Middle Archaic Period Settlement Patterns and Subsistence Strategies in the lower Salt River Valley of Arizona

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Archaic period sites are rare in the lower Salt River Valley of south-central Arizona. Logan Simpson Design recently identified two middle Archaic period sites on the Holocene floodplain of the Salt River. Evidence suggests that the two sites were short-term riparian resource procurement and processing locales that were protected from flooding (and subsequent erosion) by a natural levy or hillocks. Previously documented Middle Archaic period sites located in upland settings away from the Salt River include seasonally occupied residential bases and special-purpose field camps. Based on this settlement patterning, the subsistence strategy of Middle Archaic peoples in the lower Salt River Valley is inferred to have been characterized by logistical mobility with focal sites in upland settings and task-oriented sites in riverine or preferred hunting locales.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 35793.0