Las Capas: Early Irrigation and Sedentism in a Southwestern Floodplain
Creators: name: Brin, Adam
Publisher: name: Center for Desert Archaeology
Year: 2008
Subjects: subject: Santa Cruz River
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/76790/santa-cruz-river
subject: Tucson Basin
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/2758/tucson-basin
subject: Interstate 10
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/80615/interstate-10
subject: Arizona (State / Territory)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/79515/arizona-state-territory
subject: San Pedro phase
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/195/san-pedro-phase
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:12:753 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/89666/az-aa12753-asm
subject: Las Capas
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/632/las-capas
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: Agricultural or Herding
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/273/agricultural-or-herding
subject: Canal or Canal Feature
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/275/canal-or-canal-feature
subject: Burial Pit
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/307/burial-pit
subject: Archaeological Feature
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/339/archaeological-feature
subject: Inhumation
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/947/inhumation
subject: Hearth
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/343/hearth
subject: Animal Burial
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/2105/animal-burial
subject: Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/251/domestic-structure-or-architectural-complex
subject: Midden
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/347/midden
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: Roasting Pit / Oven / Horno
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/357/roasting-pit-oven-horno
subject: Pit House / Earth Lodge
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/263/pit-house-earth-lodge
subject: Rock Concentration
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/1291/rock-concentration
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: Fire Cracked Rock
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/5/fire-cracked-rock
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: Mineral
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/12/mineral
subject: Archaeomagnetic Dating
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/other-keyword/7555/archaeomagnetic-dating
subject: Fluoride Analysis
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/other-keyword/59956/fluoride-analysis
subject: Sedentism
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/other-keyword/85507/sedentism
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: In 1998, Desert Archaeology, Inc., personnel conducted archaeological data recovery fieldwork at the request of the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) for a redesigned on-ramp to the Interstate 10 (I-10) highway in the western Tucson Basin, southern Arizona. The investigated areas were within the boundaries of Las Capas, AZ AA:12:111 (ASM), a 50-hectare (123-acre) stratified site buried in the former floodplain of the Santa Cruz River. Radiocarbon dates from 46 samples of maize and other plant remains indicate these areas of the site were occupied by early agriculturalists almost continuously between 1250 B.C. and 750 B.C. According to radiocarbon dates obtained by other researchers during previous and subsequent investigations, other areas of this site were occupied by foraging groups by 2800 B.C., and by agriculturalists as early as 2100 B.C.
The cultural remains documented during the work by Desert Archaeology are representative of the San Pedro phase (1200-800 B.C.) archaeological complex in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. A total of 468 cultural features in three major strata were excavated, and 107,129 artifacts were recovered. This project also documented 12 prehistoric and historic canals, assigned the separate site number, AZ AA:12:753 (ASM), 10 of which range in age from approximately 1250 B.C. to 500 B.C.
The geomorphology and stratigraphy of the site, site formation processes, chronology of occupation, excavated features, types of archaeological deposits, artifact distributions, and canals in the areas investigated by Desert Archaeology are described in this volume. Also included are: a review of 70 years of research on the San Pedro phase; a redefinition of the San Pedro complex; studies of canal geomorphologies, hydraulic characteristics, environments, estimated labor requirements, irrigated areas, and trends over time; an analysis of Early Agricultural period site patterns and landscape use in the Tucson Basin; and discussions of implications for the significant discoveries at this site. The results of comparative studies of material culture samples, subsistence remains, and environmental evidence from Las Capas; Los Pozos, AZ AA:12:91 (ASM); and several other Early Agricultural period sites in southern Arizona are summarized in other volumes.