Archaeological Survey in Catalina State Park with a Focus on the Romero Ruin

Catalina State Park is situated approximately 22 km (14 miles) north of Tucson, Arizona. Within this beautiful and pristine desert area lie a large number of relatively undisturbed archaeological sites. The park has witnessed a long and varied history. Sometime after 5000 B.C. Archaic period hunters and gatherers first roamed through the park area in their search for game and edible plants. During the following Hohokam period the park area was intensively occupied. A wide range of sites are present, including isolated bedrock mortars, rockshelters, and small sherd and lithic scatters, as well as major habitation and village sites with well-developed agricultural field systems. The Romero Ruin (AZ BB:9:1), which was settled early in the Hohokam Pioneer period, is the largest and most significant village site within the park, and one of the most significant sites within the Tucson Basin in general. The site contains two ballcourts, a large Classic period compound, and at least 17 trash mounds, some of which reach a height of more than two meters above the ground surface. Finally, during the historic period Francisco Romero built his ranch house on top of the remains of the Romero Ruin sometime around 1844, when Tucson and much of Arizona were still a part of Mexico, and raids by roving bands of Apaches were commonplace.

This report describes the results of an archaeological survey of Catalina State Park conducted by archaeologists from the Institute for American Research between February 16 and March 11, 1987. The survey intensively covered roughly 2.65 square miles, centering around the Romero Ruin. Twenty-nine previously unrecorded archaeological sites were discovered, while additional information was collected from thirteen known sites. These data were used in conjunction with the mapping and intensive surface collection of the Romero Ruin to reconstruct the settlement patterns within the park area.