The Safford Basin and the Aravaipa Creek areas of southeastern Arizona have received relatively little attention from professional archaeologists, yet are often assumed to have played a significant role in the late prehistoric Southwest.

Research in surrounding areas, such as Point of Pines to the north, and the San Pedro River Valley to the south and west, has demonstrated that migration greatly influenced the populations of these two areas from A.D. 1200 to 1450. The Safford Basin and the Aravaipa Creek lie geographically between Point of Pines and the San Pedro, and astride probable routes of prehistoric migration.

While archaeologists often assume that migrants moved through the Safford and Aravaipa areas, few projects have been carried out to test this idea. Center Preservation Fellow Anna Neuzil's research is examining the extent of migration in Classic Period (A.D. 1200-1450) sites in the Safford Basin and Aravaipa Creek through the artifacts and settlements they left behind.

The first step of this project is the creation of a comprehensive inventory of Classic Period sites in the study area, both on public and private lands. Once this inventory has been generated, some sites will be selected for more intensive investigation, including mapping and surface collection. Sites chosen for this analysis will have the greatest potential to provide data relevant to questions of migration and identity, such as settlement layout and wall construction, and surface assemblages of ceramics and other artifacts.

Ceramics will provide information about when each site was occupied and whether the inhabitants used local pottery or that from other regions. Maps will be used to examine the location of sites across the landscape, as well as the use and structure of living and activity space within each site. With these data, Neuzil will be able to evaluate the identity of the inhabitants at each site, and draw conclusions about the relationships of migrants and indigenous groups during the Classic Period in the Safford Basin and Aravaipa Creek areas.

The location of the Safford Basin and the Aravaipa Creek areas along proposed routes of prehistoric migration make research such as this crucial to fully understanding the later periods of prehistory in the Greater Southwest. While migration has been intensely studied in areas to the north and south, the topic of migration in the Safford Basin and Aravaipa Creek areas has barely been scratched. This project will help to assess the scale and impact of migration in the area, while also creating a basic record of sites, many of which are threatened by development.

Measuring wall length at a Safford Basin site.