Two Villages on Tumamoc Hill

November 2011

Suzanne K. Fish
Paul R. Fish
Gary Christopherson
Todd A. Pitezel
James T. Watson

ASM and University of Arizona researchers have published an article, excerpted below, about two geographically adjacent but temporally distant settlements on Tumamoc Hill. The full article (PDF - 2MB*) is reprinted with permission from Journal of Arizona Archaeology 2011, Volume 1, Number 2: 185-196. © 2011 Arizona Archaeological Council.

Abstract

A prominent Tucson landmark, Tumamoc Hill has an extensive complex of stone trincheras features. It is the only such hill site in southern Arizona with substantial, well-documented occupations dating to the Early Agricultural (Cienega phase) and early Pioneer (Tortolita phase) periods. Massive walls and terraces encircling the hilltop represent one of the earliest communal-scale constructions in the U.S. Southwest during the Cienega phase. A diversity of other stone features is concentrated on the summit. Using current mapping techniques, augmented by excavations, recent University of Arizona investigations have generated data that allow an organizational assessment of Tumamoc’s Tortolita phase village and insights into its place in regional settlement at the beginning of the Hohokam sequence.

Tumamoc Hill is an iconic flat-topped peak that affords an unsurpassed view east across the Tucson Basin, north as far as Picacho Peak, west to the Baboquiviri Mountains, and south halfway to the Mexican border. A prominent dark volcanic mass rising 228 m (700 ft) above the Santa Cruz River in today’s downtown Tucson, Tumamoc must have been a defining element of the Tucson Basin landscape in the past as well. Archaeological remains dating from at least the Middle Archaic period to the present mark the hill’s enduring significance for a continuing succession of visitors and residents.

Tumamoc Hill exemplifies a specialized site type that occurs mainly on volcanic hills throughout the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. Termed “trincheras sites,” these are further defined by the presence of walls, terraces, and other features built of stone. Tumamoc possesses one of the most extensive and diverse complexes of trincheras features in southern Arizona.

Massive walls and terraces surround the hill summit, where a wide array of additional features includes pithouses and other structures, residential walls and terraces, numerous bedrock mortars and cupules, extensive rock art, and an elaborate trail system.

Photo by Laura LePere

* PLEASE NOTE:

• PDF requires a PDF file reader application such as Adobe Acrobat Reader.
• This icon indicates link opens in a new window.
• You may wish to save this large file to disk rather than opening it in your browser. See Help for instructions.