Results of Cultural Resources Monitoring of Proposed Remote Transmitter No. 3 (RT-3) Foundation Work and Two New Antenna Towers at Sky Harbor International Airport near the Site of Pueblo Salado (AZ:T:12:47[ASM]) Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) plans to install two new 60-ft-tall (18.3 m) antenna towers at its Remote Transmitter No. 3 (RT-3) facility at Sky Harbor International Airport. The project’s area of potential effect (APE) is located near the site of Pueblo Salado (AZ T:12:47[ASM]), an extensive Hohokam village that is considered eligible for the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion D. Previous investigations by SWCA, Environmental Consultants (SWCA) near this area of Pueblo Salado uncovered compound loci dating to the Classic and Postclassic periods, as well as numerous inhumations and cremations (Greenwald et al. 1996a, 1996b). Although the site boundaries do not extend up into the current project area, recent work done by ACS discovered a human burial and a prehistoric canal alignment in the immediate vicinity (Aguila 2005a; Boston et al. 2003). Thus, the City of Phoenix recommended monitoring of the excavation work for the two new 60-ft (18.3 m) antenna tower foundations and, if any cultural resources are identified during monitoring of the new tower foundations, archaeological monitoring was also recommended for the removal of the existing 30-ft (9.1 m) towers. At the request of Mr. Keith Lusk of the FAA, ACS prepared a work plan to monitor the installation and removal, and ensure the protection of any significant cultural deposits (e.g., intact features or human remains) discovered by the construction (Aguila and Pinter 2005). This work plan was an addendum to a previous ACS work plan for monitoring of a new manhole (ESO-1F) and associated duct banks at Sky Harbor International Airport (Aguila 2005b). The addendum work plan was reviewed and approved by the City of Phoenix Archaeology Office on August 4, 2005. The State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) concurred with a recommendation of “no historic properties affected” provided the work was monitored by a qualified archaeologist. ACS conducted the monitoring over 14 discontinuous day shifts between August 22, 2005 and January 18, 2006. The work was performed under the authority of project specific permit 2005-094ps issued by the Arizona State Museum (ASM). A segment of the North Branch of Canal Salado was encountered during the monitoring.