Non-agricultural Recurrence, Mobility, Adaptation, and Groundwater Variations on the Lower Bajada, Sonoran Desert, USA

Abstract

The construction of a solar-power-array on Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, prompted the archaeological investigation of one of the most completely excavated Archaic period sites in the Sonoran Desert. Beginning with the Middle Archaic period and continuing to the early Historic period, people visited this location to gather and process wild plants, particularly mesquite. Despite the long occupational history, the plant-processing tools and techniques changed little over time. This paper focuses on the settlement location and history of Falcon Landing, a multicomponent site in the western Phoenix Basin. The excavation of Falcon Landing uncovered over 3,000 features representing over 5,000 years of intermittent human occupation. The results of this project offer a unique and intriguing look into Archaic period subsistence and settlement in a lower bajada landscape, and how this subsistence and settlement strategy persisted for millennia and became an integral part of human adaptation to the Sonoran Desert.

La construcción del matriz de energía solar en la Base de la Fuerza Aérea Luke, Arizona, provocó la investigación arqueológico de uno sitios del Periodo Arcaico más completamente escavados en el Desierto de Sonora. Empezando en el periodo Medio Arcaico y continuando hasta los principios del periodo Histórico, las personas visitaba este área para juntar y procesar plantas silvestres, en particular el mezquite. Aunque este lugar tiene una larga historia de ocupación, las herramientas y técnicas usada para procesar plantas cambiaron poco atreves del tiempo. Este papel se enfoca sobre la ubicación y la historia de Falcon Landing, un poblado de múltiple sitios componentes situado en cuenca occidental de Phoenix. La excavación de Falcon Landing descubrió mas de 3,000 características representantes de más de 5,000 años de ocupación humana intermitente. Los resultados de este proyecto ofrecen una mirada única e intrigante dentro de la subsistencia y del poblado de Periodo Arcaico establecido en un paisaje bajada baja, y cómo esta estrategia de subsistencia y población persistió atreves los milenios y se convirtió una parte integral del la adaptación humana el Desierto de Sonora.

Keywords:

• Archaic period
• Chiricahua
• Sonoran Desert
• lower bajada
• adaptation
• subsistence

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for all those who contributed to the Luke Solar Project, whether they were in the field, laboratory, analyzing the material culture, or administering the project. In particular, many thanks are due to Mr. Jeff Rothrock of LAFB for administering the Luke Solar project in its entirety, Mr. Jon Shumaker of the Arizona Public Service Company (APS) who worked tirelessly to support the needed Section 106 consultation requirements, Ms. Tiffany Seibt of Aerostar Environmental Services who administered the final data recovery stage of the project, Dr. Jay Newman at the Fort Worth District of the Army Corps of Engineers who funded the final stage of excavations, and Drs. Jeffrey H. Altschul and Teresita Majewski who spearheaded the project through SRI. Special thanks also go to Ms. Adrianne Rankin and Dr. David Doyel of the LAFB CRM program, who set the highest standard for archaeology on LAFB, and Drs. Bruce Huckell and Jonathan Mabry who peer-reviewed SRI’s draft reports, providing many helpful and insightful comments. Three anonymous reviewers also helped significantly to focus our discussions and conclusions. Dr. Patrick Taylor also deserves our gratitude for his expertise in translating the abstract into Spanish. Without the hard work and dedication of all those involved, the information obtained from Falcon Landing would not exist.

Notes

1 In the following sections, dates with BP refer to the conventional radiocarbon age in years before present. Dates with cal BC or cal AD refer to a calibrated (2σ) calendrical date using OxCal.