Investigations at Sunset Mesa Ruin: Archaeology at the Confluence of the Santa Cruz and Rillito Rivers, Tucson, Arizona
Creators: name: Snitker, Grant
Publisher: name: SRI Press
Year: 1999
Subjects: subject: Santa Catalina Mountains
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/54336/santa-catalina-mountains
subject: Santa Cruz River
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/76790/santa-cruz-river
subject: Interstate 10
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/80615/interstate-10
subject: Sunset Mesa
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/83209/sunset-mesa
subject: Rillito River, Arizona
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/77084/rillito-river-arizona
subject: Rincon Phase
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/5632/rincon-phase
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: AZ AA:12:10 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/85297/az-aa1210-asm
subject: Domestic Structures
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/256/domestic-structures
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: Agricultural or Herding
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/273/agricultural-or-herding
subject: Archaeological Feature
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/339/archaeological-feature
subject: Historic Dairy
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/2214/historic-dairy
subject: Pit House / Earth Lodge
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/263/pit-house-earth-lodge
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: Pollen
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/13/pollen
subject: Shell
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/14/shell
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: Glass
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/6/glass
subject: Ground Stone
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/7/ground-stone
subject: Building Materials
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/8/building-materials
subject: Macrobotanical
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/10/macrobotanical
subject: Metal
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/11/metal
subject: Archaeological Overview
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/1/archaeological-overview
subject: Data Recovery / Excavation
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/5/data-recovery-excavation
subject: Site Evaluation / Testing
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/10/site-evaluation-testing

description: Data recovery at Sunset Mesa Ruin, AZ AA:12:10 (ASM), uncovered a segment of a single-component Rincon phase settlement dating between A.D. 1000 and 1100, as well as the remains of a turn-of-the-century adobe homestead. Excavations were confined to a 7,500-m2 area in the northwestern corner of the site, primarily within the proposed Corps of Engineers overbank protection area along the Rillito River. The prehistoric component consisted of a discrete residential cluster of five pit houses that formed a sequential series of small courtyard groups, a midden area, 13 other pit features, and six other extramural features. A cemetery area was not identified, although two cremations discovered during the testing phase were located east of the house cluster. A second courtyard group may have been present in the heavily eroded and disturbed area immediately west of the house cluster, as suggested by the presence of two large storage vessels buried in pits. If a second courtyard group was present, the two would have constituted one of several residential precincts of this Rincon phase hamlet. Other significant features related to the prehistoric occupation of the site included a ramada and food-storage and -preparation areas, 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 north-south-oriented, prehistoric canal segment was identified along the edge of the second terrace, on which the site was situated. The presence of this canal has implications for both the economic base of the settlement and the organization of the community. First, it suggests that the occupants irrigated their fields rather than relying on floodwater farming. 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, to the west. The historical-period components at the site consisted of a three-room adobe house constructed by Basillio Cuevas around 1893, a general surface scatter of trash related to this occupation and the subsequent Sunset Dairy dating after 1915, and more recent trash deposits related to subsequent ranch operations. Twelve historical- or modern-era extramural features also were recorded.