The Roosevelt Rural Sites Study, Volume 2: Prehistoric Rural Settlements in the Tonto Basin, Part 1

The Roosevelt Rural Sites Study (RRSS) was one of three data recovery mitigative studies that the Bureau of Reclamation funded to investigate the prehistory of the Tonto Basin in the vicinity of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. The series of investigations constituted Reclamation's program for complying with historic preservation legislation as it applied to the raising and modification of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. Reclamation contracted with Statistical Research, Inc., to conduct this study.

The RRSS was a two-year mitigative data recovery designed to study small habitation, agricultural, and resource-processing sites, which are located away from the main centers of prehistoric habitation in the Tonto Basin, and to contribute to an ongoing synthetic study of Tonto Basin prehistory. The specific research focus of the RRSS in Reclamation's overall compliance program was the evolution of prehistoric rural land-use systems in the Tonto Basin. Twenty-nine prehistoric sites grouped into six study areas located in the bajada zone surrounding the lake on lands administered by the Tonto National Forest comprise the data base for this study.

The RRSS Volume 2, the second of three volumes, presents the results of two phases of archaeological data recovery at the sites selected by Reclamation to provide the primary data base for the RRSS. The original data base consisted of 29 prehistoric sites grouped in six study areas located in the bajada zone surrounding the lake, on lands administered by the Tonto National Forest. This number was reduced to 27 after 2 sites were deleted from further consideration following the first phase of data recovery. Many of these sites, however, contained multiple components representing either different ages or settlement classes. Eight farmsteads and small hamlets ranging in age from the Sacaton phase (around A.D. 1000–1150) to the Roosevelt phase (around A.D. 1250–1350) were intensively investigated. All represented short-term occupations of less than 100 years by groups of one to three households. The majority of the sites consisted of temporarily or seasonally occupied field houses dating to the Miami (A.D. 1150–1250), Roosevelt, and possibly Gila (A.D. 1350–1450) phases of the Classic period. In addition, three Classic period sites were associated with run-off control and water conservation technology. The two larger sites contained many rock piles, checkdams, and linear borders associated with roasting pits and mescal knives.
The field houses and agricultural sites reveal that the bajada zone was utilized for corn and agave cultivation. Residence was small in scale, short-term, and primarily limited to the lower edge of the bajada overlooking the floodplain terraces. This land-use pattern was apparently initiated in the early Sedentary period and climaxed in the Roosevelt phase of the Classic period. Traces of an earlier Archaic and later Apache occupation was evidenced at several sites, although little could be determined in regard to the nature of land use during these periods.

The chapters in this volume document the field excavations and present the results of the analyses of material culture and faunal and human remains. This volume concludes with an analysis of rural settlement classes that synthesizes the project data with those from previous studies of small Formative period sites in the region and a preliminary reconstruction of Formative period land-use patterns.

The third and final volume presents the results of archaeobotanical, soil, and paleoclimatic analyses. These results are examined, along with those from Volume 2, in an interpretive framework derived from an examination of records pertaining to ethnographic, ethnohistoric, and historic land use in central Arizona.

罗斯福乡村遗址研究（Roosevelt Rural Sites Study, RRSS）是美国垦务局（Bureau of Reclamation）资助的三项考古抢救性研究之一，旨在调查西奥多·罗斯福大坝（Theodore Roosevelt Dam）周边通托盆地（Tonto Basin）的史前史。该系列调查是垦务局为落实历史保护法案、应对西奥多·罗斯福大坝的加高与改造工程而开展的合规项目。垦务局与统计研究公司（Statistical Research, Inc.）签订委托合同，负责本项研究的实施。

RRSS为为期两年的抢救性数据发掘项目，旨在研究通托盆地史前主要聚居中心以外的小型居住、农业与资源加工遗址，并为通托盆地史前史的持续综合研究提供支撑。在垦务局整体合规项目框架下，RRSS的核心研究方向为通托盆地史前乡村土地利用系统的演化历程。本研究的数据库由通托国家森林（Tonto National Forest）管辖范围内、环绕湖泊的坡积裙带（bajada zone）内6个研究区的29处史前遗址构成。

本丛书共3卷，本卷为第2卷，呈现了垦务局为构建RRSS核心数据库所选定遗址的两阶段考古数据发掘成果。最初的数据库包含通托国家森林管辖范围内、环绕湖泊的坡积裙带内6个研究区的29处史前遗址。在第一阶段数据发掘完成后，有2处遗址被排除出后续研究，最终数据库缩减为27处。不过其中多数遗址包含多个文化层位，分别代表不同年代或不同聚落类型。研究人员对8处农庄与小型村落遗址开展了深入发掘，其年代跨度从萨卡顿期（Sacaton phase，公元1000–1150年）至罗斯福期（Roosevelt phase，公元1250–1350年）。这些遗址均为1至3户群体的短期居留点，单次居留时长不足100年。多数遗址为临时或季节性居留的田间居所，年代可追溯至古典时期的迈阿密期（Miami phase，公元1150–1250年）、罗斯福期，以及可能的吉拉期（Gila phase，公元1350–1450年）。此外，另有3处古典时期遗址与径流控制及节水技术相关。两处规模较大的遗址包含大量与烘烤坑和龙舌兰加工刀相关的石堆、截流坝与田埂。

这些田间居所与农业遗址表明，坡积裙带曾被用于种植玉米与龙舌兰。居民聚居规模小、居留时间短，且主要集中在坡积裙毗邻洪泛阶地的下缘区域。这种土地利用模式显然起源于早期定居时期，并在古典时期的罗斯福期达到顶峰。部分遗址中还发现了更早的古风期（Archaic period）与后期阿帕奇人（Apache）占据的痕迹，但目前尚无法明确这两个时期的土地利用性质。

本卷各章节记录了野外发掘工作，并呈现了对人工遗物、动物遗骸（faunal remains）与人类遗骸（human remains）的分析成果。本卷末尾还对乡村聚落类型进行了系统分析，将本项目的数据与该区域此前针对小型形成期（Formative period）遗址的研究成果进行综合，并初步重建了形成期的土地利用模式。

本丛书的第3卷也是最后一卷，呈现了考古植物学（archaeobotanical）、土壤学与古气候分析（paleoclimatic analyses）的成果。这些成果将与第2卷的分析结果一同，置于统一的阐释框架中进行解读——该框架基于对亚利桑那州中部民族志、民族史与历史时期土地利用相关记录的梳理。