Archaeology of the Ak Chin Indian Community West Side Farms Project: Research Design

This volume describes the research orientation and methods used during the Ak Chin Archaeological Data Recovery Project. The project examined the cultural resources of the western half of the Ak Chin Community's lands, scheduled for intensive agricultural development using waters from the Central Arizona Project. The volume includes a discussion of the natural and cultural setting of the project area (Chapters 1 and 2), with an emphasis on the Hohokam and historic Papago occupation documented during a previous survey of the area. It also contians description of the project's problem orientation (Chapter 3). The basic research theme considers the Ak Chin project area as a Holocene ecosystem. This research theme assumes that Ak Chin has been used as a floodwater farming location for many centuries. The project's problem domains and research questions focus on the physical (geomorphological), biological, and cultural subsystems within the Ak Chin ecosystem. The research also explores the regional implications of the work. Chapter 4 describes the project's methodological approach. It outlines a multiple approach to data recovery. This approach includes (1) non-site field studies; {2) site re-recording and surface testing; (3) backhoe testing; (4) excavation; and (5} ethnohistoric research. Basic field and in-house analytical procedures are also discussed.