The story so far

A developer plans to build condominiums on land near Continental Ranch. As part of preparations before construction, the town required archaeological work to remove ancient Hohokam burials and other artifacts from the land.

The developer originally hired Aztlan Archaeology, a Tucson firm, to remove the remains and artifacts. Aztlan completed its work, finding only a handful of burials and other artifacts. The work wasn't sufficient for Su Benaron, the town's archaeologist. She called for more work on the site.

The town and the developer agreed to hire Desert Archaeology, another Tucson firm, as an independent consultant and combined to pay it $35,000 to conduct a survey of the land. The purpose of the survey was to determine whether Benaron was correct in asking that more work be conducted on the site.

Desert Archaeology's survey found almost 100 artifacts, including two dozen burial sites and other archaeological features.

The town wouldn't allow the developer to move forward on the site until more burials were identified and removed. The developer offered to pay $245,100 to finish the archaeological work the town required. The developer hired Tierra Right of Way Services to complete the work.

Tierra completed its work this spring, finding more than 100 burials. In total, the site has nearly 135 burials and was possibly an extension of nearby villages that were previously discovered.

After losing the contract on the site, Aztlan on Jan. 18 filed a claim with the town for $472,000. The town never responded to the claim and, earlier this month, Aztlan filed a lawsuit.