THE PREHISTORY OF SOUTHWESTERN ARIZONA: A REGIONAL RESEARCH DESIGN

Abstract

On the broadest level this dissertation makes a methodological statement about the design of regional research in archaeology, especially for Cultural Resource Management. It advocates by example a revised concept and set of requirements for regional research design. This revision views regional research design as something different from project-specific design. Regional research design requires the archaeologist focus on the total research potential of a region, rather than those problems that fascinate an individual. The regional research design resembles an overview in taking this perspective, but differs by providing an archaeological research program. This program specifies how the potential of an area relates to the coordination of research effort between projects, the assessment of archaeological significance and the integration of small projects. At no time is the regional research design a cookbook. It can never realize the unique potential of a specific project, nor specify exact techniques for field work. A regional research design for southwestern Arizona provides the empirical illustration of the revised concept and requirements. As is typical of most CRM research, this area does not equate to either a physiographic or cultural unit but rather results from the Bureau of Land Management and the National Forest Service's division of Arizona into Class I overview units. The core of this research design is a synthesis of the environment, ethnography, and archaeology of the region. This synthesis and an historical consideration of archaeological research in the area provides the basis for identifying the major scientific issues which archaeologists have (or can) addressed in the region. This leads to the development of a research program for southwestern Arizona. The research program specifies a minimal representative data set that all projects in the region should collect.