1997 Field Season

All excavation units were completed by the end of the 1997 field season. This included numerous excavation units that were begun in 1996, and several new excavation units that were opened in 1997. At the close of the the 1997 season, all open excavation units were backfilled. Table 1 summarizes excavation units completed in 1997. In 1997, 13 new test pits were opened, and 21 test pits were continued from the 1996 season (Glowacki 1997, Table 1, erroneously lists completed unit Architectural Area 1200, Segment 1 as "In progress" at the close of the 1996 season). A total of 111 test pits were excavated at the site. In all, 17 2-x-1-m units were excavated to expose north roomblock walls, 57 1-x-1-m and one 1-x-2-m units tested midden areas, 8 1-x-1-m extension units were added to 1-x-2-m units for logistical reasons, 4 1-x-2-m units and one 1-x-1-m unit tested dams and reservoirs, 13 excavation units tested kivas in the Great Tower Complex, 6 1-x-2-m units tested other rooms in the Great Tower Complex, and 4 units tested extramural areas.

A total of 11 test pits were excavated on the talus slope (Figure 4). This was the only testing done on land not owned by The Archaeological Conservancy. Permission to test on this private parcel was generously given by landowners Jack Hawkins, and the late Joe Tipton and his sons, Scott Tipton and Jay Tipton.

The following discussion of 1997 testing is organized by architectural block. An architectural block is defined as a roomblock and its associated kivas, middens and extramural areas. These blocks were numbered sequentially across the site, including blocks located on land not owned by The Archaeological Conservancy. During the 1997 season, ongoing testing in Architectural Blocks 200, 1200, 2400, 2500, 2600 was completed, and new test pits in Architectural Blocks 1200, 3200, 3300 and 3400 were completed (Figure 4 and Figure 5). The number of rooms in each roomblock was estimated using an exposed room in Roomblock 1100 as an indicator of room size.

Architectural Block 200

Architectural Block 200 is a northeast-southwest-oriented roomblock near the south end of the point (Figure 4). The block is approximately 65 m long, and contains ten kivas, two towers and approximately 28 first-story rooms. The northeastern end of this roomblock appears to have been two stories tall originally. The two midden test pits (926N 993E, and 943N 1015E) were completed in 1996. The 2-x-1-m roomblock unit was completed in 1997.

Roomblock 200 (2-x-1 973N 992E/Structure 204): In this excavation unit, the north face of the north roomblock wall was exposed. This wall, as preserved, was 1.19 meters tall, and rested on the south wall of an earlier masonry room, Structure 204. The portion of the masonry exposed in the north roomblock wall is fully coursed, and was constructed of fairly uniform sandstone blocks. This masonry is noticeably more finely executed than that of Structure 204 below. The preserved height of this wall and the amount of rubble in the immediate area suggest that this portion of Roomblock 200 was two stories tall. The strategy of constructing a roomblock on top of an earlier one appears to have been for the purpose of achieving additional height.

Structure 204 is the room on which a section of the Roomblock 200 north wall was built. In the 2-x-1-m excavation unit, portions of the west and south walls, and the southwest corner of the room were exposed. The preserved height of these walls was approximately 85 cm. The masonry is semi-coursed and double stone wide, and was constructed of mostly unshaped sandstone blocks with extruded mortar beds and abundant chinking stones. This masonry is noticeably cruder than the north wall of Roomblock 200. No floor surface was defined in this room. The fill of the room contained no roof fall beams or wall fall, so the structure might have been partly dismantled and intentionally filled to form a foundation for the Roomblock 200 north wall, although the level top of the wall appears too uniform to be a dismantled semi-coursed wall. Structure 204 might be one room in a roomblock, all of which was partly dismantled for the construction of Roomblock 200.

Architectural Block 1200

Architectural Block 1200 is the Great Tower Complex, located at the northeast edge of the site, along the west rim of Yellow Jacket Canyon (Figure 5). Much of this block was excavated in 1931 by students from Western State College, Gunnison, Colorado (Hurst and Lotrich 1932); little documentation has been found from those excavations (Hurst and Lotrich 1932, 1933, 1935a, 1935b, 1936a, 1936b, 1937). Crow Canyon's intensive testing of this architectural block was designed to salvage whatever data possible concerning architectural construction, use and chronology. The intensive testing begun in 1995 was completed in 1997. Fourteeen ongoing excavation units and two new excavation units were completed in 1997 (Table 1).

