Between Desert and River: Hohokam Settlement and Land Use in the Los Robles Community Item Type Book; text Authors Downum, Christian E. Publisher University of Arizona Press (Tucson, AZ) Rights Copyright © Arizona Board of Regents Download date 10/10/2021 18:51:04 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/595203 Between Desert and River Hohokam Settlement and Land Use in the Los Robles Community ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA NUMBER 57 Between Desert and River Hohokam Settlement and Land Use in the Los Robles Community Christian E. Downum CONTRIBUTORS Douglas B. Craig John E. Douglas Keith Katzer John H. Madsen THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA PRESS TUCSON 1993 About the Author Contributors CHRISTIAN E. DOWNUM is Director of the Anthropology Labor­ Douglas B. Craig atories and an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Northern Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Thcson Arizona University in F1agstaff. Previously he held positions as Archaeological Specialist with the Arizona State Museum and as John E. Douglas Adjunct Professor in the Department of Anthropology at The Department of Anthropology, University of Montana, University of Arizona, Tucson, earning his Master's (1981) and Missoula Doctoral (1988) degrees from that institution. He has partici­ pated in and directed large-scale survey projects from Wupatki Keith Katzer National Monument on the Colorado Plateau to the Tucson Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson Basin in the Sonoran Desert. While engaged in research to (Deceased) investigate the functions of cerros de trincheras in the United States and Sonora, Mexico, he served as co-director of the Cerro John H. Madsen Prieto mapping project from 1983 to 1986. His efforts in pro­ Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson tecting and preserving the trincheras features at Cerro Prieto have resulted in the nomination of the Los Robles Archaeo­ logical District to the National Register of Historic Places and the designation of the Cerro Prieto and Pan Quemado sites as a future Arizona State Park. His broad research interests include Prehistory of the Southwest, Evolution of Sociocultural Com­ plexity, Archaeology of Prehistoric Landscapes, and Development and Application of Ceramic Dating Thchniques. Cover: Archaeologist Glenn D. Stone records attributes of a rectangular stone structure on the slopes of Cerro Prieto, an early Classic period cerro de trincheras of the Los Robles Community (see Chapter 4). lliE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA PRESS Copyright © 1993 The Arizona Board of Regents All Rights ReselVed This book was set in 10/12 Dutch Roman 00 This book is printed on acid-free, archival-quality paper. Manufactured in the United States of America. 97 96 95 94 93 76543 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Downum, Christian E. (Christian Eric). 1957- Between desert and river: Hohokam settlement and land use in the Los Robles community / Christian E. Downum; contributors, Douglas B. Craig ... let aI.]. p. cm. -- (Anthropological papers of The University of Arizona; no. 57) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8165-1375-9 (alk. paper) 1. Hohokam culture. 2. Land settlement patterns, Prehistoric-­ Arizona--Los Robles Wash Region. 3. Los Robles Wash Region (Ariz.)--Antiquities. 4. Arizona--Antiquities. I. Craig, Douglas B. II. Title. III. Series. E99.H68D69 1993 979. 1'7--dc20 9244964 CIP Contents PREFACE ix Dating Results 23 Acknowledgments x Site Descriptions 24 Settlements Exhibiting Public 1. ARCHAEOLOGICAL HISTORY Architecture 24 AND CULTURAL CONTEXT 1 Compound Settlements 29 The Los Robles Archaeological Survey 3 Noncompound Settlements 30 History of Archaeological Farmsteads 33 Investigations 4 Agricultural Fields 34 Explorations by The University of 1tincheras Feature Sites 36 Arizona and Gila Pueblo 4 Water Diversion Feature 38 Investigations from 1929 to 1979 5 Petroglyph Sites 39 Contract Archaeology and Private Research Projects, 1980-1986 7 Limited Activity Plant or Animal Food Processing Sites 42 Geographical and Cultural Context of the Los Robles Area 8 Rock Shelters 45 Reservoir 46 2. ENVIRONMENT AND RESOURCES OF THE LOS ROBLES SURVEY AREA 11 Quarry Sites 47 Physiography and Hydrography 11 Artifact Scatters 50 Climate 13 Historic Camps or Homesteads 51 Spatial and Seasonal Distribution of Surface Water 14 4. THE CERRO PRIETO SITE Christian E. Downum, John E. Douglas, Environment and Prehistoric Land Use 16 and Douglas B. Craig 53 Modern Disturbance 18 A Few Words about Ce"os de Trincheras 54 Human Activities 18 Site Description 57 Erosion and Alluviation 19 Natural Environment 57 3. LOS ROBLES SURVEY SITES 22 Disturbance 58 Survey Methods 22 The Cerro