Rye Creek Project: Archaeology in the Upper Tonto Basin

This project involved testing and data recovery at 19 archaeological sites within the Upper Tonto Basin of central Arizona, approximately 10 miles south of the town of Payson. The project was undertaken for the Arizona Department of Transportation prior to the realignment and expansion of State Route 87. The data suggest that while there may have been limited migration into the Basin from points north and south, the Upper Basin was occupied primarily by an indigenous population who participated in various interaction networks, the nature of which changed through time.