The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Class III Cultural Resources Survey, Maricopa County, Arizona

Between March 11 and 21, 1991, SWCA, Inc., Environmental Consultants conducted a cultural resources survey of approximately 2,300 acres of Pima -Maricopa Indian Community Lands in Maricopa County, Arizona. The survey was conducted in order to locate and describe cultural remains within the project area that might be adversely affected by proposed development of the area in conjunction with the Central Arizona Project, Water Distribution Facilities.

A total of 20 sites (AZ U:5:41 through AZ U:5:60 [ASM]) and 25 Isolated Occurrences was recorded. All sites but three are prehistoric Hohokam sites; one of the exceptions (AZ U:5:55 [ASM]) may be an Archaic site. The cultural and temporal affiliation of the other two sites (AZ U:5:44 [ASM] and AZ U:5:59 [ASM]) is unknown, but they are similar to other Hohokam sites in the project area. Three classes of sites have been distinguished including limited activity sites, multiple activity sites (field houses), and small habitation sites (farmsteads). Eighteen of the twenty sites (excluding AZ U:5:41 [ASM] and AZ U:5:52 [ASM]) are potentially eligible for the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion D for their potential to yield information important for understanding the past. It is recommended that these sites be avoided. If avoidance is not possible, it is recommended that a testing program be initiated to ascertain which sites have subsurface deposits, to examine the nature and extent of these deposits, and to evaluate their eligibility to the National Register of Historic Places.