Aptly named for a prominent pictograph contained within it, Swordfish Cave is a compelling space ... more Aptly named for a prominent pictograph contained within it, Swordfish Cave is a compelling space that is sacred to Chumash Native Americans. In the 1990s, accelerated deterioration of both painted and carved rock art in this shallow cave prompted Vandenberg Air Force Base to initiate a project to stabilize the cave and protect the rock art after consultation with the Tribal Elders Council of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians. Drainage improvement and the establishment of a public viewing area were both pursued with the end goal of protecting the pictographs, yet these efforts simultaneously produced an opportunity for data recovery at the cave. The Archaeology and Rock Art of Swordfish Cave reports on three field seasons of data recovery and stabilization efforts at this locale. In preparing this volume, Applied EarthWorks, Inc. well exceeds the minimum standards of cultural resource management and environmental compliance. Lebow, Harro, and McKim discuss broad and thorough results in a scientifically rigorous manner. The authors succeed in presenting and interpreting a compendium of technical results in this single volume written to be accessible to a wide audience of scholars and professionals. Omitting introductory and summary chapters, the following describes primarily data-oriented chapters. In Chapter 3, the authors recount the data recovery and analytic methods employed in the 1997, 1999, and 2002 field seasons, as well as stabilization procedures utilized in the latter two seasons. The researchers attempt to place artifacts recovered during these operations within what Schiffer (1972) famously deemed their “systemic context,” relating these items to their manufacture completeness and source materials. Chapter 4 synthesizes the chronological data from radiocarbon dating and the associations of temporally diagnostic artifacts. These data are presented in relationship to predominant proposed regional chronologies, relating the Swordfish Cave sequence to broader contemporaneous cultural processes.
COOK, Joseph P. 1, PEARTHREE, Philip A. 2, HOUSE, P. Kyle 3, BIGIO, Erica 4, ONKEN, Jill A. 5, an... more COOK, Joseph P. 1, PEARTHREE, Philip A. 2, HOUSE, P. Kyle 3, BIGIO, Erica 4, ONKEN, Jill A. 5, and YOUBERG, Ann 2,(1) Arizona Geological Survey, 416 W. Congress St, Tucson, AZ 85701, joe. cook@ azgs. az. gov,(2) Arizona Geological Survey, 416 W. Congress St, ...
Seven springs in the northern Kawich Range were investigated to determine whether Holocene volcan... more Seven springs in the northern Kawich Range were investigated to determine whether Holocene volcanic ash layers exist in alluvial deposits within the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR). Although no discrete ash layers were visible in the exposures studied, microtephra analysis of sediment samples collected at Rose Spring and Cedar Spring revealed the presence of varying concentrations of ash shards. Radiocarbon dating and stratigraphic relationships suggest that both Mono-Inyo Craters and Mazama ashes could be present, potentially extending the known geographic distribution of these ashes. Future studies should include geochemical characterization and tephra hydration analysis of these ashes to establish which volcanic events produced them. These ashes, although probably reworked, have potential to help date and correlate archaeological deposits on the NTTR.
Statistical Research, Inc. (SRI), under subcontract to ASM Affiliates, conducted geoarchaeologica... more Statistical Research, Inc. (SRI), under subcontract to ASM Affiliates, conducted geoarchaeological investigations in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) Tres Rios project area. The Tres Rios project involves flood control, wetland restoration, water reclamation and reuse (creation of wetland, marsh, and open water areas), and construction of a pipeline and levees. The project area is located in central Arizona in the area surrounding the confluence of the Salt, Gila, and Agua Fria Rivers. The study area contains two distinct reaches of the Gila River. The eastern half of the project area contains the terminal reach of the lower Salt River and its confluence with the Gila River. This 3-km- (2-mile-) long reach is characterized by a wide, unstable channel with multiple low-flow channels and many mid-channel bars and islands, traits resulting from a large sediment load, erodible banks, and highly variable discharges (Graf et al. 1994). The western half of the project area contains the uppermost reach of the lower Gila River, beginning at the Gila-Salt confluence and extending 6.5 km (4 miles) west to the vicinity of the Agua Fria River's confluence with the Gila. The channel of this reach is also braided; the gradient is significantly lower, however, resulting in denser vegetation and more channel deposition than in upstream reaches (Graf et al. 1994).
Hydrological modeling procedures applied to regulatory flood-hazard zonation can be misapplied wh... more Hydrological modeling procedures applied to regulatory flood-hazard zonation can be misapplied when assumptions concerning flood-hazardous processes are violated. Geomorphological mapping of the Tortolita Mountain piedmont in southern Arizona reveals extensive high-standing nonhazardous inactive, relict Pleistocene fan surfaces within zones mapped by FEMA as subject to active alluvial fan processes and 100-year flooding. Paleoflood analysis of upstream mountain canyons documents that maximum flood discharges for the past century have been about 50% lower than the regulatory (100-year) flood discharges. Geological studies are essential complements to engineering models in order to generate public confidence that regulatory requirements derive from knowledge of real rather than idealized arid-region flood-hazard processes.
