Cultural Resources Inventory of Eight Titan Missile Silos in the Greater Tucson Area, Pima County, Arizona
By Jeffrey H. Altschul and Steven D. Shelley
Technical Series 12
36 pp. / 1987
A cultural resources inventory of eight de-activated Titan Missile silos was conducted by Statistical Research at the request of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District. The missile silos were dispersed throughout the greater Tucson area. Each silo consisted of approximately 10 acres. Only one silo, silo 13, contained any evidence of cultural resources. Silo 13, located at the northern end of the Avra Valley, is situated on a narrow ridge overlooking the Brawley Wash floodplain. A relatively large archaeological site was found south of the silo. The site probably extended into the silo originally, but most of the portion within the silo was destroyed during construction of the complex. At present there is only a 5-m swath along the southern border of the silo still within the complex. The site probably represents the remnants of a Hohokam village that was occupied during the Rillito and/or Rincon phase. The site appears to be eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. Suggestions were forwarded concerning the type of data recovery needed to mitigate adverse impacts due to land disposal.
One large and relatively complex site (AZ AA:11:2) does impinge upon silo 13. Data recovered from AZ AA:11:2 could address such issues as Hohokam community organization and agricultural practices along secondary drainages. Therefore, our recommendation is that the site is potentially eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
