The Late Cochise Culture in the Sulphur Spring Valley, Southeastern Arizona: Archaeology of the Fairchild Site

Excavation of the Fairchild site was conducted between August and October, 1970, as part of a contract archaeological project on the Double Adobe-Cochise College Highway right-of-way directed by the Arizona State Museum. The major site component, a transitional Chiricahua-San Pedro stage Cochise culture campsite, appears to have been a base camp inhabited seasonally by small groups of hunter-gatherers. Analyses of stone tools and material sources, and evidence of human paleoenvironmental relations indicate that the prehistoric groups may have moved within a territory including the southern Sulphur Spring Valley and adjacent mountains. No evidence for the practice of agriculture was found. The design of future research in this area should consider these aspects and test them with additional data gathered in the field.