The purpose of these investigations is to document and map the extent of Holocene channel and flo... more The purpose of these investigations is to document and map the extent of Holocene channel and floodplain alluvium associated with five large tributaries to the Verde River in central Arizona. These tributaries are Oak Creek, Wet Beaver Creek, West Clear Creek, Fossil Creek, and the East Verde River. Mapping completed in this study may be used by Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) staff as part of their effort to delineate subflow zones in the Verde River Watershed. Geologic mapping is a primary function of the Arizona Geological Survey (AZGS), so in cooperation with ADWR staff we have established procedures and protocols for documenting and mapping the extent of Holocene floodplain alluvium along rivers in Arizona. This report and associated maps complete the second part of an effort to map Holocene channel and floodplain alluvium mapping along the Verde River corridor. In the first phase of this effort, we mapped Holocene river deposits along the Verde River (Cook et al.,...
The character of flooding and the extent of flood-prone areas on the southern piedmont of the Tor... more The character of flooding and the extent of flood-prone areas on the southern piedmont of the Tortolita Mountains have been disputed by local and federal flood plain management officials since at least 1987. Flood insurance rate maps (FIRMs) promulgated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) depict much of the Tortolita piedmont as being subject to alluvial-fan flooding. Officials of the Pima County Flood Control District have argued that 100-year floodplains delineated on these FIRMs include extensive areas that are not flood prone, and that the alluvial-fan methodology used to develop these maps is not appropriate for the Tortolita piedmont. We conducted a geomorphic analysis of the southern piedmont of the Tortolita Mountains in northern Pima County to critically evaluate the floodplain designations derived using the FEMA alluvial-fan methodology (AFM) (Dawdy, 1979; FEMA, 1985; 1989). The geomorphic character of a piedmont provides a long record of flooding events that...
Swordfish Cave is a well-known rock art site located on Vandenberg Air Force Base in south-centra... more Swordfish Cave is a well-known rock art site located on Vandenberg Air Force Base in south-central California. Named for the swordfish painted on its wall, the cave is a sacred Chumash site. When it was under threat and required measures to conserve it, nearly all of the cave’s interior was excavated to create a rock art viewing area. That effort revealed previously unknown rock art and made it possible to closely examine how early occupants used the space inside the cave. Archaeologists identified three periods of human use, including an initial occupation around 3,550 years ago, an occupation about 660 years later, and a final Native American occupation that occurred much later, between A.D. 1787 and 1804.
Aptly named for a prominent pictograph contained within it, Swordfish Cave is a compelling space ... more Aptly named for a prominent pictograph contained within it, Swordfish Cave is a compelling space that is sacred to Chumash Native Americans. In the 1990s, accelerated deterioration of both painted and carved rock art in this shallow cave prompted Vandenberg Air Force Base to initiate a project to stabilize the cave and protect the rock art after consultation with the Tribal Elders Council of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians. Drainage improvement and the establishment of a public viewing area were both pursued with the end goal of protecting the pictographs, yet these efforts simultaneously produced an opportunity for data recovery at the cave. The Archaeology and Rock Art of Swordfish Cave reports on three field seasons of data recovery and stabilization efforts at this locale. In preparing this volume, Applied EarthWorks, Inc. well exceeds the minimum standards of cultural resource management and environmental compliance. Lebow, Harro, and McKim discuss broad and thorough results in a scientifically rigorous manner. The authors succeed in presenting and interpreting a compendium of technical results in this single volume written to be accessible to a wide audience of scholars and professionals. Omitting introductory and summary chapters, the following describes primarily data-oriented chapters. In Chapter 3, the authors recount the data recovery and analytic methods employed in the 1997, 1999, and 2002 field seasons, as well as stabilization procedures utilized in the latter two seasons. The researchers attempt to place artifacts recovered during these operations within what Schiffer (1972) famously deemed their “systemic context,” relating these items to their manufacture completeness and source materials. Chapter 4 synthesizes the chronological data from radiocarbon dating and the associations of temporally diagnostic artifacts. These data are presented in relationship to predominant proposed regional chronologies, relating the Swordfish Cave sequence to broader contemporaneous cultural processes.
COOK, Joseph P. 1, PEARTHREE, Philip A. 2, HOUSE, P. Kyle 3, BIGIO, Erica 4, ONKEN, Jill A. 5, an... more COOK, Joseph P. 1, PEARTHREE, Philip A. 2, HOUSE, P. Kyle 3, BIGIO, Erica 4, ONKEN, Jill A. 5, and YOUBERG, Ann 2,(1) Arizona Geological Survey, 416 W. Congress St, Tucson, AZ 85701, joe. cook@ azgs. az. gov,(2) Arizona Geological Survey, 416 W. Congress St, ...
