Huhugam Archaeology (DAHA)

Keywords

Temporal Coverage

Calendar Date: 1 to 600 (Pioneer Period)

Calendar Date: 1700 to 1821 (Spanish colonial Period)

Calendar Date: 1821 to 1854 (Mexican Republic Period)

Calendar Date: 1200 to 1400 (Classic Period)

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): SWCA Environmental Consultants

Prepared By(s): SWCA Environmental Consultants

Submitted To(s): Pima County Public Works Department

Record Identifiers

Pima County Work Order No.(s): 5010602-40LMGT

SWCA Archaeological Report No.(s): 96-31

File Information