Archaeological Monitoring and Surface Collection at Two Sites in Tonto Natural Bridge State Park, Gila County, Arizona

Archaeological Consulting Services, Ltd. (ACS) monitored blading and trenching activities in the Tonto Natural Bridge State Park. The monitoring, which included surface artifact collection, was conducted to mitigate the impacts to cultural resources by the construction of a parking lot and the installation of underground utility lines. The work was completed under archaeological permit 91-18 issued by the Arizona state Museum.

This survey identified a moderately dense lithic scatter in the area of the proposed parking lot expansion. As a result, ACS was hired to prepare a data recovery plan for this site. During an inspection of the lithic scatter prior to the development of a plan of work, it was discovered that the site was a relatively low-density scatter of lithic and ceramic artifacts that covered approximately 1.5 acres (Macnider and Kisselburg 1991). The artifacts had been disturbed by previous plowing and, therefore,the archaeological context of the artifacts within the plowzone was lost. Construction plans involved leveling the parking area, resulting in the displacement of the top 2-6 in (5-15 em) of dirt. Therefore, the level of impact to the site would be small. Sample surface collecting, mapping, and monitoring were proposed to mitigate the impact of the construction of a parking area to the artifact scatter, designated AZ 0:11:38 (ASM).