Classic Period Settlement in the Uplands of Tonto Basin, Roosevelt Platform Mound Study: Report on the Uplands Complex

This report is the third site description volume for the Roosevelt Platform Mound Study. This volume describes 52 Uplands Complex sites investigated by the Roosevelt Platform Mound Study. Excavations or surface collections were conducted at 32 of the sites. These sites were in four study units located in the bajadas and foothill-transition zone of the piedmont that surround and define the Tonto Basin. Although the four Uplands Complex study units are in separate localities, the term "uplands" distinguishes these sites from those on the basin floor, based on certain geographic and inferred behavioral characteristics.

The report describes the environmental characteristics and prehistory of the uplands of the Tonto Basin. The report describes the methods used to investigate the sites, pertinent to all Uplands Complex sites, as well as an overview of the volume that introduces the four study units. The report considers the biases in the data resulting from differing levels of investigation, variability in structure abandonment, and variability in the numbers and types of features sampled in the Uplands Complex.