ARCHAEOLOGY SOUTHWEST CONTINUE ON TO THE NEXT PAGE FOR YOUR magazineFREE PDF (formerly the Center for Desert Archaeology) is a private 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization that explores and protects the places of our past across the American Southwest and Mexican Northwest. We have developed an integrated, conservation- based approach known as Preservation Archaeology. Although Preservation Archaeology begins with the active protection of archaeological sites, it doesn’t end there. We utilize holistic, low-impact investigation methods in order to pursue big-picture questions about what life was like long ago. As a part of our mission to help foster advocacy and appreciation for the special places of our past, we share our discoveries with the public. This free back issue of Archaeology Southwest Magazine is one of many ways we connect people with the Southwest’s rich past. Enjoy! Not yet a member? Join today! Membership to Archaeology Southwest includes: » A Subscription to our esteemed, quarterly Archaeology Southwest Magazine » Updates from This Month at Archaeology Southwest, our monthly e-newsletter » 25% off purchases of in-print, in-stock publications through our bookstore » Discounted registration fees for Hands-On Archaeology classes and workshops » Free pdf downloads of Archaeology Southwest Magazine, including our current and most recent issues » Access to our on-site research library » Invitations to our annual members’ meeting, as well as other special events and lectures Join us at archaeologysouthwest.org/how-to-help In the meantime, stay informed at our regularly updated Facebook page! 300 N Ash Alley, Tucson AZ, 85701 • (520) 882-6946 • [email protected] • www.archaeologysouthwest.org Archaeolog~ Southwest Volume 15, Number+ Center tor Desert Archaeolog~ Fall 2001 Archaeological Freservation and Environmental Conservation in Arizona's Cienega Valle~ Michelle N 5tevens) Center for Desert Arc,4aeolog!J FIRST E..NTE..K'.E..D the Cienega Valley in 1992, on a Ifield trip to visit Paleoindian sites in the San Pedro Valley. As I drove on scenic Highway 83 south from Interstate 10 over the Empire Mountains and descended into the valley, I was struck by the open space, the beautiful golden grasslands extending between tall, rugged mountains; the lush green vegetation along Cienega Creek; and the general lack of real estate development. At the time, I thought the valley looked like the quintessential landscape for woolly mammoth and Paleoindian peoples. Although I now know that no Paleoindian sites have yet been discovered in the valley, my appreciation of the area has not diminished. The environmental and cultural landscape of Cienega Valley is unique in that it contains some of the best-preserved semidesert grasslands in the American Southwest, perennial water, early evidence of prehis­ toric maize agriculture, and an interesting history of ranching and transportation activities. This issue of Archaeology Southwest highlights some of the character­ istics that have attracted people to the Cienega Valley for the past 10,000 years. It also explores the importance of The riparian zone along Cienega Creek (foreground) makes an abrupt the area to our understanding of prehistoric agriculture transition to extensive grasslands that characterize most o/the valley. View and cultural boundaries, the history of ranching and is northeast toward the Whetstone Mountains. transportation in southeastern Arizona, as well as the partnership among landowners, citizens, conservation area was greatly facilitated by these large tracts of public groups, and government officials that gave rise to the Las land, which could be easily accessed once the proper Cienegas National Conservation Area in January 200l. permits had been obtained. With the passage of time, When the Center for Desert Archaeology decided to public and political support developed for the creation of conduct research in the Cienega Creek watershed in the the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area (discussed mid-1990s, the area had not yet been designated a national by Congressman Jim Kolbe on page 7). The elevation of conservation area. It did, however, contain abundant the Bureau of Land Management's Empire-Cienega public lands, including Pima County's Cienega Creek Resource Conservation Area to national conservation area Natural Preserve, the Bureau of Land Management's status will help preserve Empire-Cienega Resource Conservation Area (later the the unique natural and Archaeolog!J 5 0uthwest Las Cienegas NCA) , Arizona State Trust lands, and the cultural resources in the is a Q ua rte rl!::) Coronado National Forest. The Center's research in the Cienega Valley. Fubli cat ion of t he Center Fo r D esert A rc haeolog!::) Qi -'" U ::J Histor~ ot Archaeological Research In the :r: a:i <Il U Cienega Valle~ ::J iii /3ruce /3. Hucke/~ T4e Maxwell Museum} Albu9uer9ue} New Mexico HE. fHE.NOME.NAL R.E.COR.D of human occupa­ Hemmings, M. D. T tion in the Cienega Valley is still largely untapped Robinson, and R. and