Seven springs in the northern Kawich Range were investigated to determine whether Holocene volcan... more Seven springs in the northern Kawich Range were investigated to determine whether Holocene volcanic ash layers exist in alluvial deposits within the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR). Although no discrete ash layers were visible in the exposures studied, microtephra analysis of sediment samples collected at Rose Spring and Cedar Spring revealed the presence of varying concentrations of ash shards. Radiocarbon dating and stratigraphic relationships suggest that both Mono-Inyo Craters and Mazama ashes could be present, potentially extending the known geographic distribution of these ashes. Future studies should include geochemical characterization and tephra hydration analysis of these ashes to establish which volcanic events produced them. These ashes, although probably reworked, have potential to help date and correlate archaeological deposits on the NTTR.
Statistical Research, Inc. (SRI), under subcontract to ASM Affiliates, conducted geoarchaeologica... more Statistical Research, Inc. (SRI), under subcontract to ASM Affiliates, conducted geoarchaeological investigations in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) Tres Rios project area. The Tres Rios project involves flood control, wetland restoration, water reclamation and reuse (creation of wetland, marsh, and open water areas), and construction of a pipeline and levees. The project area is located in central Arizona in the area surrounding the confluence of the Salt, Gila, and Agua Fria Rivers. The study area contains two distinct reaches of the Gila River. The eastern half of the project area contains the terminal reach of the lower Salt River and its confluence with the Gila River. This 3-km- (2-mile-) long reach is characterized by a wide, unstable channel with multiple low-flow channels and many mid-channel bars and islands, traits resulting from a large sediment load, erodible banks, and highly variable discharges (Graf et al. 1994). The western half of the project area contains the uppermost reach of the lower Gila River, beginning at the Gila-Salt confluence and extending 6.5 km (4 miles) west to the vicinity of the Agua Fria River's confluence with the Gila. The channel of this reach is also braided; the gradient is significantly lower, however, resulting in denser vegetation and more channel deposition than in upstream reaches (Graf et al. 1994).
Hydrological modeling procedures applied to regulatory flood-hazard zonation can be misapplied wh... more Hydrological modeling procedures applied to regulatory flood-hazard zonation can be misapplied when assumptions concerning flood-hazardous processes are violated. Geomorphological mapping of the Tortolita Mountain piedmont in southern Arizona reveals extensive high-standing nonhazardous inactive, relict Pleistocene fan surfaces within zones mapped by FEMA as subject to active alluvial fan processes and 100-year flooding. Paleoflood analysis of upstream mountain canyons documents that maximum flood discharges for the past century have been about 50% lower than the regulatory (100-year) flood discharges. Geological studies are essential complements to engineering models in order to generate public confidence that regulatory requirements derive from knowledge of real rather than idealized arid-region flood-hazard processes.
The purpose of these investigations is to document and map the extent of Holocene channel and flo... more The purpose of these investigations is to document and map the extent of Holocene channel and floodplain alluvium associated with five large tributaries to the Verde River in central Arizona. These tributaries are Oak Creek, Wet Beaver Creek, West Clear Creek, Fossil Creek, and the East Verde River. Mapping completed in this study may be used by Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) staff as part of their effort to delineate subflow zones in the Verde River Watershed. Geologic mapping is a primary function of the Arizona Geological Survey (AZGS), so in cooperation with ADWR staff we have established procedures and protocols for documenting and mapping the extent of Holocene floodplain alluvium along rivers in Arizona. This report and associated maps complete the second part of an effort to map Holocene channel and floodplain alluvium mapping along the Verde River corridor. In the first phase of this effort, we mapped Holocene river deposits along the Verde River (Cook et al.,...
The character of flooding and the extent of flood-prone areas on the southern piedmont of the Tor... more The character of flooding and the extent of flood-prone areas on the southern piedmont of the Tortolita Mountains have been disputed by local and federal flood plain management officials since at least 1987. Flood insurance rate maps (FIRMs) promulgated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) depict much of the Tortolita piedmont as being subject to alluvial-fan flooding. Officials of the Pima County Flood Control District have argued that 100-year floodplains delineated on these FIRMs include extensive areas that are not flood prone, and that the alluvial-fan methodology used to develop these maps is not appropriate for the Tortolita piedmont. We conducted a geomorphic analysis of the southern piedmont of the Tortolita Mountains in northern Pima County to critically evaluate the floodplain designations derived using the FEMA alluvial-fan methodology (AFM) (Dawdy, 1979; FEMA, 1985; 1989). The geomorphic character of a piedmont provides a long record of flooding events that...
Swordfish Cave is a well-known rock art site located on Vandenberg Air Force Base in south-centra... more Swordfish Cave is a well-known rock art site located on Vandenberg Air Force Base in south-central California. Named for the swordfish painted on its wall, the cave is a sacred Chumash site. When it was under threat and required measures to conserve it, nearly all of the cave’s interior was excavated to create a rock art viewing area. That effort revealed previously unknown rock art and made it possible to closely examine how early occupants used the space inside the cave. Archaeologists identified three periods of human use, including an initial occupation around 3,550 years ago, an occupation about 660 years later, and a final Native American occupation that occurred much later, between A.D. 1787 and 1804.
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