Research Goals

Crow Canyon's research at Yellow Jacket Pueblo was one part of a large site testing program that was designed to gain better understanding of the pueblo cultural environment in the Mesa Verde region during the Pueblo III period (AD 1150–1300). Crow Canyon's research focused on the Conservancy-owned portion of Yellow Jacket Pueblo, although mapping and some testing also occurred on other portions of the site. The specific goals of this research included producing an accurate map of the site, assessing the extent of damage from non-professional excavations, and establishing site chronology through test excavations. The first two goals were largely accomplished during the first year of research (Glowacki and Kuckelman 1996; Kuckelman and Glowacki 1995). The last goal, which was accomplished with test excavations, required three seasons to complete.

The strategy used to establish site chronology was designed to date the main components at the site, and to assess the scale and intensity of the late Pueblo III occupation. This strategy included excavating a 1-x-2-m test pit along the outside face of the north wall of each roomblock in order to document the architecture and occupation surfaces present without destroying structure floors. The midden associated with each roomblock was tested with two 1-x-1-m excavation pits in order to collect pottery samples of adequate size to establish site chronology.

A slightly different testing approach was used at the Great Tower Complex. Testing was more intensive in this architectural block. It was determined that the block had been almost completely excavated by Western State College in 1931, and dubbed "Square Mug House" (Hurst and Lotrich 1932). Little documentation could be found from that excavation. Seventeen structures and several extramural areas were tested in this block in order to salvage important data regarding the abandonment-period occupation of this late Pueblo III public building.