Prieto Mapping Project 60 Site Dating 23 'lest Excavations 65 Methods 23 Archaeological Features 65 [v] vi Contents Organization of Cerro Prieto 88 Cultural Affiliation of the Los Robles Talus Pit Sites 105 Summary and Conclusion 91 A Geomorphic Evaluation of the 6. LAND USE AND HOHOKAM SETTLE- Agricultural Potential of MENT IN THE LOS ROBLES Cerros de 1tincheras COMMUNITY 107 Keith Katzer 91 Cumulative Land Use Patterns 107 Geomorphic Controls 92 Habitation Sites 107 Aspect 92 Farmsteads, Fields, and Water 93 SoillYPe Diversion Sites 108 Catchment 94 Limited Activity Plant and Animal Discussion 94 Food Processing Sites 109 Rock Shelters 109 5. ROCK CAIRN AND TALUS PIT 1tincheras Feature Sites 110 FEATURES IN THE LOS ROBLES COMMUNITY Quarry Sites 110 John }f. Afadsen 96 Petroglyph Sites llO Talus Pits 96 Artifact Scatters 111 Talus Pits as Cemeteries 97 Temporal Patterns of Settlement Surface Appearance of the and Land Use 111 Los Robles Talus Pits 98 Archaic Period 112 Modern Disturbance of Talus Pits 98 Preclassic Hohokam 113 Talus Pit Excavations 98 Early Classic Period 117 Ceramics from the Los Robles Late Classic Period 122 Talus Pits 101 Protohistoric Period 123 Comparative Context of Los Robles Talus Pit Ceramics 102 Historic Period 124 The Lower Colorado Buff Ware Series 102 Summary, Suggested Research, and Preservation for the Future 124 Sobaipuri Plain Ware 102 Papago Plain Ware 104 REFERENCES 127 Classification of the Los INDEX 137 Robles Tdlus Pit Ceramics 104 Proposed Dates 104 ABSTRACT 143 FIGURES 1.1 Regional setting of the Los Robles survey 2 1.4. A 1982 photograph of the north wall of Feature 55, Cerro Prieto Site 6 1.2. Hohokam periods and phases for the Phoenix Basin, Tucson Basin, and Papaguerfa 3 1.5. Postulated prehistoric routes of trade and travel in southern Arizona 9 1.3. A 1929 Gila Pueblo photograph of the north wall of Feature 55, Cerro Prieto Site 6 2.1. The Los Robles survey area 12 Contents vii 2.2. Archaeological sites within the Los 3.20. Reservoir, possibly prehistoric, at AZ AA:7: Robles survey area 13 43, Locus 4 (Site R -6), near Pan Quemado 47 2.3. View southwest across the northern 3.21. Debris from the manufacture of ground end of the Samaniego Hills 14 stone tools, AZ AA:7:43, Locus 9 49 2.4. Aerial view of the Santa Cruz River during 3.22. Group of petroglyphs, AZ AA:7:43, Locus 9 50 the dry season in 1985 15 3.23. Petroglyph with exaggerated fingers and 2.5. Aerial view of the Santa Cruz River during toes, AZ AA:7:43, Locus 9 (Site R-119) 51 the height of flooding in 1983 15 4.1. Distribution of cerros de trincheras in 2.6. Recent layer of fine-grained alluvium Arizona and Sonora 54 capping gravelly trash deposits 4.2. Cerros de trincheras in and around the north of the Los Robles Mound Site 20 Thcson Basin 55 3.1. The Los Robles Mound, view looking east 25 4.3. The Cerro de Las Trincheras Site in 3.2. Plan of the Los Robles Mound Site 25 northern Sonora 56 3.3. Artifacts at the surface of 4.4. Cerro Prieto, showing concentration the Los Robles Mound 26 of archaeological features on the northeast hill slope 57 3.4. Area map of the Los Robles Mound and nearby sites, features, 4.5. Aerial view of Cerro Prieto 59 and artifact concentrations 27 4.6. Outcrop of tabular andesite at east end 3.5. Plan of the Hog Farm Ballcourt Site 28 of Cerro Prieto 60 3.6. Area map of AZ AA:ll:66 (Site R -105) 29 4.7. Plan of the Cerro Prieto Site 61 3.7. Area map of AZ AA:ll:13 (Site R-122) 31 4.8. Structures, compounds, terraces, trails, and parallel boulder walls, northwest portion 3.8. Plan of AZ AA:7:109 (Site R -8) 35 of Cerro Prieto 62 3.9. Area map of sites, features, and artifacts 4.9. Structures, terraces, trails, and walls, in the vicinity of Pan Quemado, including northeast portion of Cerro Prieto 63 the Inscription Hill Site 37 4.10. Rectilinear structure (Feature 55) on 3.10. View looking west over a petroglyph cluster the northeast slope of Cerro Prieto 64 at the summit of the Inscription Hill Site 40 4.11. Hypothetical reconstruction of a masonry 3.11. Petroglyph at the Inscription Hill Site 41 room at Cerro Prieto 65 3.12. Petroglyph, possibly historic, at south 4.12. An unexcavated rectilinear structure end of the Inscription Hill Site 41 (Feature 33) on the northeast slope of Cerro Prieto 66 3.13. Zoomorphic petroglyph at the base of the Inscription Hill Site 41 4.13. Artist's reconstruction of rectilinear masonry rooms at Cerro Prieto 67 3.14. Rock alignment on the west side of the Inscription Hill Site 42 4.14. Unidentified feature with plane-face masonry at Cerro Prieto 68 3.15. Trail On the southeast slope of the Inscription Hill Site 43 4.15. Unidentified feature with a curvilinear structure foundation at Cerro Prieto 69 3.16. Heavily patina ted geometric petroglyphs, possibly Archaic in age 44 4.16.