Sat, Mar 02
|Vista del Rio Cultural Resource Park
Free Tour of the Vista del Rio Archaeological Site
Time & Location
Mar 02, 2024, 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Vista del Rio Cultural Resource Park, 7575 E Desert Arbors St, Tucson, AZ 85715, USA
About the event
This free tour will fill quickly! Limited to 24 people. Reservations are required. To request reservations send email to info@oldpueblo.org.
Preresitration is required 10 days after reservation request or by 5 pm Thursday, February 29th, whichever is earlier.
The free tour of the Vista del Rio Archaeological Site is guided by registered professional archaeologist, Allen Dart and is sponsored by Old Pueblo Archaeology Center and the Vista del Rio Residents' Association.
To celebrate Arizona Archaeology and Heritage Awareness Month, the Vista del Rio Residents Association and Old Pueblo Archaeology Center have teamed up to offer this archaeologist-guided visit to Vista del Rio, an ancient settlement inhabited by people of the Hohokam archaeological culture 800 to 1,000 years ago (sometime between 1000 and 1200 CE).
Archaeological test excavations at the Vista del Rio site showed that the Hohokam once thrived and farmed at this place along the south side of the Tanque Verde Creek. The excavations reveled evidence of Hohokam pithouses, a possible above-ground house, outdoor ovens and pits, and possibly an ancient irrigation canal. These features are burid and not visible today, but a visit to the park with professional archaeologist, Allen Dart, Old Pueblo Archaeology Center's executive director, will reveal subtle clues to the archeological site's existences.
The City of Tucson's Vista del Rio Cultural Resource Park conserves a large portion of this archaeological site. To keep the buired archaeological features that are still present there from being damaged, the City has limited park development to a ramada, a walking trail, a drip irrigation system, and some interpretive signs.