Archaeological Site Identification and Site Boundary Testing at the Northwest Corner Interstate 10, Tucson, Pima County, Arizona

Summary

This report contains the results of archaeological testing at the northwest corner alignment and Frontage Road. The project was conducted at the request of the CalPortland Company, who would like to expand its mining of sand and gravel into a 9-acre parcel in the pecan orchard property. This land is owned by Pima County and leased to CalPortland. The sand and gravel mining would remove the entire parcel to a depth of more than 6.0 m. The work was conducted to comply with the Pima County Board of Supervisors Policy C3-17, which follows the Arizona Antiquities Act, ARS §41-841 et seq.

The project area lies south and west of Rillito Creek and east of the Santa Cruz River. The most recent deposition forming the current surface of the floodplain originated from Rillito Creek. The current project area likely contains the boundary between the older Qt2 (Holocene) floodplain and the younger Qt1 (modern) floodplain. However, the bulk of the parcel where the pecan orchard is located is within the Qt1 terrace. The Qt1 terrace lies approximately 3.0 m below the level of the Qt2 terrace on the south side of the parcel along Sunset Road. Elevations range from 2,220 to 2,230 ft above sea level.

One known archaeological site, AZ AA:12:11 (ASM), overlaps the southeastern corner of the parcel. AA:12:11 is considered eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion D (Milliken and Boley 2012:62). In addition to site boundary definition at AA:12:11, site identification testing was conducted to identify any new sites, and particularly canals, which are the most likely cultural resources to be found in this context. The Area of Potential Effects (APE) included the entire 9-acre parcel.

Desert Archaeology personnel conducted fieldwork between 18 and 24 August 2015, expending a total of 11 field person-days. The work followed the methodology outlined in the approved treatment plan for the project (Swartz 2015). Work was conducted under Arizona Antiquities Act Project Specific Permit Number 2015-087ps administered by the Arizona State Museum (ASM) and Agreement on Burial Discoveries: Case # 2015-025. All project related materials, including field forms, photographs, and reports will be curated at ASM under Accession Number 2015-377.

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): Gary Huckleberry

Prepared By(s): Desert Archaeology, Inc.

Submitted To(s): CalPortland Company

Record Identifiers

Accession No. (s): 2015-377

Arizona Antiquities Act Project Specific Permit(s): 2015-087

Burial Agreement Case No.(s): 2015-025

File Information