Canal, pit houses from 4,000 yrs ago found at planned site for a mall in Arizona

[Ichingcarpenter]

Poorly written article which I tried to snip out the main points however interesting





snip
Features found so far at the Marana site include 37 pit houses, the canal, 14 other architectural features, 87 features found outside the village’s settlement and the burials, said Walsh’s letter to the Corps, written last Monday.

During excavation, “we think it likely that significantly more than 18 burials will be identified,” Walsh wrote.

In an interview, Walsh said the site also likely includes roasting pits, trash pits and other houses.

“We’re looking at some kind of community at some level,” he said, adding that while there are no certain dates, the canal could come from the period 2500 to 1500 B.C.

Hohokam-era remains have also been found at this site, near the ground surface, officials said. The earlier remains were found about 12 to 13 feet below ground in late January and early February, said Gary Huckleberry, an independent geoarchaeological consultant working as a subcontractor for Paleo West, the developer’s archaeological consultant.

“We hit several features, mainly pit features at some depth, at the edge of the Santa Cruz River floodplain,” Huckleberry said last week. The pit features “are probably associated with what we call the Early Agricultural Period.”

He placed the period of these remains at 2000 B.C. to 200 A.D. He said the investigators only hit what appears to be the canal “in one trench.” The apparent canal had a U-shaped channel containing a layer of burnt charcoal, which he said is pretty common for these canals. Workers also recovered an aquatic bird bone from there.

“Everything seems to suggest canal, but we want to get more confidence in it,” he said.

This canal could be, but probably isn’t, older than the region’s earliest canals, dating to 1500 to 1000 B.C., said Huckleberry, who placed this canal’s age at 1000 B.C. to 1 A.D.

“The reason I say that is that the other canals that were identified just a little bit west of I-10 date to that time period,” Huckleberry said. “We’re east of I-10.”

Discovery of this and similar sites, all along the Santa Cruz River, represent an archaeological milestone for this region, said Linda Mayro, Pima County’s director of conservation and sustainability.

Archaeologists have only begun to understand in the last 15 years or so that communities lived along the river up to 4,000 or more years ago, she said. Particularly important is that these communities had irrigated agriculture, usually growing corn, she said.

“There has indeed been a revolution in archaeological perceptions of the beginnings of agriculture in the Sonoran Desert,” added Suzanne Fish, a curator of archaeology at the Arizona State Museum. “We still know a limited amount about the early years of farming, however.

“Any new research will undoubtedly add something not previously known.”
http://azstarnet.com/canal-pit-houses-from-up-to-years-ago-found-under/article_68364cf8-fe11-54c3-a72d-0e16553aded4.html

[theHandpuppet]

1. I'm sorry it doesn't appear this discovery will stop the developers

Looks as if another outlet mall (one that will probably close its doors within a decade) appears to be more important than an invaluable archaeological site. Sigh.

[Judi Lynn]

2. And what a triumph that would be, wouldn't it? Jeez.

What a shame they wouldn't consider simply relocating it to a place they know has NOT been an ancient, irreplaceable civilization which could could be infinitely helpful in knowing more about the human race in Arizona's remote past.

This is a site which should be completely respected, not re-purposed. We know so little, as it is.

We need more knowledge, not more things.