Archaeological Investigations for Eligibility Recommendations for a Portion Site AZ T:12:238(ASM), Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona

Summary

On February 1 and 2, 2006, Archaeological Research Services, Inc. (ARS) conducted archaeological investigations at AZ T:12:238 (ASM), located on state-owned land, administered by the Laveen School District No. 69, Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona. Limited archaeological testing was carried out in advance of the construction of a proposed elementary school in order to determine the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) eligibility of a portion of A2 T:12:238 (ASM).

Pueblo Primero, a Hohokam village located a half-mile southeast of the current project area, was reportedly leveled during the 1980s, and soil from the site was then redeposited in the area of the newly-discovered AZ T:12:238 (ASM). This scenario is supported by comments in a previous survey report of the project area (Stephen 2000) prepared by Professional Archaeological Services and Technologies (PAST), in November 2000, and by the negative results of excavations carried out by SWCA, Inc. at the plotted location of Pueblo Primero in 2000 (Ryden and Mitchell 2000, revised in 2003). Additionally, SWCA did burial recovery in 2004 and 2005 at the northern end of Pueblo Primero (Lindly 2004 & 2005). PAST’S information suggested that AZ T:12:238 (ASM) had no integrity and lacked any potential for intact archaeological features or deposits. Archaeological testing by ARS involved excavating two backhoe trenches in order to determine if a clear stratigraphic break occurs in the trench profiles (which may indicate site redeposition depending on stratigraphic form and content), or to discover if in-situ subsurface cultural remains and features were present which would indicate that AZT:12:238 (ASM) is an intact archaeological site. Testing results would be used to determine if a Phase 2 data recovery project was necessary.

The purpose of the testing project was to determine the integrity and NRHP eligibility of a portion of Site AZ T:12:238 (ASM) through mapping, surface collection, trenching, and documentation of any intact cultural resources located in the backhoe trench profiles. It was the overriding intent of archaeological testing to determine if the trenches would indicate a redeposited cultural deposit resting atop a modem soil horizon.

Archaeological investigations did not locate any buried archaeological features or cultural remains. Fewer than 100 artifacts were surface collected from within the project area and they appear to have been brought in with the soil during activities involving leveling of the terrain. A previous preliminary report (Peters 2006), provided to the client upon conclusion of fieldwork and forwarded to the Laveen School Board, the State Historic Preservation Office, and the City of Phoenix recommended that no further archaeological investigations be required within the project area. Due to the results of testing a portion of Site AZ T:12:238 (ASM), it is no longer recommended as potentially eligible or eligible to the NRHP Criterion D, (i.e. capable of yielding information important in prehistory or history).

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• City of Phoenix DAHA Resources   •
• Digital Archive of Huhugam Archaeology (DAHA)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): City of Phoenix Archaeology Office

Contributor(s): Kirk Freeman

Prepared By(s): Archaeological Research Services, Inc.

Submitted To(s): Miller Brooks Environmental, Inc.

Record Identifiers

Arizona State Museum (ASM) Blanket Permit No.(s): 2006-009bl

PGM(s): 2005-49

ASM Accession Number(s): 2006-0045

File Information