Building on an Archaeological Record: Preliminary Results of the Three-year Petrified Forest Boundary Expansion Survey

Summary

In 2004 Congress authorized Petrified Forest National Park to more than double in size, in part to protect unique cultural resources. This poster introduces the preliminary results of three seasons of pedestrian survey in these new lands. So far this research has recorded archaeological resources dating across the spectrum of the human habitation of North America, beginning with Paleoindian lithics and extending through the historic period. Sites ranging from lithic landscapes covering hundreds of acres to masonry structures with dozens of rooms are spread across the grassland landscapes of Petrified Forest. Mapping in semi-stabilized dunes has focused on large Basketmaker village sites and detailed ceramic analysis has documented phenomenal diversity of ceramic types and sources. Large-scale, systematic pedestrian survey has been conducted across a variety of landscapes to better understand how prehistoric people used the variation in environments and resources across the park through time. In addition to the boundary expansion work, this past season park archaeologists worked in the pre-2004 core of the park to better contextualize previous research with the archaeology in the expansion lands. To date, this program has also provided twenty college student interns with in-depth field training and independent research opportunities.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Archaeology along the Painted Desert: Current Research in Petrified Forest National Park   •
• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 17062