Historic Navajo Studies in Northeastern Arizona

Author(s): Charles D. James III

Year: 1976

Summary

Archaeological excavations along the north rim of Canyon del Muerto, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona, were conducted during 1972 by the Museum of Northern Arizona. The preliminary objective was to salvage 28 archaeological sites located within the rights-of-way of Route N64, the Chinle to Tsaile Lake road, and four associated spur roads.

Research designs for the excavations are broken into historic Navajo and prehistoric Anasazi sites; this report is concerned with the former. This sample consists of 19 sites. Studies were directed toward placing the Navajo occupation in time, finding canyon-rim relationships and determining what acculturative factors have appeared.

The first section focuses on the terminology used in this report, project procedures and the historical background of the Navajo occupation in the De Chelly area. The next part encompasses the excavated sites and ancillary studies conducted in conjunction with the project. Following this, a synthesis of the data is presented with a more refined temporal framework of Navajo occupation based on an earlier developmental sequence for this area. Also explored in the last section are settlement patterns and possible indices of acculturation.

Navajo occupation began in the De Chelly area prior to A.D. 1800 and continued almost uninterrupted for over 200 years. The early form of clustered settlement gave way to a more dispersed occupation, which at the present is becoming clustered again. Preferred areas along the rim are favored in settlement; both technological and environmental considerations appear to be responsible for this preference. Plant material associations, found at the sites and historical documents indicate rim-canyon travel occurred from the earliest Navajo occupation. This relationship is still continuing, but at the present appears to be breaking down, possibly due to acculturative factors.

Substantive contributions of this report include a more refined development of the Navajo chronology for this area, the indication of rim-canyon relationships, and the use of late historic sites on which to base inferences concerning the earlier Navajo sites.

Cite this Record

Historic Navajo Studies in Northeastern Arizona. Charles D. James III. 1976 ( tDAR id: 428067) ; doi:10.6067/XCV8428067

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

Keywords

Culture
Anasazi • Historic • Hopi • Navajo

Material
Basketry • Ceramic • Chipped Stone • Fauna • Ground Stone • Human Remains • Mineral • Wood

Site Name
NA11,361 • NA11,362 • NA11,366A • NA11,366B • NA11,367 • NA11,368 • NA11,369 • NA11,370 • NA11,371 • NA11,372 • NA11,373 • NA11,374 • NA11,375 • NA11,377 • NA11,675 • NA9710 • NA9711 • NA9712 • NA9713 • NA9714 • NA9715 • NA9718 • NA9722 • NA9723

Site Type
Agricultural or Herding • Archaeological Feature • Artifact Scatter • Ash Deposit • Check Dam • Cist • Corral • Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex • Domestic Structures • Firepit • Hearth • Hogan • Milling Feature • Pit • Post Hole / Post Mold • Resource Extraction / Production / Transportation Structure or Features • Road, Trail, and Related Structures or Features • Roasting Pit / Oven / Horno • Rock Scatter • Shade Structure / Ramada • Storage Pit • Sweat House / Sweat Lodge • Trail

Investigation Types
Data Recovery / Excavation • Research Design / Data Recovery Plan • Site Evaluation / Testing

General
Development Pattern • Historic Navajo Sites • Tree Ring Dating

Geographic Keywords
Arizona (State / Territory) • Canyon DE Chelly National Monument • Canyon del Muerto • Chinle Valley • Greasewood • Navajo Indian Reservation • Northeastern Arizona • Route N64 • Tsaile Lake Road

Temporal Keywords
14th Century • 18th Century • 19th Century • Basketmaker II Period • Historic • Prehistoric

Spatial Coverage

min long: -109.714; min lat: 35.898 ; max long: -109.178; max lat: 36.355 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Salt River Project Cultural Resource Manager

Project Director(s): Charles D. James III

Sponsor(s): National Park Service

Prepared By(s): Museum of Northern Arizona

Record Identifiers

Anthropology Research Report(s): 1

Bureau of Indian Affairs P.O. No.(s): 2N00-01-01734; 2N35-01-0153

MNA Research Paper(s): 1

SRP Library Barcode No.(s): 00030433

Contract No.(s): 14-10-3-930-252

File Information

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1976_James_HistoricNavajo_OCR.pdf 76.33mb Apr 10, 2017 3:26:50 PM Confidential
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Contact(s): Salt River Project Cultural Resource Manager