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The Clearwater Site: Tucson, Arizona, 2100 B.C.

Southwest

Excavated by Desert Archaeology, Inc., as part of the Rio Nuevo Project, the ancient homes found in the deepest layers of soil at the Clearwater site are more than 4000 years old. The remains of these homes—known as pithouses— represent some of the earliest known examples of architecture from the Early Agricultural period (2100 B.C. to A.D. 50). The Clearwater site (AZ BB:13:6[ASM]) is now beneath the Mercado District at the intersection of Congress and Grande in Tucson, Arizona.

This conjectural reconstruction was created by the Archaeology Southwest to illustrate how the Clearwater site might have looked sometime around it’s initial founding around 2000 B.C. The reconstruction is based upon data gathered by Desert Archaeology, Inc., during their research at the site. Additional data were provided by Western Mapping, Inc., the United States Geological Survey, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Chalk outlines ancient homes and storage pits before excavation.
Chalk outlines ancient homes and storage pits before excavation.

This image shows two pithouses from the Clearwater site. The soil layer that these houses were constructed upon dates these homes to around 400 B.C.
This image shows two pithouses from the Clearwater site. The soil layer that these houses were constructed upon dates these homes to around 400 B.C.

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