Their Own Road: Archaeological Investigations along State Route 260
Creators: name: CaraMia M. Whitney
Publisher: name: Desert Archaeology, Inc.
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: Tonto National Forest
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/223/tonto-national-forest
subject: Gila County
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/79874/gila-county
subject: Preacher Canyon section
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/84401/preacher-canyon-section
subject: Interstitial Zone F
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/84325/interstitial-zone-f
subject: Tonto Basin
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/92/tonto-basin
subject: Early Agricultural period
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/158/early-agricultural-period
subject: Late Modern Period
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/7704/late-modern-period
subject: Hohokam
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/culture-keyword/21/hohokam
subject: Archaic
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/culture-keyword/8/archaic
subject: Historic
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/culture-keyword/25/historic
subject: AZ 0:12:14 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/104398/az-01214-asm
subject: AZ 0:12:25 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/104400/az-01225-asm
subject: AZ 0:12:16 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/104399/az-01216-asm
subject: AZ 0:12:47 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/104402/az-01247-asm
subject: AZ 0:12:38 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/104401/az-01238-asm
subject: AZ 0:12:41 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/104404/az-01241-asm
subject: AZ 0:12:13 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/104403/az-01213-asm
subject: The Haught Ranch Site
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/104406/the-haught-ranch-site
subject: Manzanita Ridge
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/104408/manzanita-ridge
subject: The McGoonie Site
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/104407/the-mcgoonie-site
subject: Twisted Trowel
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/104409/twisted-trowel
subject: Funerary and Burial Structures or Features
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/301/funerary-and-burial-structures-or-features
subject: Burial Mound
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/303/burial-mound
subject: Domestic Structures
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/256/domestic-structures
subject: House
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/259/house
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: 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: 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: Metal
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/11/metal
subject: Osteological Analysis
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/other-keyword/30850/osteological-analysis
subject: dental analysis
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/other-keyword/487/dental-analysis
subject: Pollen Analysis
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/other-keyword/50444/pollen-analysis
subject: Data Recovery / Excavation
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/5/data-recovery-excavation
subject: Heritage Management
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/24/heritage-management
subject: Research Design / Data Recovery Plan
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/9/research-design-data-recovery-plan

description: At first glance, the potential for sub-Mogollon Rim archaeology sites is not promising. This region, east of Payson and Star Valley, Arizona, is characterized by single-room masonry structures and artifact scatters covered with thick stands of manzanita and pine duff. Many artifact scatters are comprised solely of small pieces of flaked stone; others have pieces of plain brown ware ceramics that blend in easily with the ground cover. However, beneath these less-than-dramatic surface manifestations, the State Route (SR) 260 - Payson to Heber project has uncovered nearly 3,000 years of settlement. Work in the Preacher Canyon section was the first phase of archaeology preceding construction of six highway sections through the Tonto National Forest (TNF) and within the longer, 46-mile-long Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) highway realignment project between Payson and Heber, Arizona. The sites in the Preacher Canyon area provided our initial glimpse into the prehistory of the region. Fieldwork for the SR 260 - Payson to Heber project has progressed more quickly than the analyses of artifacts and the production of reports. At the time of writing, Desert Archaeology, Inc., completed fieldwork in four additional construction sections. This volume, which describes the Preacher Canyon phase fieldwork and analyses, will not provide complete answers to questions about culture history or about economic, social, and political organizations. However, the Preacher Canyon sites are the baseline to which all subsequent comparisons will be made, as we search for patterns in the archaeological remains of the sub-Mogollon Rim region. Many sites in the other sections are smaller, a few are larger, but very few are as well preserved as those excavated in the Preacher Canyon section. These sites alerted us to the potential for a substantive first millennium A.D. occupation of the region, whereas the few published discussions of excavations in the region concentrate on the period after A.D. 1100. This alone was a critical realization, as pithouse occupations proved relatively easy to find, even at low-density artifact scatters, by using the backhoe systematically on project area sites. The full potential of the Preacher Canyon sites will be evident in the final comparative work, a synthetic report to be prepared when all fieldwork and analyses are completed. The sites excavated prior to highway construction in the Preacher Canyon section are located approximately 4 miles (6.67 km) east of Star Valley, between Mileposts 259.5 and 263.5. The Area of Potential Effects (APE) includes the proposed right-of-way for the new alignment of SR 260, tieins, access roads, and temporary construction easements. Seven prehistoric or multicomponent sites with features that date from the Early Agricultural period to the early historic and historic were tested during the investigations of Preacher Canyon (Figure 1.2; Tables 1.1-1.2): AZ O:12:13/AR-03-12-04-1153 (ASM/TNF)1; Twisted Trowel, 0:12:14/04-75; Manzanita Ridge, 0:12:16/04-1156; McGoonie, 0:12:25/ 04-743; Haught Ranch, 0:12:38/04-1372; 0:12:41/04- 1396; and McGoonie West, 0:12:47/04-1436. This report describes the work at the seven prehistoric and multicomponent sites in the Preacher Canyon section of the SR 260 project, and demonstrates to the TNF, the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), and the ASM that the field and analytic methods outlined in the Plan of Work were followed. It also provides a first assessment of the archaeological research goals outlined in the project Treatment Plan (Herr 1999b).