Hidden in Plain Sight: Documenting a Forgotten Chacoan Outlier in the Mesa Verde Region

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

While forgotten settlements are a common discovery in the jungles of Central America where dense canopies conceal all traces of prehistory, they are a much less common phenomenon in the American Southwest. However, recent research demonstrates that a poorly known Ancestral Pueblo site on private property in southwest Colorado is one of the most important sites in the region. First, it is a contender for the largest Pueblo I site in the Mesa Verde Region. Second, it is a Chacoan outlier. Third, its occupation spans the poorly studied period from the late AD 800s to early 900s when depopulation led to scarce settlements in the region. In addition, the site has produced approximately 10,000 chipped stone tools, over 1,000 ornaments, bifurcated basket effigies, and other noteworthy artifacts. For my master’s thesis, I mapped the site, documented its history, and analyzed thousands of its artifacts to better understand its occupation span, relationship to other sites, and potential contributions to our knowledge of the Ancestral Pueblo. The Crosspatch Site, as it is now called, has the potential to change our understanding of prehistoric occupation in the Mesa Verde region, particularly during Pueblo I, the transition into Pueblo II, and early Chacoan influence.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38917.0