Cultural Resources Survey of a Portion of Dead Horse Ranch State Park, and a Proposed Alignment for a New Access Road in Yavapai County, Arizona

An archaeological survey of a portion of Dead Horse Ranch State Park, Yavapai County, Arizona, was completed for the Arizona Department of Transportation and Arizona State Parks by SWCA, Inc., Environmental Consultants, under contract to Entranco Engineers, Inc., in July 1990. The project was undertaken for a proposed new access road to the park and a bridge across the Verde River as well as for proposed improvements within the park.

Sites AZ N:4:18 (ASM) and AZ N:4:31 (ASM) had been formally recorded within the project area prior to the current project. These two sites were evaluated during the survey. In addition, 21 sites and 36 isolated occurrences were formally recorded. The two previously recorded sites are eligible for inclusion to the National Register of Historic Places. All of the remaining 21 sites may be eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places, although Sites AZ N:4:39 (ASM) and AZ N:4:44 (ASM) are more likely to be eligible than the others. Only Isolated Occurrence 46 of the total 36 isolated occurrences may be eligible for inclusion to the National Register of Historic Places. Two sites that were recorded during a survey in the past were not relocated during this survey.

Monitoring of the geo-technical testing revealed two subsurface cultural features. One feature was within Site AZ N:4:18 (ASM), a previously recorded site eligible for inclusion to the National Register of Historic Places. The second subsurface feature observed during geo-technical testing was outside the current boundaries for any known site. Glass fragments that may be historic or modern were uncovered in a third area.

The evaluation of all resources in the project area can be accomplished through subsequent testing, such as hand or mechanical testing, mapping, and/or systematic surface collections. In addition to aiding in the formal determination of eligibility for inclusion to the National Register of Historic Places, this may also assist Arizona State Parks in future cultural resource management planning at Dead Horse Ranch State Park. A number of sites were defined as spatially large artifact scatters. The extent of surface artifacts at several of these sites may have resulted from materials being transported by sheet wash or by historic/modern activities such as farming. Testing of sites may provide information on the distribution of subsurface features, resulting in the redefinition of site boundaries into smaller areal units. A primary result of such investigations may assist park managers with more reliable information on site limits when future improvements are planned within the park.