Archaeological Investigations of the Early Agricultural Period Settlement at the Base of A-Mountain, Tucson, Arizona

Author(s): Michael W. Diehl

Year: 1997

Summary

This report describes the archaeological investigations related to the A-Mountain Storm Drain project within the Clearwater site (AZ BB:13:6), the prehistoric settlement at the base of A-Mountain. Archaeological resources within the project area represent the Early Agricultural period. During the past five years, portions of about 10 Early Agricultural period archaeological sites have been excavated in floodplain settings within the Tucson Basin. The importance of this recent work is evident when one considers that between 1960 and 1990, only two excavations of Early Agricultural sites were done in this area, and the scale (in terms of area excavated and funds committed to analysis) of both projects was moderate. In order to place the excavation of the Clearwater site in its proper archaeological context, it is important to review the information obtained in these recent studies.

This chapter examines some of the issues that surround the study of the Early Agricultural period occupants of the Tucson Basin. The first section discusses general differences between hunter-gatherers and farmers. The second section briefly reviews the Archaic period, which immediately precedes the Early Agricultural period. The third section discusses other Early Agricultural period archaeological sites excavated in the Tucson Basin. This discussion serves to introduce the reader to the extant data base with which information from the Clearwater site may be compared. The fourth section describes current models of Early Agricultural period subsistence and settlement. The final section presents the organization of the entire report and the analyses that follow.

Cite this Record

Archaeological Investigations of the Early Agricultural Period Settlement at the Base of A-Mountain, Tucson, Arizona, 21. Michael W. Diehl. 1997 ( tDAR id: 448592) ; doi:10.48512/XCV8448592

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

Keywords

Culture
Historic • Hohokam • Huhugam

Material
Ceramic • Chipped Stone • Fauna • Fire Cracked Rock • Ground Stone • Human Remains • Macrobotanical • Pollen • Red-on-Brown

Site Name
AZ BB:13:6 (ASM) • Clearwater Site

Site Type
Archaeological Feature • Burial Pit • Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex • Domestic Structures • Funerary and Burial Structures or Features • Midden • Pit • Pit House / Earth Lodge • Refuse Pit • Trash Midden

Investigation Types
Data Recovery / Excavation • Historic Background Research • Reconnaissance / Survey • Research Design / Data Recovery Plan

General
analysis of other fired clay artifacts • Archaeobotanical Analyses • Ceramic Analysis • Faunal Analysis • Flaked Stone Analysis • Ground Stone Analysis

Geographic Keywords
Arizona (State / Territory) • Maricopa (County) • Sentinel Peak • Tucson, AZ • Tucson Basin

Temporal Keywords
Agua Caliente phase • Canada del Oro • Cienega phase • Early Rincon • Late Rincon • Middle Rincon • Rillito • Tanque Verde

Spatial Coverage

min long: -111.029; min lat: 32.187 ; max long: -110.966; max lat: 32.248 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Desert Archaeology, Inc.

Contributor(s): Jenny L. Adams; William H. Doelle; Alan Ferg; Andrea K. L. Freeman; James M. Heidke; R. Jane Sliva; Jenny A. Waters

Sponsor(s): City of Tucson

Prepared By(s): Desert Archaeology, Inc.; Desert Archaeology, Inc.

Submitted To(s): Parsons Brinckerhoff

File Information

  Name Size Creation Date Date Uploaded Access
tr96-21_final_OCR_PDFA_Redacted.pdf 103.35mb Nov 23, 2020 11:17:30 AM Public
This file is the redacted version of the resource.
tr96-21_final_OCR_PDFA.pdf 101.78mb May 1, 1997 May 1, 2019 7:52:35 PM Confidential
This file is the unredacted version of the resource.

Accessing Restricted Files

At least one of the files for this resource is restricted from public view. For more information regarding access to these files, please reference the contact information below

Contact(s): Desert Archaeology, Inc.

This Resource is Part of the Following User Created Collections