The Basketmaker Communities Project

The Basketmaker Communities Project

Year: 2020

Summary

This report details work by the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center (Crow Canyon) during the Basketmaker Communities Project, a multi-faceted research and public education archaeological initiative undertaken by Crow Canyon from 2011 through 2017. The primary purpose of the Basketmaker Communities Project was to study the history and social organization of a large Basketmaker III period (A.D. 500–750) settlement in the central Mesa Verde region and to track the long-term impacts of that settlement on later populations. The Basketmaker Communities Project was guided by two consecutive research designs: “A Proposal to Conduct Archaeological Testing at Indian Camp Ranch, Montezuma County, Colorado” Ortman et al. 2011, which guided fieldwork from 2011 to 2014, and “A Proposal to Expand Basketmaker Communities Project Research: An Addendum to A Proposal To Conduct Archaeological Testing at Indian Camp Ranch, Montezuma County, Colorado” (Ryan and Diederichs 2014), which guided work from 2015 to 2017. The project was conducted in partnership with the University of Colorado Boulder and funded with grants from the National Science Foundation, Earthwatch, and the History Colorado State Historical Fund.

The fieldwork portion of the project was conducted on 31 lots in the Indian Camp Ranch subdivision outside of Cortez, Colorado, and on private property belonging to Gayle Larson just north of the Indian Camp Ranch subdivision. Additional collections analysis was undertaken on artifacts from the Payne site (5MT12205) curated at the Canyons of the Ancients Visitors Center and Museum. Over the course of the Basketmaker Communities Project, 75 archaeological sites were recorded or rerecorded, and forms were submitted to the Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation. Crow Canyon excavated 13 of the recorded sites and conducted intensive surface artifact analysis and/or geophysical imaging at an additional 18 sites. All sites investigated during the Basketmaker Communities Project are in Montezuma County in southwest Colorado.

The Basketmaker Communities Project supported Crow Canyon’s mission, which is to conduct archaeological research and education in partnership with American Indians and institutions with common interests. Programs at Crow Canyon seek to broaden public understanding of American cultural heritage, build a constituency for the conservation of archaeological resources, facilitate understanding between the archaeological community and American Indian peoples, and conduct research that produces important contributions to the social sciences and humanities.