POLLEN AND PHYTOLITH ANALYSIS OF SOIL SAMPLES FROM THE VALENCIA SITE (AZ BB:13:15[ASM]), PIMA COUNTY, ARIZONA

Adjacent to the Valencia Road off-ramp lies the Valencia site (AZ BB:15:13[ASM]), a pre-Classic Hohokam ballcourt village encompassing a 0.5 km2 area along the eastern terraces of the Santa Cruz River, Pima County, Arizona. The village core was occupied between the Pioneer period (A.D. 475–750) and late Rincon phase (A.D. 1100–1150) of the Secondary period, with settlement components spanning the Cienega phase of the Early Agricultural period (800 B.C.–A.D. 150) through the Tanque Verde phase of the early Classic period (A.D. 1150–1300) (Rebecca Hill, personal communication July 3, 2014). The site contains the remains of a ballcourt, plazas, pit houses, cremations, numerous trash mounds and concentrations, as well as various pits. Sediment samples collected from various feature contexts were submitted for pollen and phytolith analysis to provide information on the environment and subsistence practices of the Hohokam at the Valencia site.