Fivemile Wash Survey

Site AZ L:3:77(ASM) lies in a boulder-strewn landscape along Fivemile Wash.

Purpose

Desert Archaeology conducted a survey along Fivemile Wash in support of the BLM’s Cultural Heritage Program efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect historic properties on lands under their jurisdiction.

Actions

Records review to identify previously recorded archaeological sites
Pedestrian survey of 1,195 acres on either side of a 2.6-mile-long section of Fivemile Wash

Results

Desert Archaeology encountered seven previously unknown precontact archaeological sites and one previously unrecorded segment of Route 66.
The precontact sites are all lithic scatters, with and without associated features.
Based on the prevalence of lithic scatters, Desert Archaeology proposed a research context for future work in the area focusing on culture history, cultural ecology, and lithic technology.

Date:

April 2016

Location:

Mohave Valley, Mohave County, Arizona

Type:

Class I inventory and Class III pedestrian survey

Compliance:

Federal

Lead Agency:

U.S.D.I. Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

Client:

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

DAI Reports:

Project Report No. 15-133

Services:

Survey

Click any image below to enlarge.

Site AZ L:3:77(ASM) lies in a boulder-strewn landscape along Fivemile Wash.

The segment of Route 66 that traverses the project area, facing north, 1,831 miles from Chicago.

View across the northeastern project area showing the boulder-strewn terrain and stratigraphy of the uppermost terrace exposed in area slopes.

The Desert crew records artifacts found at AZ L:3:71(ASM), a site situated on a small knoll of gravel in the middle of Fivemile Wash.

The crew flags artifacts scattered among river gravels exposed at the top of a narrow finger ridge above the Fivemile Wash drainage, at site AZ L:3:74(ASM).