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The Tonto Creek Archaeological Project (TCAP) was conducted in the Tonto Basin of east-central Arizona on Tonto National Forest land. The project was funded by the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) and conducted from 1992 through 1996, in advance of the realignment of Arizona State Route 188. The investigated area was a 61-m (200-ft) corridor that followed a 13.3-km (8-mi) stretch of the western terrace overlooking Tonto Creek. The project was divided into three sections based on the construction schedule, from south-to north: Sycamore Creek, Punkin Center, and Slate Creek. A 5-km gap separated the Sycamore Creek and Punkin Center sections, and the latter was contiguous with the Slate Creek section. Over 80 percent of the 21.3 person years of field effort was expended in the Punkin Center section. Portions of 27 sites were investigated, ranging from the Middle Archaic period to the late Historic period. Many of these sites contained multiple components. The majority dated to the Colonial, Sedentary, and early Classic periods, circa AD. 750-1325. The sample included portions of 1 Middle Archaic and 1 Agricultural period limited-activity area, 3 ephemeral Early Ceramic period homesteads, 11 Colonial and Sedentary period farmsteads, 8 early Classic settlements, and 4 late Classic reoccupations of early Classic sites. In total, over 100 structures and more than 300 burials were excavated. Structures were relatively evenly divided between the Colonial, Sedentary, and early Classic periods. The vast majority of burials dated to the early Classic period. Anthropological Papers No. 25 is the synthetic volume for the project. Chapters summarize the results of various analyses and discuss subsistence, exchange, social organization, organization of production, technological change, and cultural affiliation of the inhabitants of the project area. Project results are compared with those from other recent large cultural resource management projects in the Tonto Basin conducted by Desert Archaeology, Inc., Arizona State University, and Statistical Research, Inc.

The Tonto Creek Archaeological Project (TCAP), funded by the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT), was conducted by Desert Archaeology, Inc., in advance of the 1994-1996 realignment of Arizona State Route 188 in the Tonto Basin of east-central Arizona. From 1992 to 1996, portions of 27 archaeological sites were investigated. Site components ranged in date from the Middle Archaic period to the Late Historic era. Most dated to the Colonial, Sedentary, and early Classic periods, circa A.D. 750-1325. A total of 108 pithouse, pitroom, and mason surface structures were excavated, as well as numerous other cultural features. These are discussed in Anthropological Papers No. 22, which contains the site and non-mortuary feature descriptions as well as background information on project methods, chronology, and the local environment. More than 300 burials were recovered, with early Classic inhumations accounting for nearly 90 percent of the sample. The burial descriptions and analyses of osteodontic remains and artifact classes recovered primarily from mortuary contexts are presented in Anthropological Papers No. 24. The artifact classes include shell and ground stone jewelry, bone artifacts, wooden objects, and clay-lined painted baskets. Anthropological Papers No. 23 (Volume 1) reports on the various analyses conducted on the ceramic assemblage recovered from both domestic and mortuary contexts in the project area. This volume, Anthropological Papers No. 23 (Volume 2) discusses the analyses of flaked and ground stone, pollen, botanical, and faunal remains. Among the important findings of the flaked stone analysis (Chapter 9) is the association of "high" side-notched projectile points with Miami/Hardt phase contexts. This point type is one of the few diagnostic artifacts from this pivotal and inadequately resolved interval. The proliferation of projectile points during the Classic period, in terms of both quantity and types, and potentially more lethal design suggests increased conflict shortly before final abandonment of the project area. The meager Classic period faunal assemblage (Chapter 13) is dominated by small animals, indicating the heightened interest in projectile points is not related to an increase in large game hunting. Temporal trends in ground stone (Chapter 10) include an increase, over time, in the proportion of designed artifacts over expedient tools. The variety of tools and the range of activities in which they are utilized also increase. By the Classic period, a significant portion of the ground stone tool assemblage was used in nonfood-processing activities such as architectural construction, shaftsmoothing, hideworking, and woodworking. Several unique contexts are also described in detail, including a cache of ground and unworked stone items recovered from a floor pit in a small pre-Classic pithouse that may have been used as a sweat lodge. Sagebrush was the only economic pollen type recovered from this structure. A large and varied collection of macrobotanical remains (Chapter 11) and pollen (Chapter 12) was recovered from the project area. The presence of maize in Early Agricultural contexts at the Boatyard site indicates this cultigen has a long history in the Tonto Basin, extending back at least into the first millennium B.C. Although maize continues to be an important resource throughout the prehistoric sequence, the TCAP macrobotanical record documents a dramatic increase in agave and wild grass exploitation during the perhaps "not-so" Sedentary period. Notable trends in the Classic period botanical assemblage include continued high maize and agave ubiquities and a substantial increase in cotton ubiquity. The latter may be related to an expansion of irrigation systems in the adjacent Tonto Creek floodplain as indicated by elevated Evening Primrose Family pollen counts.

This report presents the results of the Phase 1 testing of seven prehistoric archaeological sites falling within the proposed right-of-way for the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) Sycamore Creek Project, within the Tonto Basin, Gila County, central Arizona. The project is funded by the Federal Highway Administration and occurs on Arizona Department of Transportation right-of-way across Tonto National Forest land. The seven tested sites include a late Preclassic pithouse village [AZ U:3:275 (ASM)/AR-03-12- 06-1373]; four early Classic period residential compound sites [AZ U:3:273 (ASM)/AR-03-12-06-1376; AZ U:3:276 (ASM)/AR-03-12-06-202; AZU:3:277 (ASM)/AR-03-12-06-203; and AZU:3:278 (ASM)/AR-03-12-06- 204]; and two Classic period artifact scatters, one with architecture [AZ U:3:274 (ASM)/AR-03-12-06-1374] and one without [AZ U:3:279 (ASM)/AR-03-12-06 1375]. The nature of the project, its location within the Tonto Basin, the local environment, the regional culture history, the sites within the project boundaries, and the preliminary research design are all described. Results of testing are presented, including the positions of the sites within the project area, the methods used to test each site, and the contents and condition of each site as revealed by the testing. Features encountered at each are briefly described, along with the artifact assemblages. The results of testing are evaluated, and a recommendation is made that further work be conducted at only four sites: the late Preclassic pithouse village [AZ U:3:275 (ASM)/AR- 03-12-06-1373] and three of the early Classic period residential compound sites [AZ U:3:273 (ASM) /AR-03- 12-06-1376; AZ U:3:276 (ASM)/AR-03-12-06-202; and AZ U:3:277 (ASM)/AR-03-12-06 203]. A research design, implementation strategy, and plan of work are presented for Phase 2 data recovery investigations at these sites.