El Caserío: Colonial Period Settlement Along the East Papago Freeway

This volume reports the results of excavations conducted at a small Colonial period Hohokam site in Phoenix, Arizona. Excavations were undertaken at El Caserío (AZ T:12:49(ASM)) as part of the East Papago Freeway Archaeological Project funded by the Arizona Department of Transportation under Contract 85 33.

El Caserío contained several extramural surfaces, trash deposits, 20 pithouses, Decorated ceramic and a variety of miscellaneous pits. analyses and chronometric dates place the primary occupation during the Santa Cruz phase of the Colonial period between A.D. 800 and 900. The site was briefly reused during the Classic period (ca.A.D. 1200-1400) for pit roasting agave.

The relatively brief occupation span allowed a reassessment of late Colonial period chronology. Using both chronometric dates and ceramic seriations, a refinement of the Hohokam chronology for the interval between A.D. 800 and 950 is proposed.

Material culture and biocultural analyses indicate that the site was a small agricultural community involved in growing domesticates (e.g., maize) and hunting small game. El Caserío was probably occupied for 100 to 150 years by no more than a few social groups at any one time. Site structure was dispersed, suggesting a loose structural pattern similar to other Phoenix Basin Colonial period sites.