Investigations at Sunset Mesa Ruin

by Ciolek-Torrello, Richard; Huber, Edgar K.; Neily, Robert B.

• ISBN13: 9781879442634
• ISBN10: 1879442639
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-06-01
• Publisher: Statistical Research

Summary

Sunset Mesa Ruin lies near the confluence of the Rillito and Santa Cruz Rivers in the northern Tucson Basin. First recorded in the late 1930s by Frank Midvale, the site contains two components: a prehistoric Rincon phase Hohokam settlement dating between A.D. 1000 and 1100 and a historical-period component centered on a three-room adobe dating to the late nineteenth century. Much of the report focuses on Rincon phase settlement and subsistence. The authors use data collected from the excavation of a discrete residential cluster of five pit houses to document a sequential series of small courtyard groups. Excavation of a canal segment provides the authors the opportunity to investigate Hohokam irrigation practices in the Tucson Basin, which differ dramatically from their better-known counterparts in the Phoenix Basin.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	p. ix
List of Tables	p. xiii
Abstract	p. xv
Acknowledgments	p. xvii
Introduction	p. 1
Report Organization	p. 1
Previous Investigations and Project History	p. 3
Prehistoric Research Themes	p. 7
Household and Community Organization	p. 7
Subsistence and Settlement	p. 8
Ceramic Production and Exchange	p. 8
Mortuary Practices	p. 9
Chronology	p. 9
Pre-Classic-Classic Period Transition	p. 9
Irrigation Systems	p. 10
Historical-Period Research Theme: Turn-of-the-Century Hispanic Homesteading	p. 11
Environmental Setting	p. 13
Hydrology	p. 13
Geology	p. 14
Alluvial Geomorphology and Geoarchaeology	p. 14
Soils	p. 18
Climate	p. 20
Vegetation	p. 21
Previous Research and Culture History	p. 23
Previous Research	p. 23
Culture Historical Background	p. 25
Prehistoric and Protohistoric Periods	p. 27
Paleoindian Period	p. 27
Early and Middle Archaic Periods	p. 27
Late Archaic Period	p. 28
Early Formative and Pioneer Periods	p. 31
Colonial Period	p. 32
Sedentary Period	p. 34
Classic Period	p. 35
Protohistoric to Historical Period Transition	p. 38
Historical Period	p. 38
The Spanish Era, Late 1600s-1821	p. 39
The Mexican Era, 1821-1856	p. 40
The American Era, 1856-Present	p. 40
Field Methods	p. 45
Backhoe Trenching	p. 45
Mechanical Stripping	p. 47
Feature Excavation	p. 48
Pit Houses	p. 48
Historical-Period Structure	p. 48
Ramada and Food-Preparation Area	p. 48
Canal	p. 50
Extramural Pit Features	p. 50
Feature Descriptions	p. 51
Testing Phase Features	p. 52
Prehistoric Features	p. 52
Pit Houses	p. 52
Feature 21	p. 52
Feature 22	p. 56
Feature 23	p. 59
Feature 25	p. 62
Feature 27	p. 64
Irrigation Canal (Feature 18)	p. 68
Excavation Method	p. 69
Stratigraphic Context	p. 71
Canal Stratigraphy	p. 72
Dating	p. 72
Remarks	p. 72
Ramada and Food-Preparation Area	p. 74
Feature 13	p. 74
Feature 15	p. 75
Prehistoric Extramural Features	p. 79
Historical-Period Features	p. 80
Feature 5	p. 80
Extramural Historical-Period Features	p. 85
Ceramics	p. 87
Methods	p. 88
Sampling	p. 88
Recording	p. 88
Painted Ceramics	p. 88
Unpainted Ceramics	p. 89
Reconstructible Vessels	p. 91
Sourcing Study	p. 91
Results	p. 91
Recovery Context and Abandonment Processes	p. 91
Pit Houses	p. 91
Extramural Features	p. 101
Basillio Cuevas Homestead (Feature 5)	p. 101
Painted Ceramics	p. 101
Rincon Red-on-brown, Style A	p. 103
Rincon Red-on-brown and Rincon Black-on-brown, Style B	p. 108
Rincon Red-on-brown and Rincon Black-on-brown, Indeterminate Style	p. 113
Rincon Phase Polychromes	p. 114
Intrusive Ceramics: Hohokam Buff Ware	p. 117
Unpainted Ceramics	p. 118
Plain Ware	p. 118
Intrusive Plain Ware: Gila Plain	p. 121
Red Ware	p. 122
Historical-Period Native American Pottery	p. 124
Research Issues Revisited	p. 124
Ceramic Dating	p. 124
Design and Technological Variability in Rincon Painted Pottery	p. 125
