Investigations at Sunset Mesa Ruin : archaeology at the confluence of the Santa Cruz and Rillito Rivers, Tucson, Arizona / edited by Richard Ciolek-Torrello, Edgar K. Huber, and Robert B. Neily.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Ciolek-Torrello, Richard.

Huber, Edgar K.

Neily, Robert B.

Statistical Research, Inc. (Redlands, Calif.)

United States. Army. Corps of Engineers. Los Angeles District.

Series:

Technical series (Statistical Research, Inc. (Redlands, Calif.)) ; no. 66.

Technical series ; 66

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Excavations (Archaeology)--Arizona--Sunset Mesa Ruin.

Excavations (Archaeology).

Indians of North America--Arizona--Antiquities.

Indians of North America.

Arizona.

Antiquities.

Sunset Mesa Ruin (Ariz.)--Antiquities.

Sunset Mesa Ruin (Ariz.).

Sunset Mesa Ruin (Ariz.)--History.

Arizona--Sunset Mesa Ruin.

Physical Description:

xvii, 310 pages : illustrations, maps ; 28 cm.

Place of Publication:

Tucson, AZ : Statistical Research, Inc., 1999.

Summary:

Sunset Mesa Ruin, AZ AA:12:10 (ASM), lies near the confluence of the Rillito and Santa Cruz Rivers in the northern Tucson Basin. First recorded in the late 1930s by the intrepid and untiring Frank Midvale, Sunset Mesa is an impressive site. Trash mounds and a dense surface scatter cover nearly 2 hectares. Yet for more than 50 years Sunset Mesa Ruin was ignored by archaeologists, lying untouched at the edge of the river.

In 1989, Statistical Research, Inc. (SRI), began a decade-long research project at the site, carried out over three phases. Sponsored by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District, research focused on two distinct components. The bulk of the study concerned a Rincon phase settlement dating between A.D. 1000 and 1100. Also investigated was a three-room adobe house constructed around 1893 by Basillio Cuevas, a Mexican immigrant. Excavation of the Cuevas adobe and associated refuse deposits and archival research provide rare insights into the lives of such Mexican homesteaders.

Excavations on the prehistoric component concentrated on a discrete residential cluster of five pit houses that formed a sequential series of small courtyard groups. Associated with the houses were a midden area, 13 pit features, and six other extramural features. Other significant features related to the prehistoric occupation of the site included a ramada and food-storage and -preparation area, and a segment of an irrigation canal. The ramada and food-storage and -preparation area was characterized by the presence of several reconstructible storage vessels, grinding and processing tools, masses of processed seeds, and clusters of fire-cracked rocks. This work area may have been related to the investigated courtyard group, or it might have functioned as a communal food-processing area for two or more residential groups in this and adjacent residential precincts.

A prehistoric canal segment was identified along the edge of the second terrace, on which the site was situated. The presence of this canal suggests that the occupants irrigated their fields rather than relying on floodwater farming, as was previously thought. Further, an evaluation of canal sediments indicated that the canal originated along the Rillito River, undoubtedly for irrigating fields on the first terrace below the site on the floodplain of the Santa Cruz River.

Perhaps typical of many Rincon phase settlements, Sunset Mesa Ruin represents a well-documented study of life along the major streams of the Tucson Basin. After 50 years of being ignored, the site, characterized by Frank Midvale as a "village of fair size," is now imperiled by industrial expansion.

Contents:

Abstract xv

Report Organization 1

Previous Investigations and Project History 3

Prehistoric Research Themes 7

Household and Community Organization 7

Subsistence and Settlement 8

Ceramic Production and Exchange 8

Mortuary Practices 9

Pre-Classic-Classic Period Transition 9

Irrigation Systems 10

Historical-Period Research Theme: Turn-of-the-Century Hispanic Homesteading 11

2. Environmental Setting / Robert B. Neily, Jeffrey A. Homburg, Richard Ciolek-Torrello 13

Hydrology 13

Geology 14

Alluvial Geomorphology and Geoarchaeology 14

Soils 18

Climate 20

Vegetation 21

3. Previous Research and Culture History / Robert B. Neily, Richard Ciolek-Torrello, Matthew A. Sterner 23

Previous Research 23

Culture Historical Background 25

Prehistoric and Protohistoric Periods 27

Paleoindian Period 27

Early and Middle Archaic Periods 27

Late Archaic Period 28

Early Formative and Pioneer Periods 31

Colonial Period 32

Sedentary Period 34

Classic Period 35

Protohistoric to Historical Period Transition 38

Historical Period 38

The Spanish Era, Late 1600s-1821 39

The Mexican Era, 1821-1856 40

The American Era, 1856-Present 40

4. Field Methods / Robert B. Neily, Edgar K. Huber, Richard Ciolek-Torrello 45

Backhoe Trenching 45

Mechanical Stripping 47

Feature Excavation 48

Pit Houses 48

Historical-Period Structure 48

Ramada and Food-Preparation Area 48

Canal 50

Extramural Pit Features 50

5. Feature Descriptions / Robert B. Neily, Edgar K. Huber 51

Testing Phase Features 52

Prehistoric Features 52

Pit Houses 52

Feature 21 52

Feature 22 56

Feature 23 59

Feature 25 62

Feature 27 64

Irrigation Canal (Feature 18) 68

Excavation Method 69

Stratigraphic Context 71

Canal Stratigraphy 72

Dating 72

Remarks 72

Ramada and Food-Preparation Area 74

Feature 13 74

Feature 15 75

Prehistoric Extramural Features 79

Historical-Period Features 80

Feature 5 80

Extramural Historical-Period Features 85

6. Ceramics / Robert A. Heckman, Stephanie M. Whittlesey 87

Methods 88

Sampling 88

Recording 88

Painted Ceramics 88

Unpainted Ceramics 89

Reconstructible Vessels 91

Sourcing Study 91

Results 91

Recovery Context and Abandonment Processes 91

Pit Houses 91

Extramural Features 101

Basillio Cuevas Homestead (Feature 5) 101

Painted Ceramics 101

Rincon Red-on-brown, Style A 103

Rincon Red-on-brown and Rincon Black-on-brown, Style B 108

Rincon Red-on-brown and Rincon Black-on-brown, Indeterminate Style 113

Rincon Phase Polychromes 114

Intrusive Ceramics: Hohokam Buff Ware 117

Unpainted Ceramics 118

Plain Ware 118

Intrusive Plain Ware: Gila Plain 121

Red Ware 122

Historical-Period Native American Pottery 124

Research Issues Revisited 124

Ceramic Dating 124

Design and Technological Variability in Rincon Painted Pottery 125

Ceramic Production and Distribution 127

Concluding Remarks 132

7. Flaked and Ground Stone Analyses / Anthony Della Croce 135

Research Questions 135

Flaked Stone Analysis 135

Methods 135

Results 137

Raw Material Procurement 137

Flakes 138

Cores 138

Flaked Stone Tools 140

Ground Stone Analysis 140

Methods and Results 140

Utilitarian Ground Stone 140

Nonutilitarian Ground Stone 141

8. Shell Analysis / Arthur W. Vokes 149

Methods 149

Genera and Species 149

Artifact Assemblage 151

Finished Artifacts 152

Beads 152

Pendants 152

Bracelets 152

Perforated Shell 154

Ring-Pendants 154

Earspool? 154

Etched Shell 155

Manufacturing Evidence 155

Unfinished Artifacts and Reworked Artifacts 155

Waste Material 155

Unmodified Valve 155

Worked and Unworked Fragments 156

Worked Fragments 156

Unworked Fragments 156

Discussion 156

Trade 159

9. Archaeobotanical Remains / Karen R. Adams 161

Feature Discussions 161

Feature 5 161

Feature 13 161

Feature 15 161

Feature 18 162

Feature 21 164

Feature 22 164

Feature 23 164

Feature 25 164

Feature 27 164

Pit Fill and Midden 165

Vessel Fill 165

General Patterns of Plant Use at Sunset Mesa Ruin 165

Notable Plant Taxa at Sunset Mesa Ruin 165

10. Sunset Mesa Ruin Pollen Analysis / Susan Smith, Jim Hasbargen 167

Limitations of Pollen Data 167

Methods 167

Analytical Methods 167

Laboratory Methods 168

Sample Set Overview and Pollen Types Identified 168

Results and Interpretations 169

Historical-Period Feature 35 169

Canal Feature 18 171

Prehistoric Pollen Analog: Canal and Surface Samples 172

Pit House Feature 21 172

Pit House Feature 22 173

Pit House Feature 23 173

Pit House Feature 25 173

Pit House Feature 27 174

Kitchen Area: Features 13 and 15 174

Extramural Features 41, 46, 47, and 49 174

11. Faunal Analysis / Kellie M. Cairns, Edgar K. Huber 177

Analytical Methods 177

The Modern Living Community 178

Assemblage Composition 178

Taxonomic Composition 178

Mammals 178

Aves 186

Unidentified 186

Modified Bone 186

Burned and Calcined Bone 186

Butchered Bone 187

Bone Tools 187

12. Historical-Period Resources at Sunset Mesa Ruin / Matthew A. Sterner 193

The Foundations of Homesteading 193

Homesteading in Arizona 194

The Basillio Cuevas Homestead 195

Archaeological Investigation of Historical-Period Features at Sunset Mesa Ruin 198

Feature 5, the Basillio Cuevas Adobe 198

Artifacts from Surface and Overburden 198

Artifacts from General Fill 199

Artifacts from Room 1 199

Artifacts from Room 2 200

Artifacts from Room 3 200

Artifacts from Feature 5.01 (Intrusive Pit) 200

Other Historical-Period Features 201

Feature 19 201

Feature 33 201

Feature 34 201

Feature 42 202

Features 39, 40, and 44 202

Features 24, 37, 45, and 56 202

Household Organization and Site Structure 206

House Types 206

Courtyard Groups 206

Precincts and Village Segments 207

Villages and Communities 207

Site Structure at Sunset Mesa Ruin 208

Subsistence 211

Settlement Patterns 214

Ceramic Production and Exchange 218

Mortuary Practices 219

Historical-Period Homesteading 219

Appendix A. Ostracode Analysis / Manuel R. Palacios-Fest 221

Appendix B. Archaeomagnetic Sampling, Analysis, and Dating at Sunset Mesa Ruin / William L. Deaver, Barbara A. Murphy 225

Appendix C. Obsidian-Source Analysis / M. Steven Shackley 235

Appendix D. Petrographic Analysis: Qualitative Analysis of Sedentary Period Potsherds from Tucson, Arizona, with Emphasis on Sunset Mesa Ruin / James M. Heidke 237

Appendix E. Ceramic-Analysis Forms 253

Appendix F. Archaeobotanical Criteria and Data Tables / Karen R. Adams 263

Appendix G. Sunset Mesa Pollen-Data Tables / Susan Smith, Jim Hasbargen 273

Appendix H. Paleohydraulic Reconstruction of the Sunset Mesa Canal, Potential Maize Yields, and Population Estimates / Richard Ciolek-Torrello, Jeffrey A. Homburg, Carla R. Van West 277.

Notes:

"Report prepared for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District ..."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 281-310).

ISBN:

1879442639

OCLC:

41262576