underappreciated by archaeologists. In 1926, Byron N. Rogers at AZ Cummings, director of the Arizona State Museum (ASM) , EE:2:50 (ASM) excavated two burials exposed by erosion along Cienega recovered burials Creek some 3.75 meters below the modern ground surface. resembling those Based on the depth at which they were found, Cummings found by Eddy at believed them to be quite ancient. EE:2:30. The buri­ In the late 1940s and 1950s, Emil Haury, a student of als were exposed Cummings and his successor at the University of Arizona, in a vertical arroyo encouraged student research in the Cienega Valley. From bank under five 1948 to 1951, University of Arizona student Earl Swanson meters ofalluvium. undertook the first systematic survey of the valley for his From 1975 to Stratigraphy at the Los Ojitos site. The dark Master's thesis, discovering many sites dating to the 1982, the ASM grayish brown cultural deposit is approxi­ conducted a large- ceramic and preceramic periods. mately five meters below the top ofthe bank. In 1954, another University of Arizona student, Frank scale, intensive sur­ Eddy, recorded the alluvial stratigraphy and a number of vey and excavation project for a proposed land exchange ceramic and preceramic sites along Matty Canyon and Cie­ between the Coronado National Forest and the Anamax nega Creek, also for his Master's thesis. Eddy's interdis­ Mining Corporation. Numerous Archaic, Hohokam, and ciplinary approach to archaeological research and colla­ historic sites near Rosemont, a former mining town in the boration with a geologist, palynologist, and malacologist northern Santa Rita Mountains, were identified and were unique at that time. His work demonstrated the excavated during this proj ect, greatly expanding archaeolo­ Cienega Valley had a rich cultural history, spanning more gists' understanding of the area. than 3,000 years, and the spatial patterning of sites could be In 1983, John Donaldson, lessee of the Empire Ranch, tied to changes in the floodplain environment. As part of contacted Haury to report a human burial eroding out of this project, Eddy the bank, two meters above the rich cultural deposits at Qi .zi 1JII')!~~:"':i:::~t excavated a pre­ EE:2:30. With the support of Anamax and the University ::J :r: ceramic site - AZ of Arizona, I undertook new excavations at EE:2:30 and a a:i <Il EE:2:30 (ASM) - newly identified late preceramic site, Los Ojitos, some 500 U ::J iii which was buried meters downstream. The large numbers of artifacts, beneath more than burials, pits, and pithouses suggested both sites repre­ five meters of allu­ sented early agricultural village settlements occupied for vium and exposed much, or all, of each year for perhaps a decade or more. in the channel floor This work provided the basis for defining the Cienega Two pit features in the left bank of Matty of Matty Wash. It phase of the Early Agricultural period (800 B.C.-A.D. 50). Canyon at AZ EE:2:30 (ASM). contained human The rich record of late Early Agricultural period burials, pits, abun­ occupation in the Cienega Valley has significantly dant lithic artifacts, fire-cracked rocks, charcoal, and increased our understanding of the time when mixed animal bone. Eddy characterized the site as a San Pedro farming-foraging economies were spreading across south­ stage, Cochise culture base camp. In nearby sediments eastern Arizona. Diverse biotic communities, first-class dated stratigraphically to the same period, archaeologists farmland along a gently flowing perennial stream, and a Paul Martin and James Schoenwetter discovered pollen relatively long growing season were highly conducive to evidence of early maize agriculture. maize agriculture. Although virtually unexplored, the During the 1960s and early 1970s, occasional small extensive Hohokam communities that followed almost surveys and salvage excavations were conducted in the certainly continued to exploit the same diverse and pro­ valley. A salvage excavation by archaeologists E. Thomas ductive resource base. fage 2 Archaeolog:) Southwest Volume 15, Number+ Archaic and Larl~ Agricultural f eriod Land Use In the Cienega Valle~ Mide//e N 5tevens) Center for Desert Ardae%g.!J UMAN LAND-USE of resources. Two of the most Hpatterns have chang­ useful types of data for land­ ed significantly over time. use studies are settlement The earliest hunter-gatherers patterns and mobility strate­ were highly mobile - moving gies. To collect settlement their campsites many times • pattern data, I conducted the throughout the year as the Center for Desert Archaeo­ seasons changed and new logy's Cienega Valley Survey resources became available. (CVS) - a volunteer survey When people began farming, along two sections of however, they started to Cienega Creek - between control where key resources January 1995 and May 1998. were located on the land­ We began our work at the scape. Furthermore, to be northern end of the valley successful farmers, they in Pima County's Cienega needed to change their land­ Creek Natural Preserve and use and mobility patterns.