Settlement Dynamics on a Transitional Landscape: Investigations of Cultural Resources for the State Route 77 - Snowflake Passing Lanes Project, Navajo County, Arizona

Summary

Settlement Dynamics on a Transitional Landscape: Investigations of Cultural Resources for the State Route 77 - Snowflake Passing Lanes Project, Navajo County, Arizona describes the results of investigations of seven prehistoric and historic sites along State Route 77 north of Snowflake, in Navajo County, Arizona. Between August 2009 and June 2012, fieldwork was conducted in three phases in advance of the construction of passing lanes and culvert extensions. Seven sites, with artifacts or features dating between the Middle Archaic and A.D. 1978 were investigated. These include: AZ P:8:61 (ASM); AZ P:8:62 (ASM); Five Mile Draw, AZ P:8:63 (ASM); Beethoven, AZ P:8:65 (ASM); Spider Hill, AZ P:8:66 (ASM); Go Go, AZ P:8:93 (ASM); and State Route 77, AZ BB:2:78 (ASM). The goal of the research was to more fully understand the human history of the southern margins of the Colorado Plateau along the Silver Creek corridor. Archaeological, ethnographic, and historical methods were used to explore this dynamic cultural landscape. Further, the new investigations provided an opportunity to incorporate previously underpublished archaeological work from the 1973 and 1974 Snowflake Field School, an effort that added temporal depth to project data, and when consistent patterns were identified, strengthened interpretations. A major contribution of the State Route 77 - Snowflake Passing Lanes project is a study of how farming peoples began to create enduring settlements as population began to grow in the region (and the Southwest more generally) in the seventh century A.D. Project sites also show that settlement trajectory reached its maximum spatial extent in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. While occupation by Hopi and Zuni ancestors continued thereafter, it was outside the project area. Sites and features also provided information about the development of the modern rural economies. State Route 77 is just the most recent of the many pre-Hispanic and historic corridors through the region. The remains of the corridors themselves and the features that developed alongside provided a glimpse into the Mormon, Basque, and Apache history in this area from the years after the Civil War until A.D. 1946.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Desert Archaeology DAHA Resources   •
• Digital Archive of Huhugam Archaeology (DAHA)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Desert Archaeology, Inc.

Contributor(s): Jenny L. Adams; Katie Brower; Michael W. Diehl; T. J. Ferguson; James M. Heidke; Maren P. Hopkins; Mary F. Ownby; A. E. Rogge; R. Jane Sliva; Susan J. Smith; Kimberly Spurr; Meaghan A. Trowbridge; Christine H. Virden-Lange; Henry D. Wallace; Jennifer A. Waters; CaraMia R. Whitney; Pat Stein

Prepared By(s): Desert Archaeology, Inc.

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

Record Identifiers

Federal Project No.: (s): NH-077-B(200)

Accession No.(s): 2009-26

ADOT TRACS No.:(s): 077 NA 364 H5460 02E ; 077 NA 364 H5460 01C

Federal Project No.:(s): 077-B(204)A

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