A Tale of Two Sites

August 2005

Editor's note: See a second article on this continuing research published in November 2011

Two priority sites in the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan and among the most significant archaeological sites within Tucson’s city limits, University Indian Ruin and Tumamoc Hill are both owned by the University of Arizona. The two villages at these sites represent early occupations by farming societies and a very late portion of the Hohokam sequence. Because of their archaeological and historic significance, both have posed stewardship challenges to the UA over the years as it has tried to balance preservation with public accessibility.

Given to the UA’s department of anthropology by an alumnus in the late 1920s for the purpose of preservation and student training, University Indian Ruin is a large village surrounded by the smaller farming settlements dating to the last centuries before the Spanish arrival in the Southwest (A.D. 1200 to 1450). It has been the site of numerous field school excavations dating back to the 1930s under the direction of notable archaeologists such as Byron Cummings, Emil Haury, and Julian Hayden. It was briefly a public park but was closed in 1942 due to a lack of sustained funding. It remains closed to the public to this day.

Tumamoc Hill, a very significant “trincheras” site occupied during the Early Agricultural period (500 B.C. to A.D. 1) and again during Early Ceramic times (A.D. 400 to 600), has been more accessible over the decades much to the detriment of the archaeological remains. In 1907 the hill became the site of the Carnegie Institution’s Desert Laboratory where research on desert climate and environment was conducted until the 1930s. After the Carnegie Institution, the U.S. Forest Service managed the property until the 1960s and under their multiple use policies, many communication towers, observatories, and other constructions were placed on the summit. All this, combined with constant foot traffic from hikers who don’t always stay on paved trails, has posed a much greater preservation challenge than the University Indian Ruin.

To help mitigate these challenges and in cooperation with the University of Arizona’s Historic Preservation Committee, the UA’s archaeological field school conducted investigations at both sites this past spring. Under the direction of Arizona State Museum (ASM) archaeologists Paul and Suzanne Fish and Gary Christopherson of the UA’s Center for Applied Spatial Analysis, graduate and undergraduate students were afforded the opportunity not only to build on long-term, interdisciplinary, student-based research on the Hohokam in the Tucson basin, but also to participate in a real-world preservation issue. “One major goal of our mapping program was to provide detailed information to the University of Arizona and its Historic Preservation Committee to assist in the care of important archaeological remains,” explains Paul Fish. “The field school provided an excellent opportunity for students to participate in valuable research while gaining first-hand experience in the management of cultural resources.”

At Tumamoc Hill, the class mapped massive stone walls and terraces encircling the top of the hill, foundations of houses, and other village remains. The huge walls are the earliest known architectural constructions in Tucson. At University Indian Ruin, students mapped the locations of adobe buildings and a platform mound.

“A major part of this field methods course was to introduce students to advanced spatial technologies,” says Paul Fish. “The learning experience included the use of sophisticated technology such as geographic information systems (GIS) in addition to very basic archaeological field skills.” Using both high and low tech methods the students were taught to create detailed maps and to collect other spatial data using a total station and global positioning system (GPS). The information was then entered into a geodatabase.

In order to continue and complete the survey and mapping work still needed at Tumamoc Hill specifically, ASM and Campus and Facilities Planning have applied for a $91,000 grant request from the Arizona Heritage Fund. In addition to the survey and mapping project, the funds will be used to prepare National Register nomination for the hill’s archaeological and historic features (presently only the Carnegie buildings are on the Register). If awarded, ASM archaeologist John Madsen will manage the grant and, incorporating the field school’s research, will oversee the creation of a management plan which is intended to guide the UA’s Historic Preservation Committee on how to best protect the hill while still allowing access to the public and to land lessees. “If all goes well,” says Madsen, “this project should be completed by 2008.”

Photo by Laura LePere