Dolores Archaeological Program Technical Reports, DAP-086: Archaeological Investigations on Grass Mesa: Area 4, 1979

Author(s): Richard V. N. Ahlstrom; Karen Dohm

Year: 1983

Summary

Excavations in Area 4 of Grass Mesa Village (Site 5MT23) encountered multiple surface rooms and a pithouse. All of the structures are dated by ceramics to the A.D. 840 to 910 time period, with abandonment of the pit house and the later rooms occurring between A.D. 875 and 910. Although dating to the same ceramic period , the rooms and the pithouse may not be strictly contemporaneous. The surface rooms we re remodeled and rebuilt several times, while the pithouse had only one remodeling episode. Very few artifacts were associated with the structure floors, suggesting leisurely abandonment , although the pithouse was destroyed by a catastrophic fire before any degradation of the walls or roof had occurred. A small amount of trash was present in the pit house fill, indicating that occupation of the area continued for at least a short time, and it is possible that the pithouse was destroyed during a period of seasonal disuse rather than immediately after permanent abandonment.

Cite this Record

Dolores Archaeological Program Technical Reports, DAP-086: Archaeological Investigations on Grass Mesa: Area 4, 1979. Richard V. N. Ahlstrom, Karen Dohm. Dolores Archaeological Program Technical Reports. Salt Lake City, Utah: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Region. 1983 ( tDAR id: 398468) ; doi:10.6067/XCV8SN0CNK

URL: http://www.blm.gov/style/medialib/blm/co/field_offices/ahc/dap_documents.Par....


Keywords

Culture
Anasazi

Material
Ceramic • Chipped Stone • Fauna • Macrobotanical

Site Name
5MT23 (Grass Mesa Village)

Site Type
Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex • Domestic Structures • Pit House / Earth Lodge • Room Block / Compound / Pueblo • Surface Structures

Investigation Types
Data Recovery / Excavation • Site Evaluation / Testing

General
Abajo Red-on-orange • Bluff Black-on-red • Chapin Black-on-white • Chapin Gray • Cibola • Corrugated body shrerds • Early pueblo grahy • Early Pueblo Red • Early Pueblo White • Flaked Lithics • Kayenta • Late Pueblo Gray • Lino Gray • Mancos Gray • Mano • Metate • Moccasin Gray • Nonflaked lithics • Painted White • Piedra Black-on-white • Polished White • Sherd Red • Slipped Red • Slipped White

Geographic Keywords
Colorado (State / Territory) • Dolores • Dolores (County) • Montezuma (County) • North America (Continent) • Southwest Colorado • United States of America (Country)

Temporal Coverage

Calendar Date: 840 to 910

Spatial Coverage

min long: -108.604; min lat: 37.464 ; max long: -108.48; max lat: 37.594 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contributor(s): Meredith H. Matthews; Sarah W. Neusius

Principal Investigator(s): David A. Breternitz

Sponsor(s): USDI Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Regional Office

Prepared By(s): University of Colorado, Dolores Archaeological Program

Submitted To(s): USDI Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Regional Office

Record Identifiers

Bureau of Reclamation Contract No.(s): 8-07-40-S0562

Notes

General Note: As of April 2015, this and additional reports are hosted on the US Bureau of Land Management, Dolores Archaeological Program website; http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/ahc/dolores_archaeological/dap_technical_reports.html

General Note: Those listed as contributors in the individual & institutional roles section are the authors of the accompanying appendices for this report.

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