Ancient Farmers of the Safford Basin: Archaeology of the U.S. 70 Safford-to-Thatcher Project
Creators: name: Fernandez, Rachel
Publisher: name: Center for Desert Archaeology
Year: 2004
Subjects: subject: Safford, AZ
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/83037/safford-az
subject: Graham (County)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/3906/graham-county
subject: Thatcher, AZ
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/83036/thatcher-az
subject: Arizona (State / Territory)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/79515/arizona-state-territory
subject: 19th Century
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/5536/19th-century
subject: Late Classic
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/34/late-classic
subject: Late Formative
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/35/late-formative
subject: Prehistoric
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/53/prehistoric
subject: 1880s
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/5845/1880s
subject: A.D. 1200s
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/6357/ad-1200s
subject: Late Historic
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/6070/late-historic
subject: PaleoIndian
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/culture-keyword/4/paleoindian
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 CC:2:296 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/83214/az-cc2296-asm
subject: AZ CC:2:235 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/83213/az-cc2235-asm
subject: AZ CC:2:298 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/83216/az-cc2298-asm
subject: AZ CC:2:289 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/83215/az-cc2289-asm
subject: AZ CC:2:291 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/83218/az-cc2291-asm
subject: AZ CC:2:297 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/83217/az-cc2297-asm
subject: Daley Site
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/83210/daley-site
subject: AZ CC:2:236 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/83212/az-cc2236-asm
subject: AZ CC:2:290 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/83211/az-cc2290-asm
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: 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: 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: Artifact Scatter
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/340/artifact-scatter
subject: Hearth
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/343/hearth
subject: Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/251/domestic-structure-or-architectural-complex
subject: Domestic Structures
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/256/domestic-structures
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: 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: 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: Obsidian
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/89/obsidian
subject: Macrobotanical
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/10/macrobotanical
subject: Mineral
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/12/mineral
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 March 1999, Desert Archaeology, Inc., was subcontracted by lnca Engineering to conduct archaeological testing along U.S. 70 between Safford and Thatcher at the behest of the Arizona Department of Transportation. Subsurface features associated with four prehistoric habitation sites (AZ CC:2:235, :289, :290, and :291 [ASM]), two prehistoric canal sites (AZ CC:2:296 and :297), and one late historic-period canal site (AZ CC:2:298) were identified. Except CC:2:291 that was removed from the project area after the testing phase, Desert Archaeology conducted data recovery at all of these sites in February and early March 2000. The investigated portion of CC:2:235 (the Daley site) was south of the site area investigated by Eastern Arizona College (EAC) in 1980. EAC's salvage excavations revealed an early Classic (Bylas phase) settlement with masonry and jacal structures. Evidence for a late Formative period occupation was also recovered and a late Classic (Safford phase)component was probably removed by plowing. Features investigated by Desert Archaeology at the Daley site included two ephemeral pit structures, one possible pit structure, an extramural area that may have been used to fire pottery, and a trash-filled wash. All features date to the late A.D. 1200s. The possible pottery firing area was adjacent to the trash-filled wash. The latter contained polishing stones and partially reconstructible vessels from nearly every utilitarian and decorated ceramic ware recovered from late thirteenth century contexts in the Safford Basin, except Maverick Mountain Series pottery. A number of the partial vessels were secondarily burned, suggesting they were used to cover vessels that were being fired. Maverick Mountain Series pottery was only recovered at the site from the two pit structures where it was found in substantial quantities. Both structures were ephemeral and dug into loose sand. Considering the correlation of Maverick Mountain Series pottery with the inhabitants of northeastern Arizona, these structures may have been temporary encampments for immigrants who either moved on or gained acceptance into the local community. Single pit structures were also identified at CC:2:290 and CC:2:291 near the eastern and western margins of the Daley site, respectively. Both structures were also occupied during the late 1200s and associated with small quantities of Maverick Mountain Series pottery. CC:2:289 was in a plowed field within the southern half of the proposed detention basin. Prehistoric features that had survived plowing included two small pit structures, two flexed burials, and a number of pits of indeterminate function. AMS radiocarbon dates and diagnostic artifacts from these features suggest long-term, low-level activity consistent with extended use of the site for agricultural purposes from circa A.D. 1-A.D. 1300. Three prehistoric canals (AZ CC:2:296 [ASM] Features 1 and 2 and AZ CC:2:297 [ASM]) traversed CC:2:289 and were associated with several of the site components. CC:2:296 Features 1 and 2 followed parallel courses and were probably used sequentially. AMS radiocarbon dates from these two canals suggest they were utilized in the AD. 1-300 range, the earliest evidence for irrigation to date in the Safford Basin. An AMS radiocarbon date from a maize cupule recovered from a nearby pit also overlapped with this range. AMS radiocarbon dates from CC:2:297 did not overlap, but use in the late Formative or early Classic period is suggested, perhaps in association with the two pit structures. Finally, a large late historic-period canal (CC:2:298 Locus 2), was identified within the site boundaries of CC:2:290. Archival research revealed that this was a segment of the Central Canal abandoned in 1905 after a large flood. The late historic Smithville Canal (AZ CC:2:79 [ASM]), constructed in 1880, approached the northwestern edge of the project area. An eastward extension of this canal and diversion dam, constructed several decades ago, skirted the northern edge of the project area.