Archaeological Investigations Along Reach 3 of the Granite Reef Aqueduct, Central Arizona Project

Under contract with the Bureau of Reclamation, the Office of Cultural Resource Management (OCRM), Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, completed an archaeological survey of Reach 3. Reach 3 of the Granite Reef Aqueduct extends about 15 miles from Highway 72, northwest of Vicksburg, southeast to Hovatter Road, south of Interstate 10.
OCRM archaeologists identified and documented 22 field loci and 18 isolated artifacts during the Reach 3 surveys. Based on relative density of cultural material dispersion, the majority of the field loci were grouped into seven sites: AZ S:5:1 (ASU); AZ S:6:1 (ASU); AZ S:6:2 (ASU); AZ S:6:3 (ASU); AZ S:6:4 (ASU); AZ S:6:5 (ASU); and AZ S:6:6 (ASU).
Mitigation was completed at six sites in September of 1978. The features, consisting of cobble piles or rock rings at AZ S:5:1 (ASU), AZ S:6:1 (ASU), AZ S:6:2 (ASU), and S:6:4 (ASU) were excavated and an artifact locus at AZ S:6:6 (ASU) was tested. The trails at AZ S:6:2 (ASU) and AZ S:6:4 (ASU) were mapped to their furthest visible extents. In addition, surface collection and mapping at AZ S:6:3 (ASU) was completed. No subsurface features were identified.
The investigations identified a pattern of secondary resource zone exploitation in the desert areas between the river valleys. Researchers defined and described a secondary resource zone as an area which did not support a permanent population, but was utilized intermittently, probably on a seasonal basis, in the exploitation of wild plant and animal food resources by people whose primary subsistence was derived from a different zone.