Archaeological Data Recovery Excavations at the Sanders Great House and Six Other Sites Along US Highway 191, South of Sanders, Apache County, Arizona, Volume 1

Summary

This report presents the results of data recovery investigations at the Sanders Great House site and six other sites within the right-of-way of US Highway 191, south of Sanders, Apache County, Arizona. The project was sponsored by the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT). All excavation work was conducted on ADOT land, with the exception of a small portion of the right-of-way crossing site AZ K:15:17 that is part of the Navajo Nation Chambers-Sanders Trust Lands (CSTL). Data recovery fieldwork was conducted between 15 April and 26 June 1992 by Zuni Archaeology Program (ZAP) staff, under the direct charge of project director Thomas F. Fletcher. Additional construction monitoring and related archaeological work was conducted by ZAP staff during the month of August 1992.

The Sanders Great House (site AZ K:15:16 [ASM]) is one of several great houses identified in the Puerco River valley, located at the extreme southwestern edge of the Chacoan system. The excavations were concentrated primarily at this important site. Data recovery investigations included excavation of 9 surface rooms (belonging to the great house roomblock and an earlier roomblock underlying it), 9 pitstructures, and over 90 extramural features. In addition, three extramural areas exhibiting intensive occupation were sampled. Approximately 20% of the total site area falls within the right-of-way, and only this portion could be investigated.

Extant remains of the other sites within the right-of-way were also limited. Data recovery investigations at these sites included excavation of one pitstructure and two pit features at site AZ K:15:17, excavation of two pit features at site AZ K:15:27, and excavation of one pitstructure and five extramural features at site AZ K: 15:28. As no cultural features were identified within the right-of-way at sites AZ K: 15:24, AZ K: 15:25, and AZ K: 15:26, fieldwork was limited to sample collection. Additional work at all of the sites involved surface artifact tabulations in the main portions of the sites, located outside the right-of-way.

This is volume 1 of a 2 volume series. This volume includes the introduction and background material, along with the archaeology of the project.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Salt River Project Digital Library

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Salt River Project Cultural Resource Manager

Contributor(s): Carol B. Brandt; Donald C. Irwin; Heidi S. Lippmeier; Michael McFaul; Kaea J. Morris; Mark B. Sant; Grant Smith; Susan J. Smith; Karen Lynn Traugh; Robert M. R. Waterworth

Principal Investigator(s): David C. Eck

Project Director(s): Thomas F. Fletcher

Prepared By(s): Zuni Cultural Resource Enterprise

Submitted To(s): Arizona Department of Transportation, Environmental Planning Section

Record Identifiers

Zuni Archaeology Program Project No.(s): ZAP-013-91

Project No.(s): F-071-1-601

Archaeological Resources Protection Act Permit No.(s): NAO-ARPA-91-009

Navajo Nation Cultural Resources Investigations Permit No.(s): C9116

Arizona State Museum Permit No.(s): 92-51

TRACS No.(s): 666 AP637 H278102D

SRP Library Barcode No.(s): 00090780

Zuni Archaeology Program Report(s): 471

Contract No.(s): 91-10

File Information

	Name	Size	Creation Date	Date Uploaded	Access
	1994_Fletcher_ArchaeologicalDataSixVol1_OCR.pdf	142.64mb	Aug 1, 1994	Mar 27, 2017 11:22:19 AM	Confidential
	This file is unredacted.