Archaeological Data Recovery for the Dinosaur to Hunt 12kV/69kV Electric Line, Pinal County, Arizona

Summary

Results of data recovery investigations at four archaeological sites within the Dinosaur to Hunt (DIR-HUN) 12kV/69kV electric line corridor, east of Queen Creek, Arizona, are presented in this report. All four sites are located on Arizona State Trust Land, and all were found to meet eligibility criteria for inclusion in the Arizona and National Registers of Historic Places (Clark 2007). The archaeological work was conducted to mitigate adverse effects of construction of the Dinosaur to Hunt electric line on any significant cultural remains that might be present within the right of-way corridor at these sites. This effort was sponsored by the Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District (SRP) to comply with the Arizona Antiquities Act of 1960 (as amended) and the State Historic Preservation Act of 1982, as required for leasing right-of-way from the state.

Fieldwork began on 18 February 2008, and was completed on 22 February 2008, expending a total of 14 person-days. Dr. Elizabeth Bagwell directed the project, and Dr. Kathleen Henderson served as Principal Investigator. The work was conducted in accordance with the data recovery plan prepared by Desert Archaeology (Henderson and Diehl 2007), working under the authority of Arizona Antiquities Act Project Specific Permit No. 2008-77ps. The objective of the data recovery program was to determine if buried archaeological remains were present at the locations of the planned power poles and to recover surface artifacts in construction staging areas.

Archaeological fieldwork involved surface collections and control (screened) unit excavations. A 1-m by 1-m control unit was excavated at the location of every pole that fell within the site boundaries. At these same locations, surface artifacts were collected from five 12-m by 12-m collection units (720 m2) that spanned the associated construction staging area. No subsurface cultural remains were found and all surface artifacts in the planned construction area were removed. A single subsurface feature found at a pole location at site U:15:61 was fully recorded, mitigating any effect from power pole drilling. It is recommended that SRP proceed with construction within the DIRHUN right-of-way corridor.

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.

Sponsor(s): Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District

Prepared By(s): Desert Archaeology, Inc.

Submitted To(s): Salt River Project, Environmental Services

Record Identifiers

Technical Report No.(s): 2008-04

Arizona State Museum Accession No.(s): 2008-0071

File Information