The Parque de Santa Cruz Project: Life on the Northern Margin of the Valencia Community

Summary

Prehistoric occupation of the Tucson Basin extends back at least 6,000 years. Not surprisingly, as a primary watercourse, the Santa Cruz River has been the focus of much of the prehistoric activity. Approximately 4,000 years ago, early agriculturalists began farming along the banks of the river, supplementing a diet composed primarily of wild foods. As agricultural technology developed, people built canals in the floodplain. The canals increased crop yields and reduced some of the risks associated with floodwater farming. Early in the first millennium A. D., residential architecture suggests movement to increasingly permanent settlements. By the beginning of the sixth century A.D., the first permanent villages appear along the banks of the Santa Cruz. These villages are located on the terraces above the floodplain, and form the basis for a settlement system that would persist for the next 600 years.

The Santa Cruz River and other watercourses remained the foci of settlement in the Tucson Basin until the early 1900s, when urban and suburban expansion pushed settlement into areas away from rivers and streams. Oddly, many of the areas that were the focus of prehistoric and early historic occupation along the Santa Cruz River floodplain and adjacent terraces were bypassed by twentieth century expansion. As Tucson continues to grow, that trend is changing.

Given the location of the parcel, the intersection of modern development and prehistoric occupation is not surprising. Prehistoric use of the project area extends back to the Early Agricultural period (1200 B. C.-A.D. 50) at AZ BB:13:101 (ASM), although the largest occupations were found at AZ BB:13:74 (ASM) and AZ BB:13:103 (ASM), which date to the Middle Rincon phase (A.D. 1000-1100) of the Hohokam Sedentary period. In all, eight archaeological sites, AZ BB:13:20 (ASM), AZ BB:13:21 (ASM), BB:13:74, BB:13:101, BB:13:103, AZ BB:13:104 (asm), AZ BB:13:105 (ASM), and AZ BB:13:794 (ASM), were investigated as part of the current project.

Archaeological fieldwork was completed in accordance with an approved historic properties treatment plan (Chenault 2006) for the Parque de Santa Cruz Development project. Fieldwork in the Parque de Santa Cruz project area was initiated on 25 September 2006, and was completed on 22 November 2006. In February 2007, a discrepancy was found between the southern project area boundary as provided to Desert Archaeology, Inc., and the actual boundary as marked on the ground prior to beginning construction activities. The actual parcel boundary was approximately 15 m farther south than the boundary originally provided to Desert Archaeology. The boundary change was significant because it extended the project area farther into BB:13:74. The additional area was recognized by all parties involved as having a high probability to contain additional prehistoric features, as well as a historical component. After consultation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, it was decided to treat the boundary discrepancy as a post-review discovery. An additional phase of fieldwork was initiated on 26 February 2007, and was completed on 13 March 2007. The final phase of fieldwork entailed burial monitoring during construction. This was conducted during July of 2007.

Fieldwork was divided into two segments, based on the geomorphic contexts of the archaeological sites: floodplain and terrace.

The Middle Rincon occupations are at the northern end of the Valencia community, a chain of Hohokam settlements that extended along the eastern bank of the Santa Cruz River (Doelle 1988; Doelle and Wallace 1991). Previous investigations at sites within the Valencia community (Bradley 1980; Doelle 1985a; Elson and Doelle 1986; Lindeman 2003, 2006a), including investigations at BB:13:74, provide a unique base of previous research from which to examine similarities and differences among households in a single community. Much of the research presented in the following chapters builds upon this earlier work.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Desert Archaeology, Inc.

Contributor(s): Jenny L. Adams; Owen K. Davis; Michael W. Diehl; Gary Huckleberry; James M. Heidke; Carlos P. Lavayen; Michael W. Lindeman; Melissa K. Markel; Manuel R. Palacios-Fest; Stacy L. Ryan; Arthur W. Vokes; Jennifer A. Waters; Helga Wöcherl

Principal Investigator(s): William Doelle

Prepared By(s): Desert Archaeology, Inc

Submitted To(s): Barclay Group

Record Identifiers

Permit No.(s): 2006-132ps

Arizona Repatriation Case (s): 06-27

File Information