Revisiting the Bylas Phase: An Analysis of Trends and Historical Processes Within the San Carlos Safford Area of Southeastern Arizona During the Late Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries

Abstract

Johnson and Wasley's ([1966] Archaeological Excavations Near Bylas, Arizona. Kiva 31(4):205–253) Bylas phase was the basis of a chronological framework the prehistory of the San Carlos Safford Area (SCSA). However, we note limited revision of the phase despite new archaeological data from recent investigations. We evaluate the Bylas phase and analyze chronology, settlement distribution, site structure, ceramic production and acquisition, subsistence, and mortuary patterns. Therefore, we revise Bylas phase chronology, specify four ceramic production zones, identify a mortuary pattern, delineate the nature and extent of occupancy and subsistence, and finally suggest dynamic changes in social organization and demography. We hypothesize many of these shifts, including conflict and district wide depopulation, relate to the emergence of a managerial elite class and repeated immigration from outside the SCSA during the Bylas phase before terminating with the arrival of northern groups at the onset of the Goat Hill phase.