Late Archaic wells on the Gila River Indian Community, Arizona

► Late Archaic-aged (1000 B.C.) wells were found in buried alluvium of McClellan Wash, Arizona. ► Detailed stratigraphic descriptions are made of the geomorphology and site taphonomy along the middle Gila River. ► The wells date to a period of high ENSO variability and aridity. ► The evidence for water extraction features reflects riparian resource tethering and has ethnographic analogues.