Investigations of the Baccharis Site and Extension Arizona Canal: Historic and Prehistoric Land Use Patterns in the Northern Salt River Valley
Creators: name: Greenwald, David H.
Publisher: name: Museum of Northern Arizona
Year: 1988
Subjects: subject: Salt River Valley
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/2784/salt-river-valley
subject: New River
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/22146/new-river
subject: Agua Fria Freeway
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/80532/agua-fria-freeway
subject: Peoria, AZ
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/79692/peoria-az
subject: Maricopa (County)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/3900/maricopa-county
subject: Arizona (State / Territory)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/79515/arizona-state-territory
subject: Late Pioneer Period
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/5631/late-pioneer-period
subject: Historic
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/5728/historic
subject: Pre-classic period
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/5857/pre-classic-period
subject: Early Colonial Period
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/19/early-colonial-period
subject: Snaketown Phase
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/211/snaketown-phase
subject: Gila Butte Phase
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/212/gila-butte-phase
subject: Prehistoric
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/53/prehistoric
subject: Late 19th - Early 20th Century
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/4489/late-19th-early-20th-century
subject: Hohokam
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/culture-keyword/21/hohokam
subject: Historic
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/culture-keyword/25/historic
subject: NA19,962
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/87805/na19962
subject: Baccharis Site
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/87802/baccharis-site
subject: Extension Arizona Canal
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/87804/extension-arizona-canal
subject: NA19,342
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/87803/na19342
subject: Funerary and Burial Structures or Features
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/301/funerary-and-burial-structures-or-features
subject: Resource Extraction / Production / Transportation Structure or Features
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/272/resource-extraction-production-transportation-structure-or-features
subject: Cremation
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/880/cremation
subject: Agricultural or Herding
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/273/agricultural-or-herding
subject: Trash Deposit
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/946/trash-deposit
subject: Canal or Canal Feature
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/275/canal-or-canal-feature
subject: Archaeological Feature
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/339/archaeological-feature
subject: Field House
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/595/field-house
subject: Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/251/domestic-structure-or-architectural-complex
subject: Settlements
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/252/settlements
subject: Hamlet / Village
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/254/hamlet-village
subject: Domestic Structures
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/256/domestic-structures
subject: Rock-Filled Pit
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/2114/rock-filled-pit
subject: Pit
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/355/pit
subject: Fire Pit
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/1156/fire-pit
subject: Pit House / Earth Lodge
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/263/pit-house-earth-lodge
subject: Shade Structure / Ramada
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/266/shade-structure-ramada
subject: Farmstead
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/747/farmstead
subject: Pollen
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/13/pollen
subject: Shell
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/14/shell
subject: Figurine
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/2128/figurine
subject: Ceramic
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/1/ceramic
subject: Chipped Stone
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/2/chipped-stone
subject: Fauna
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/4/fauna
subject: Ground Stone
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/7/ground-stone
subject: Human Remains
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/9/human-remains
subject: Macrobotanical
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/10/macrobotanical
subject: Archaeomagnetic Dating
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/other-keyword/7555/archaeomagnetic-dating
subject: Radiocarbon Dating
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/other-keyword/135975/radiocarbon-dating
subject: Agua Fria Freeway
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/other-keyword/151004/agua-fria-freeway
subject: Data Recovery / Excavation
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/5/data-recovery-excavation
subject: Records Search / Inventory Checking
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/8/records-search-inventory-checking
subject: Site Evaluation / Testing
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/10/site-evaluation-testing

description: This report presents the results of intensive data recovery through excavation of an early pre-Classic Hohokam site and an in-depth archival study of historic features, including the Extension Arizona Canal. The project was sponsored by the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) with the Museum of Northern Arizona (MNA) serving as consultants to ADOT for these archaeological and historical studies. Field work was conducted during May and June, 1987. Investigations of the Baccharis site, a late Pioneer/early Colonial period field house/farmstead site (ca. A.D. 600-800) located along New River, provided an opportunity to examine early Hohokam settlement and land use patterns in the northern periphery of the Hohokam region. The Baccharis site was used as a seasonally occupied site associated with agriculture and wild plant exploitation. Occupation was associated with a shifting residence pattern or seasonal round exploitation strategy. An explicit research design provided the direction of study which focused upon topics related to site and regional questions. Topics at the site level were concerned with social organization through time, types of subsistence strategies employed, identification and determination of a site chronology, and burial practices. On a broader scope, questions concerned with how the Baccharis site fit into the settlement pattern of the northern periphery and how the site may have been related to the Salt-Gila core area and the Palo Verde Community were posed. The Baccharis site was occupied during the Snaketown and Gila Butte phases and served as a field house/farmstead site for single families or small corporate groups. Radiocarbon dates, archaeomagnetic intervals and the ceramic assemblage provided, generally, complementary data. Botanical evidence supports both corn agriculture and wild plant procurement as subsistence strategies. The historic investigations represent the first detailed study of the Extension Arizona Canal, a segment of the Arizona Canal, dating to ca. 1893-1912, and examine the events leading to its construction, use and abandonment. These investigations have provided the opportunity to study both historic and prehistoric land use patterns in the northern Salt River Valley. Hohokam subsistence strategies during the early pre-Classic period parallel strategies used in the core areas prior to extensive development of canal systems. Although corn agriculture was practiced, the means by which this was accomplished could not be determined with the narrow limits of the freeway corridor. Occupation of the Baccharis site may have occurred during a period settlement expansion into the northern periphery, at a time when permanent settlements had not yet been established along New River. The Baccharis site may have been used by groups who maintained ties with villages located along the Salt River, returning to the riverine villages as part of the seasonal-round subsistence pattern.