Ancestral Puebloan (Other Keyword)

DOCUMENT Citation Only Michael Aiuvalasit.

The Jemez and Pajarito Plateaus of the Jemez Mountains share similar cultural, environmental, and climatic contexts, yet large Ancestral Puebloan communities of the Pajarito abandoned mesa-tops for lowlands of the Rio Grande during the 16th century while occupations of the Jemez Plateau persisted until the 17th century. Droughts are hypothesized as a driver of depopulation of the Pajarito Plateau, but if so why wasn’t the Jemez abandoned as well? Prehistoric communities built water storage...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Karen Harry. Sachiko Sakai.

The Virgin Branch ceramic typology is poorly defined. Definitions and chronologies of most types were established more than half a century ago, when little work had been conducted in the region. Further, because of an absence of tree-ring dates, the placement of most types has relied on cross-dating with Kayenta pottery styles. These situations can create problems when using ceramics to date archaeological contexts, as illustrated by recent excavations at the Pete’s Pocket site. This site,...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Kimberly Spurr.

The Museum of Northern Arizona (MNA) is collaborating with the National Park Service to complete a comprehensive survey of Navajo National Monument in northern Arizona. The spectacular cliff dwellings of Keet Seel and Betatakin have been known to science since the early 1900s, but no comprehensive inventory has been conducted of the entire monument. Survey in 2016 focused on the mesa top and canyons in the vicinity of Betatakin, resulting in the discovery of two smaller contemporaneous...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Emilio Santiago. R. J. Sinensky.

Petrified Forest National Park is in the third and final year of its Boundary Expansion Survey, which has nearly doubled the park’s size to 221,552 acres. Over the last three years researchers have identified and recorded over 300 archaeological sites in a variety of ecological zones. Our survey focuses on a 640-acre parcel that encompasses flat grasslands, dune-covered Triassic ridges, washes, and mesa tops. Site types range from large Basketmaker II habitation sites, to Pueblo II and Pueblo...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Linda Wheelbarger.

San Juan College field school excavations at Point Pueblo in Farmington, New Mexico, have revealed a great house with attached great kiva constructed of both local vernacular and stylized Chacoan Type II architecture. Extensive early southern influence, A.D. 850-1050, is based on the dominant presence of Red Mesa Black-on white pottery. The great kiva floors demonstrate a continuous ritual placement of artifacts subsequent to a major ritual remodeling event of the floor and roof support piers,...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Brenna Wilkerson.

This study analyzes ceramics from Virgin Branch Puebloan sites on the Shivwits Plateau and in the Moapa Valley in order to examine differences in the types of foods cooked and stored in each area. Residue analyses, by means of gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, were performed on body sherds from ceramic jars. Three types of wares were included in this research: Shivwits Plain Ware, Moapa Gray Ware, and Tusayan Sand-Tempered. The former two ceramic wares were included in a ceramic...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Kenneth Tankersley.

Micro-flotation, a specific gravity separation technique, was successfully used to remove coal contaminants from radiocarbon samples obtained from profiles, unit excavations, and solid sediment cores in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Coal from the Cretaceous Menefee Formation occurs throughout Chaco Canyon in aeolian, alluvial, colluvial, and anthropogenic sediments. The Menefee Formation contains carbonized broadleaf angiosperm and gymnosperm plants and, as such, paleobotanical analysis was not...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Kenneth Tankersley. Jessica Thress.

In order to determine if the water management systems of ancestral Puebloans caused salt pollution during periods of climatic change and increased aridity, sediment samples were collected from ancient irrigation features and reservoirs in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Today, these features are filled with sediments. Periods of climate change were determined with AMS radiocarbon and OSL dating. Soil salinity was measured using a conductivity cell and plotted against age in order to illustrate changes...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Christy Winstead. Amy Hoffman. Laura Ellyson. Steve Wolverton.

The archaeofaunal remains left by the Ancestral Puebloan people who lived in the Goodman Point community provide a chronological record of their interaction with turkey (Meleagris gallopavo). Domestication can be regarded as a co-evolutionary relationship between a plant or animal species and humans that varies in the intensity of mutual dependence. We examine how the Goodman Point residents’ relationship with turkey evolved from the late AD 900s to the 1280’s. Our research involves the analysis...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Shannon Horton. Karen Harry.

This poster will examine the variation of corrugated ceramics from the Virgin Branch Puebloan sites located on the Shivwits Plateau and in the lowland region of the Moapa Valley. Variation between these two regions is examined, as well as changes in corrugated designs over time and differences between wares. These data allow us to evaluate patterns of social interaction, trading networks and learning interactions between sites and regions. SAA 2015 abstracts made available in tDAR courtesy of...