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Desert Archaeology, Inc., personnel conducted archaeological fieldwork for the City of Tucson at the Mission and Mission Garden loci of the Clearwater site, AZ BB:13:6 (ASM), and the Santa Cruz River Westside Canal site, AZ BB:13:481 (ASM), in March through July 2007, and September through October 2008. The work was conducted to mitigate the effects of the planned construction of the Mission of San Agustín, Ancestral Village, Carrillo House, and Mission Garden components of the Tucson Origins Heritage Park. As of June 2015, only the Mission Garden component was constructed. The project was funded by the City of Tucson as part of the Rio Nuevo redevelopment project. In all, 461 archaeological features were documented at the Clearwater site, and 21 canal segments from the Santa Cruz River Westside Canal site were studied. These features date from the time span between the Silverbell Interval of the Early Agricultural period (circa 2100 B.C.) into the American Statehood period, ending at about A.D. 1960. The features located included prehistoric pit structures, roasting pits, and small pits used for various purposes. Mission-era features included foundations of the Mission Garden walls and several middens. American Territorial period features were also found and included a brick-lined well and several outhouse pits. A number of prehistoric and protohistoric mortuary features were also located. These were excavated, and the remains and associated artifacts were repatriated to the Tohono O'Odham Nation. Analyses presented in this report used the features, recovered artifacts, plant materials, and faunal bone to examine three research issues — the changing riverine oasis, oasis communities, and community diversity.

This report is the first of two technical reports that present the results of archaeological and historical studies conducted by Desert Archaeology, Inc., and Arizona Preservation Consultants personnel for the City of Phoenix (City) Community Noise Reduction Program and associated Voluntary Acquisition and Relocation Services (CNRP-VARS) Program. Residential parcels within seven City-defined neighborhoods were the focus of archaeological investigations, including: North Neighborhood, AZ T:12:258 (ASM); Eastlake Park Neighborhood, AZ T:12:259 (ASM); El Campito Barrio, AZ T:12:260 (ASM); Cuatro Milpas Barrio, AZ T:12:261 (ASM); Ann Ott Barrio, AZ T:12:262 (ASM); Green Valley Barrio, AZ T:12:263 (ASM); and Rio Salado San Juan Bautista Barrio, AZ T:12:264 (ASM). The names were established as each neighborhood was annexed by the City, and mirror names used historically by the residents of the neighborhood. The term barrio, the Spanish word for neighborhood, reflects those neighborhoods populated primarily by residents of Hispanic descent. Site numbers were assigned per Arizona State Museum (ASM) protocols for archaeological investigations. CNRP-VARS work continues as of this writing, although the City plans to sunset the program in 2016. Consequently, some archaeological work, specifically demolition monitoring, also continues. However, because the bulk of archaeological and historical studies for the CNRP-VARS project had been completed by late 2011, VARS staff, the City Archaeologist, and Desert Archaeology agreed that the time was propitious to report results of the project. These parties also agreed that 30 June 2012, the end of the City's fiscal year, would be the cut-off point for inclusion of on-going monitoring results. Archaeological results postdating the end of June 2012 will be reported as an addendum to this report at the conclusion of all CNRP-VARS archaeological work. Due to the breadth of research and its many elements, Desert Archaeology elected to present the project's technical findings in two reports. This first technical report, Archaeological Field and Analytical Studies for the Community Noise Reduction Program, Phoenix, Arizona, is data oriented, providing specific details and results of the historical, archaeological, and analytical work for the project. The second technical report, Settling the Salt River Floodplain: Perspectives from the Community Noise Reduction Program, Phoenix, Arizona, is an interpretive report that synthesizes this body of work in the context of research issues and directions posed at the outset of the CNRP-VARS project. This first chapter provides background information about the project, descriptions of tasks accomplished, and summaries of the results of each task. Archival histories of residential parcels receiving archaeological data recovery efforts are presented in Chapter 2. Field methods, parcel-specific fieldwork, and feature descriptions are the subject of Chapter 3. Analytical studies of specific classes of recovered archaeological and cultural material are provided in Chapters 4-12, with supporting data provided in Appendices A-E. Appendix F provides maps prepared in accordance with state documentation standards for data recovery reports.

The results of phased data recovery efforts for the City of Phoenix Aviation Department in advance of construction of the PHX Sky Train are presented in this report. Investigations were conducted within the Sky Train's 44th Street Station area, located immediately west of 44th Street and south of the Grand Canal in Phoenix, Arizona. Twelve medium to large prehistoric canals were encountered during the project, which was an anticipated discovery given the project's location northwest of the Park of Four Waters at Pueblo Grande Museum and Cultural Park and in the trajectory of main canals that fed prehistoric Canal System 2. Unexpected was the discovery of prehistoric irrigated field systems comprised of ditches and field areas. This project provided the first plan exposure of such systems in the Salt River Valley. Also encountered during the project were several canal-side water catchment features and Hohokam habitation structures. The structures included pithouses, probably used a seasonal farm-houses, and a surface adobe structure, with associated pits, which was occupied more permanently as a farmstead. The ages of the archaeological remains ranged from the later Colonial period through the early Classic period, roughly AD 850-1350. The numbers and types of features documented by the project illustrate that people were using the canals and local terrain in a variety of ways, despite the intrusion of several large System 2 trunk canals through the area. Within the project area, land use, subsistence practices, and irrigation were inextricably intertwined. The results of the project reveal the Hohokam's intimate knowledge of their landscape and how to manipulate it to best advantage. The findings highlight why the study of the irrigated spaces between prehistoric settlements is crucial to fully understand how the Hohokam managed to thrive for so many centuries in their desert environment.