More than Just Cliff Dwellings: Results of Survey at Navajo National Monument, Arizona

Summary

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 habitation sites, two probable Archaic camps, and several historic sites related to Navajo herding and NPS infrastructure development. The probable Archaic camps are particularly significant because no sites of this age had been identified in the Monument although Archaic sites are common in the region. Survey around Inscription House resulted in the discovery of new petroglyphs and buried cultural horizons. Early in 2017, survey in the canyon surrounding Keet Seel documented several prehistoric and historic trails cut into bedrock, historic inscriptions, and two previously unknown buried sites.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20746