Archaeological Investigations in Northern Los Pozos, AZ AA:12:91 (ASM), for the Pima County Bleeder Channel Project, Pima County, Arizona
Creators: name: Fernandez, Rachel
Publisher: name: Desert Archaeology, Inc.
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Flowing Wells, AZ
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/84541/flowing-wells-az
subject: Arizona (State / Territory)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/335/arizona-state-territory
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: 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: Late Pioneer Period
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/5631/late-pioneer-period
subject: Late Colonial Period
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/3216/late-colonial-period
subject: Sedentary Period
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/5504/sedentary-period
subject: Rincon Phase
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/5632/rincon-phase
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: AZ AA:12:91 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/78404/az-aa1291-asm
subject: Los Pozos
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/634/los-pozos
subject: Funerary and Burial Structures or Features
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/301/funerary-and-burial-structures-or-features
subject: Surface
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/1455/surface
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: Pit
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/355/pit
subject: Inhumation
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/947/inhumation
subject: Sherd Cluster
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/1843/sherd-cluster
subject: Concentration of Artifacts
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/3398/concentration-of-artifacts
subject: Hearth
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/343/hearth
subject: Kiln
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/346/kiln
subject: Shell
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/14/shell
subject: Charcoal
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/20/charcoal
subject: Rhyolite
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/248/rhyolite
subject: Netherstone
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/2651/netherstone
subject: Ash
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/157/ash
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: Mano
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/131/mano
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: Macrobotanical
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/10/macrobotanical
subject: Mineral
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/12/mineral
subject: Silt
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/1196/silt
subject: Ceramic Analysis
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/other-keyword/133439/ceramic-analysis
subject: Macrobotanical Analysis
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/other-keyword/20303/macrobotanical-analysis
subject: Vertebrate Faunal Analysis
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/other-keyword/85747/vertebrate-faunal-analysis
subject: Osteological Description
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/other-keyword/114092/osteological-description
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: Pima County Wastewater proposed construction of a bleeder channel on a City of Tucson-owned parcel in Pima County, Arizona. The parcel is within the northern boundary of the prehistoric site of Los Pozos, AZ AA:12:91 (ASM), a National Register of Historic Places-eligible property dating primarily to the Early Agricultural period (1200 B.C.-A.D. 50). The channel was planned from a bridge culvert on an access road to the RWRD Sweetwater Reclamation Campus to an existing rip-rap drainage channel along the northern boundary of the campus. Desert Archaeology, Inc., was contracted to mitigate the potential effects construction would have on significant cultural resources. Phase 1 data recovery was completed in the central portion of the project parcel, which contains the main portion of a paleochannel complex related to the Santa Cruz River. Upon discovery of cultural features in and along the edge of channel deposits in the eastern portion of the parcel, Phase 2 data recovery was completed in that area, as well as in the western portion of the project parcel outside of and along the channel. No intact cultural remains were found in the heavily disturbed western portion. Phase 2 investigations consisted of horizontal exposures of feature outlines through mechanical stripping and hand-excavation of features. Investigations revealed a Hohokam-aged cemetery area and non-mortuary features ceramically dated to the pre-Classic (Late Rincon phase) and the Classic (Tanque Verde phase) period. Early Agricultural period features associated with the primary Los Pozos occupation were not recovered. Discovered features included four inhumations of predominantly very young individuals (neonate/infant/juvenile), one adult inhumation, and four non-mortuary pits, including a hearth and a possible ceramic firing facility or a bell-shaped roasting pit. No habitation structures were found in the explored portions of the parcel. The two most significant cultural findings are the possible evidence for local ceramic production and the presence of large outcurved bowls in three of the four infant inhumations. Based on this and other examples of this vessel type found with infant/child inhumations and cremations, a pattern of mortuary group events appears to have begun during the Late Rincon phase, continuing into the Classic period. The third significant finding from this small project is the discovery of the paleochannel segment. The same channel has been previously identified to the southeast and represents a substantial overflow channel of the ancient Santa Cruz River, most active during the Early Agricultural period. The northwestern extension of the channel in the project parcel may reflect the point at which the overflow channel begins to return to the main river channel after reaching maximum divergence. The overall significance of the findings lies in the discovery of another preserved Hohokam locus, a mortuary locality. Although only sporadically preserved and discovered, cumulative Hohokam-age finds at Los Pozos and the adjacent Wetlands site indicate, beyond a doubt, that the mid-through late sequence ceramic-aged settlement of the greater area was a fully fledged occupation of duration and intensity.