Ceramic Production and Distribution	p. 127
Concluding Remarks	p. 132
Flaked and Ground Stone Analyses	p. 135
Research Questions	p. 135
Flaked Stone Analysis	p. 135
Methods	p. 135
Results	p. 137
Raw Material Procurement	p. 137
Flakes	p. 138
Cores	p. 138
Flaked Stone Tools	p. 140
Ground Stone Analysis	p. 140
Methods and Results	p. 140
Utilitarian Ground Stone	p. 140
Nonutilitarian Ground Stone	p. 141
Conclusions	p. 146
Shell Analysis	p. 149
Methods	p. 149
Genera and Species	p. 149
Artifact Assemblage	p. 151
Finished Artifacts	p. 152
Beads	p. 152
Pendants	p. 152
Bracelets	p. 152
Perforated Shell	p. 154
Ring-Pendants	p. 154
Earspool?	p. 154
Etched Shell	p. 155
Manufacturing Evidence	p. 155
Unfinished Artifacts and Reworked Artifacts	p. 155
Waste Material	p. 155
Unmodified Valve	p. 155
Worked and Unworked Fragments	p. 156
Worked Fragments	p. 156
Unworked Fragments	p. 156
Discussion	p. 156
Trade	p. 159
Conclusion	p. 159
Archaeobotanical Remains	p. 161
Feature Discussions	p. 161
Feature 5	p. 161
Feature 13	p. 161
Feature 15	p. 161
Feature 18	p. 162
Feature 21	p. 164
Feature 22	p. 164
Feature 23	p. 164
Feature 25	p. 164
Feature 27	p. 164
Pit Fill and Midden	p. 165
Vessel Fill	p. 165
General Patterns of Plant Use at Sunset Mesa Ruin	p. 165
Notable Plant Taxa at Sunset Mesa Ruin	p. 165
Sunset Mesa Ruin Pollen Analysis	p. 167
Limitations of Pollen Data	p. 167
Methods	p. 167
Analytical Methods	p. 167
Laboratory Methods	p. 168
Sample Set Overview and Pollen Types Identified	p. 168
Results and Interpretations	p. 169
Historical-Period Feature 35	p. 169
Canal Feature 18	p. 171
Prehistoric Pollen Analog: Canal and Surface Samples	p. 172
Pit House Feature 21	p. 172
Pit House Feature 22	p. 173
Pit House Feature 23	p. 173
Pit House Feature 25	p. 173
Pit House Feature 27	p. 174
Kitchen Area: Features 13 and 15	p. 174
Extramural Features 41, 46, 47, and 49	p. 174
Summary and Conclusions	p. 174
Faunal Analysis	p. 177
Analytical Methods	p. 177
The Modern Living Community	p. 178
Assemblage Composition	p. 178
Taxonomic Composition	p. 178
Mammals	p. 178
Aves	p. 186
Unidentified	p. 186
Modified Bone	p. 186
Burned and Calcined Bone	p. 186
Butchered Bone	p. 187
Bone Tools	p. 187
Summary and Conclusions	p. 191
Historical-Period Resources at Sunset Mesa Ruin	p. 193
The Foundations of Homesteading	p. 193
Homesteading in Arizona	p. 194
The Basillio Cuevas Homestead	p. 195
Archaeological Investigation of Historical-Period Features at Sunset Mesa Ruin	p. 198
Feature 5, the Basillio Cuevas Adobe	p. 198
Artifacts from Surface and Overburden	p. 198
Artifacts from General Fill	p. 199
Artifacts from Room 1	p. 199
Artifacts from Room 2	p. 200
Artifacts from Room 3	p. 200
Artifacts from Feature 5.01 (Intrusive Pit)	p. 200
Other Historical-Period Features	p. 201
Feature 19	p. 201
Feature 33	p. 201
Feature 34	p. 201
Feature 42	p. 202
Features 39, 40, and 44	p. 202
Features 24, 37, 45, and 56	p. 202
Summary and Conclusions	p. 203
Chronology	p. 203
Household Organization and Site Structure	p. 206
House Types	p. 206
Courtyard Groups	p. 206
Precincts and Village Segments	p. 207
Villages and Communities	p. 207
Site Structure at Sunset Mesa Ruin	p. 208
Subsistence	p. 211
Settlement Patterns	p. 214
Ceramic Production and Exchange	p. 218
Mortuary Practices	p. 219
Historical-Period Homesteading	p. 219
Conclusions	p. 220
Appendixes
Ostracode Analysis	p. 221
Archaeomagnetic Sampling, Analysis, and Dating at Sunset Mesa Ruin	p. 225
Obsidian-Source Analysis	p. 235
Petrographic Analysis: Qualitative Analysis of Sedentary Period Potsherds from Tucson, Arizona, with Emphasis on Sunset Mesa Ruin	p. 237
Ceramic-Analysis Forms	p. 253
Archaeobotanical Criteria and Data Tables	p. 263
Sunset Mesa Pollen-Data Tables	p. 273
Paleohydraulic Reconstruction of the Sunset Mesa Canal, Potential Maize Yields, and Population Estimates	p. 277
References Cited	p. 281
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