The Roosevelt Rural Sites Study, Volume 2: Prehistoric Rural Settlements in the Tonto Basin, Part 2

The Roosevelt Rural Sites Study (RRSS) was one of three data recovery mitigative studies that the Bureau of Reclamation funded to investigate the prehistory of the Tonto Basin in the vicinity of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. The series of investigations constituted Reclamation's program for complying with historic preservation legislation as it applied to the raising and modification of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. Reclamation contracted with Statistical Research, Inc., to conduct this study.

The RRSS was a two-year mitigative data designed to study small habitation, agricultural, and resource processing sites, which are located away from the main centers of prehistoric habitation in the Tonto Basin, and to contribute to an ongoing synthetic study of Tonto Basin prehistory. The specific research focus of the RRSS in Reclamation's overall compliance program was the evolution of prehistoric rural land-use systems in the Tonto Basin. Twenty-nine prehistoric sites grouped into six study areas located in the bajada zone surrounding the lake on lands administered by the Tonto National Forest comprise the data base for this study.

The Roosevelt Rural Sites Study Volume 2, the second of three volumes, presents the results of two phases of archaeological data recovery at the sites selected by Reclamation to provide the primary data base for this study. The original data base consisted of 29 prehistoric sites grouped in six study areas located in the bajada zone surrounding the lake, on lands administered by the Tonto National Forest. This number was reduced to 27 after 2 sites were deleted from further consideration following the first phase of data recovery. Many of these sites, however, contained multiple components representing either different ages or settlement classes. Eight farmsteads and small hamlets ranging in age from the Sacaton phase (around A.D. 1000–1150) to the Roosevelt phase (around A.D. 1250–1350) were intensively investigated. All represented short-term occupations of less than 100 years by groups of one to three households. The majority of the sites consisted of temporarily- or seasonally-occupied field houses dating to the Miami (A.D. 1150–1250), Roosevelt, and possibly Gila (A.D. 1350–1450) phases of the Classic period. In addition, three Classic period sites were associated with run-off control and water conservation technology. The two larger sites contained many rock piles, checkdams, and linear borders associated with roasting pits and mescal knives. The field houses and agricultural sites reveal that the bajada zone was utilized for corn and agave cultivation. Residence was small in scale, short-term, and primarily limited to the lower edge of the bajada overlooking the floodplain terraces. This land-use pattern was apparently initiated in the early Sedentary period and climaxed in the Roosevelt phase of the Classic period. Traces of an earlier Archaic and later Apache occupation was evidenced at several sites, although little could be determined in regard to the nature of land use during these periods.

The chapters in this volume document the field excavations and present the results of the analyses of material culture and faunal and human remains. This volume concludes with an analysis of rural settlement classes that synthesizes the project data with those from previous studies of small Formative period sites in the region and a preliminary reconstruction of Formative period land-use patterns.

The third and final volume presents the results of archaeobotanical, soil, and paleoclimatic analyses. These results are examined, along with those from Volume 2, in an interpretive framework derived from an examination of records pertaining to ethnographic, ethnohistoric, and historic land use in central Arizona.

罗斯福乡村遗址研究（Roosevelt Rural Sites Study, RRSS）是美国垦务局（Bureau of Reclamation）为开展西奥多·罗斯福大坝（Theodore Roosevelt Dam）周边通托盆地（Tonto Basin）史前史调查而资助的三项应急数据抢救研究之一。该系列调查是垦务局落实适用于西奥多·罗斯福大坝加高与改造工程的历史保护法规的专项工作。垦务局与统计研究公司（Statistical Research, Inc.）签订合同，委托其开展本项研究。

本项研究为为期两年的应急数据抢救研究，旨在调查通托盆地内远离主要史前聚居中心的小型居住、农业与资源加工遗址，并为通托盆地史前史的持续综合研究提供支撑。本研究在垦务局整体合规工作中的核心研究方向为通托盆地史前乡村土地利用系统的演变历程。本次研究的数据库涵盖29处史前遗址，这些遗址被划分为6个研究区域，分布于通托国家森林（Tonto National Forest）管辖范围内的环湖坡积裙带（bajada zone）。

《罗斯福乡村遗址研究》第二卷（共三卷）展示了垦务局选定的本研究核心数据库遗址的两阶段考古数据抢救成果。本研究原始数据库原本涵盖29处史前遗址，这些遗址被划分为6个研究区域，分布于通托国家森林管辖范围内的环湖坡积裙带。在第一阶段数据抢救工作完成后，有2处遗址被排除出后续研究，最终遗址数量缩减至27处。不过其中多数遗址包含多个遗存单元，分别对应不同年代或聚落类型。研究团队对8处年代跨度从萨卡顿期（Sacaton phase，公元1000–1150年）至罗斯福期（Roosevelt phase，公元1250–1350年）的农场宅地与小型村落开展了全面深入的调查。所有这些遗址均为1-3户人家持续不足百年的短期居留遗址。绝大多数遗址为属于古典时期（Classic period）迈阿密期（Miami phase，公元1150–1250年）、罗斯福期以及可能的吉拉期（Gila phase，公元1350–1450年）的临时性或季节性田间房屋。此外，3处古典时期遗址与径流控制及节水技术相关。两处规模较大的遗址内发现了大量与焙烧坑、龙舌兰（agave）加工刀相关的石堆、谷坊与线性田埂。田间房屋与农业遗址表明，坡积裙地带曾被用于玉米与龙舌兰种植。当时的聚居规模较小、居留时间短暂，且主要集中在坡积裙紧邻河漫滩阶地的下缘区域。这种土地利用模式显然起源于早期定居期（Sedentary period），并在古典时期的罗斯福期达到鼎盛。部分遗址中发现了更早的古风期（Archaic period）与较晚的阿帕奇人（Apache）居留痕迹，但目前尚无法明确这两个时期的土地利用性质。

本卷各章节记录了野外发掘工作，并展示了人工遗物、动物遗骸与人类遗骸的分析成果。本卷末尾以乡村聚落类型分析收尾，该分析将本项目数据与该区域此前针对形成期（Formative period）小型遗址的研究数据进行整合，并初步重建了该区域形成期的土地利用模式。

第三卷即本系列的终卷，展示了植物考古学（archaeobotanical）、土壤学与古气候学的分析成果。本卷与第二卷的研究结果将结合基于亚利桑那州中部民族志、民族史与历史时期土地利用记录构建的解释框架进行综合解读。