15 Hohokam dwellings found at road project

Archeologists have discovered 15 prehistoric Hohokam dwellings in an area that will soon be covered by an extension of the Interstate 19 east frontage road, but the find shouldn’t cause major delays to the much-anticipated construction project.

Two sites along I-19 are being evaluated for possible excavation, said Roger Anyon, program manager for the Pima County Cultural Resources and Historic Preservation Office.

He wouldn’t give their exact location to protect them from vandalism, but said the sites were near the southern end of the project, between Canoa Road and the current strip of east frontage road, on property owned by the Canoa Conservation Park.

Currently, the sites have not been excavated; the Cultural Resources office is waiting to hear back from the Pima County Department of Transportation, which is planning to redesign that part of the frontage road project so it will avoid causing disturbance to the prehistoric settlement.

If plans don’t change, archeologists will conduct a full-blown excavation, much like the one at Continental Road and Whitehouse Canyon Road that produced more than 500 Hohokam artifacts in April. That site, which consisted of four dwellings, had to be excavated because it was scheduled to be covered as part of a road-widening project to add bicycle lanes on Whitehouse Canyon Road.

However, “The idea is to design a (construction) project to minimize the impact to archeology,” said Anyon, who explained that the Cultural Resources office prefers to “preserve in place” rather than fully excavate a site. That entails digging trenches to enable archeologists to observe and record findings with minimal disturbance to the area, collecting few — if any — artifacts, then filling the trenches with dirt.

Anyon says the process is much less expensive, adding that “the best option is for us to conserve, and save (Pima County) money at the same time.”

He expects to find out in the next few months if the east frontage road project will be redesigned to accommodate the archeological features nearby.

But a redesign wouldn’t cause major delays to the overall construction project — at least not immediately.

To get the heaviest construction work over with before Green Valley’s winter visitors return in the fall, PCDOT will start construction at the Continental Road and east frontage road intersection. From there it will move south, so that extension of the frontage road from The Springs to Canoa Road — close to where the archeological sites are located — would be the last step in completion of the 17-month project.

Preliminary work began on the project last week, but a spokesman for PCDOT has said they still don’t have details on the expected dates of major road closures, including the northbound interstate off-ramp at Continental.

More than 100 archeological sites have been discovered in the Green Valley area, many of them Hohokam dwellings, according to Arizona State Museum records.

The structures, known as pit houses, were wood and brush huts built in pits dug one or two feet into the earth, which helped inhabitants keep cool in the region’s harsh climate. They varied in size and were normally grouped in clusters.

The Hohokam lived in the Tucson basin from about A.D. 300 to 1450; the Pima and Tohono O’odham are believed to be their descendents.

jrichardson@gvnews.com | 547-9726

FULL OF HISTORY

More than 4,520 prehistoric and historic archaeological sites have been discovered throughout Pima County. Of the prehistoric sites, most are from Hohokam settlements, dating from A.D. 750 to 1450, according to the county’s Cultural Resources office.