Archaeological Investigations in West-Central Arizona: The Cyprus-Bagdad Project [No. 136]

Abstract

For ten weeks during the late spring and summer of 1976, the Arizona State Museum conducted data recovery operations at seven archaeological sites as part of the Cyprus-Bagdad Project. These sites were located within the right-of-way of a pipeline to be built by the Cyprus-Bagdad Copper Company, and were investigated in an effort to mitigate adverse impacts from pipeline construction.

Research conducted within the project was directed primarily toward problems involving prehistoric adaptation to the local environ- ment. The analyzed data were applied to the testing of hypotheses regarding the relationship of site locations to local availability of water and to the locations of economically significant resources. Also tested were hypotheses intended to assess the importance of agriculture as a mode of subsistence for the area's prehistoric inhabitants.

The data were also used to determine the functions of individ- ual project sites. Analysis indicates that these sites represent differing functions ranging from specialized activities such as 1ithic raw material procurement and wild plant food procurement and proces- sing to long-term habitation. At least one site possessed material remains that indicated its inhabitants practiced agriculture. Evi- dence from the project sites also suggests that the availability of water was perhaps the primary consideration of the area's prehistoric inhabitants in determining site location.

The history of previous anthropological research and the cul- ture history of the project area are briefly discussed. All seven project sites are described in terms of their condition when discov- ered; morphology; environment; architectural and agricultural features; and chipped stone, ground stone, and ceramic assemblages. The appendices to this report discuss the cr i teria used in evaluating the various artifact assemblages and the location and composition of local source areas of lithic raw material.