Archaeological Investigations at the El Taller, AZ AA:12:92 (ASM), and Rillito Fan, AZ AA:12:788 (ASM), Sites along Eastbound I-10 Between Sunset and Ruthrauff Roads, Tucson, Pima County, Arizona
Creators: name: Fernandez, Rachel
Publisher: name: Desert Archaeology, Inc.
Year: 2007
Subjects: subject: Pima (County)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/7353/pima-county
subject: Tucson, AZ
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/76651/tucson-az
subject: Arizona (State / Territory)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/79515/arizona-state-territory
subject: Classic Period
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/125/classic-period
subject: Early Agricultural period
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/158/early-agricultural-period
subject: Sedentary Period
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/5504/sedentary-period
subject: Colonial Period
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/5377/colonial-period
subject: San Pedro phase
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/195/san-pedro-phase
subject: Tucson Phase
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/6131/tucson-phase
subject: Late Classic Period
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/6068/late-classic-period
subject: Middle Archaic
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/3094/middle-archaic
subject: Hohokam
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/culture-keyword/21/hohokam
subject: AZ AA:12:111 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/83262/az-aa12111-asm
subject: AZ AA:12:788 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/83261/az-aa12788-asm
subject: AZ AA:12:92 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/83260/az-aa1292-asm
subject: Rillito Fan
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/636/rillito-fan
subject: El Taller
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/83259/el-taller
subject: Domestic Structures
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/256/domestic-structures
subject: Non-Thermal Pit
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/2081/non-thermal-pit
subject: Archaeological Feature
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/339/archaeological-feature
subject: Pit
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/355/pit
subject: Thermal Pit
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/1492/thermal-pit
subject: Pit House / Earth Lodge
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/263/pit-house-earth-lodge
subject: Post Hole / Post Mold
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/359/post-hole-post-mold
subject: Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/251/domestic-structure-or-architectural-complex
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: Dating Sample
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/3/dating-sample
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: Macrobotanical
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/10/macrobotanical
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: Results of excavations at two sites between Sunset Road and Ruthrauff Road along Interstate 10 (I-10) are reported here. The work was conducted as part of the I-10 Frontage Roads Improvement Project for the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT). The site of El Taller, AZ AA:12:92 (ASM), contains three temporal components possibly dating as early as the Middle Archaic period to Hohokam times. The excavated portion of the Rillito Fan site, AZ AA:12:788 (ASM), dates to the Classic period, with evidence of a Tucson phase (A.D. 1300- 1450) presence. Previous work at the Rillito Fan site also uncovered occupations dating to the Middle Archaic and Early Agricultural periods (1200 B.C.-A.D. 50). Both project areas have been heavily disturbed by historic agricultural activities and modern road construction. Both project areas represent unique research opportunities at nearly opposite ends of the temporal continuum of the prehistoric occupation in the Tucson Basin. El Taller contains a long sequence of pre- and early ceramic occupation and may have yielded the currently earliest radiocarbon date on cultivated maize in the southern Southwest. Although only a segment of a largely Early Agricultural period site, the excavations at El Taller recovered features and materials that reflect the organization of prehistoric activities-such as projectile point and perhaps bone bead manufacture. The local production of identical Empire-style San Pedro phase projectile points indicates a knapper or group cognitive template and extended or repeated site use, with a possible functional or territorial aspect. The chosen site name, El Taller- the workshop -reflects that prehistoric behavior. At Rillito Fan, the presence of Salado Polychrome ceramics places the investigated site portion into the late Classic period. The sizeable local production of Gila Polychrome and the presence of perforated plates, an originally northern ceramic form, along with a Tucson phase radiocarbon date, indicate a terminal Classic occupation. The additional presence of ceramic designs from the Colonial (A.D. 750-950) and Sedentary periods (A.D. 950-1150) show that this occupation grew from firm earlier roots. While contiguous room blocks and compound walls found at other late Classic period sites are absent from this portion of Rillito Fan, the presence of plaster in a well-made pit structure, large borrow pits, and numerous adobe puddling pits indicate that construction activities outside, but near, the project right-of-way must have been extensive. The grouping of present structures may reflect the social aspect of this physical site segment. As information and data from the late Hohokam sequence are rare and often limited to nonsystematic explorations and near-anecdotal reports, the findings at Rillito Fan represent a significant contribution.