Archaeological Testing on the Rio Nuevo South Property, Tucson, Arizona
Creators: name: J. Homer Thiel
Publisher: name: Center for Desert Archaeology
Year: 1995
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: 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: Early Rillito Phase
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/7773/early-rillito-phase
subject: Early Agricultural period
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/158/early-agricultural-period
subject: Early Rincon Phase
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/7694/early-rincon-phase
subject: Middle Rillito Phase
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/7774/middle-rillito-phase
subject: Middle Rincon Phase
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/7600/middle-rincon-phase
subject: Late Rincon Phase
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/7602/late-rincon-phase
subject: Tanque Verde Phase
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/6021/tanque-verde-phase
subject: Early Ceramic period
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/5978/early-ceramic-period
subject: Hohokam
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/culture-keyword/21/hohokam
subject: Huhugam
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/culture-keyword/8166/huhugam
subject: Historic
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/culture-keyword/25/historic
subject: AZ BB:13:6 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/83477/az-bb136-asm
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: 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: Archaeological Feature
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/339/archaeological-feature
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: Refuse Pit
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/356/refuse-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: Post Hole / Post Mold
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/359/post-hole-post-mold
subject: red-on-brown Sherds
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/2960/red-on-brown-sherds
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: Fire Cracked Rock
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/5/fire-cracked-rock
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: Human Remains
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/9/human-remains
subject: Metal
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/11/metal
subject: Historic Background Research
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/18/historic-background-research
subject: Data Recovery / Excavation
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/5/data-recovery-excavation
subject: Reconnaissance / Survey
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/7/reconnaissance-survey
subject: Records Search / Inventory Checking
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/8/records-search-inventory-checking
subject: Research Design / Data Recovery Plan
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/9/research-design-data-recovery-plan

description: The City of Tucson is considering plans to develop the Rio Nuevo South property, which is located along the west bank of the Santa Cruz River near the downtown area. Currently the lot is vacant. However, this area has seen intensive usage during the Early Agricultural (ca. 1500 B.C. to A.D. 50), Hohokam (A.D. 750 to 1450), Protohistoric (A.D. 1450 to 1694), and Historic periods (A.D. 1694 to 1945). To date, the Early Ceramic period (A.D. 50 to 750) is not known from this area. As part of the planning process, Desert Archaeology, Inc., performed an archaeological survey and archival study of the parcel of land of the Rio Nuevo South parcel (Thiel 1994). On the basis of this preliminary work, Desert Archaeology recommended that an archaeological testing program be initiated to determine if significant cultural resources are present beneath the surface of the project area. Subsequently, SWCA, Inc. drilled a series of auger holes to determine the extent and depth of disturbed areas. While documenting that certain areas of the property had in fact been disturbed by historic and modern clay mining and landfill activities, other areas appear to have intact sediments, some of which had the potential for containing archaeological resources. SWCA recommended that further archaeological testing take place (Ahlstrom et al. 1994). The City of Tucson contracted with Desert Archaeology to conduct archaeological testing of the property. Testing began on 3 April 1995 and was concluded on 27 April 1995. A total of 75 person days was spent in exploring the property. The results of testing indicate that undisturbed portions of the property contain evidence of human activity during much of the last 2,500 years. This testing report provides the project area location and description, a discussion of historical use of the project area, a summary of archaeological work conducted on or in the vicinity of the drainage system, research questions that guided testing, the results of testing, and makes recommendations about future work on the property.