Segment 2: Segment 2 is a 2-x-1-m test pit east of the main architecture which was designed to expose a section of east-west masonry wall thought to be a dam. This wall is at the west edge of the north-south drainage that bisects the architecture of the Great Tower Complex. The section of wall exposed was 69 cm high and rested on bedrock; the original height is estimated to have been approximately 1.7 m, based on the amount of rubble present in the excavation unit. The masonry was semi-coursed, and might be double-stone-wide-with-core in cross-section, although the full width of the wall was not within the excavation unit, and so was not exposed. The east-west orientation and the location of this wall at the west edge of north-south drainage suggest that it was a dam or other water control device designed to catch or control runoff down the drainage. If the wall originally completely spanned the drainage, it was breached sometime after it was no longer being used. An addtional test unit 1 m to the east (Segment 7) shows that the wall is not present in that area.

Segment 3: Segment 3 is a 2-x-1-m test pit on the east edge of the north-south drainage that bisects the architecture of the Great Tower Complex. This unit was designed to expose the east end of the same wall examined in Segment 2. However, excavation of this unit exposed a section of north-south masonry wall, rather than the east-west wall expected. The preserved height of this wall is 47 cm. It is a semi-coursed, double-stone-wide wall that rests on a layer of reddish sediment 13 to 29 cm thick. This layer of sediment rests on bedrock. The original height of the wall could not be calculated, because any wall fall would have been washed down the drainage. The function of this wall is not clear; it could be the west wall of one or more structures represented by the rubble mound adjacent to the east, or it could be an extramural wall designed to channel or control runoff in the adjacent drainage to the west.

Segment 4/Structures 1224 and 1225: Segment 4 is a 2-x-1-m excavation unit at the south edge of the architectural block. The unit was intended to sample intact midden deposits associated with the Great Tower Complex. However, excavations exposed masonry walls, so excavations in this unit were terminated. Segment 6, adjacent to Segment 4 to the south, was then substituted for Segment 4.

The masonry walls encountered in Segment 4 were exposed approximately 30 cm below modern ground surface. East-west-oriented walls crossed the unit at the north and south ends of the unit, and a north-south wall connected these two walls. The sill of a doorway was documented in the top of the north-south wall as preserved. Portions of two previously undetected rectangular rooms that were mutually accessible were thus documented as Structure 1224 and Structure 1225. Excavation stopped at the tops of the walls. These two rooms were probably not excavated in 1931.

Segment 5/ Structure 1214 and Structure 1222: Segment 5 is a 1-x-2-m test pit intended to sample the biwall room west of the Great Tower. The biwall room as excavated was designated Structure 1214. Unlike the other structures tested in the Great Tower Complex, this room had not been previously excavated, and the intact stratigraphy greatly enriched our understanding of this structure and the Great Tower.

The biwall rooms are structures that encircle the Great Tower, and were formed by the Great Tower exterior wall and a concentric wall approximately 2 m outside the Great Tower wall. No north or south walls of Structure 1214 were exposed during testing, but the north wall is observable at modern ground surface. The room measures 1.94 m east-west, and greater than 2.5 m north-south. The floor was carefully prepared of several layers of clayey sediment that served to level the uneven bedrock surface. A few small artifacts were incidentally left on the floor. No floor features were encountered, but a small patch of sooting on one area of wall face suggests that a hearth may be present in this room just outside the excavation unit. No other sooting is present on the exposed faces of the east and west structure walls.

The east wall of Structure 1214 (also the west wall of the Great Tower) is preserved to a height of 2.71 m above bedrock. The biwall wall, or the west wall of Structure 1214, is 1.89 m tall. Both of these walls are semi-coursed and are double-stone-with-core in cross-section. The height of the walls and the quantity of rubble in the fill indicates that the walls were originally a minimum of 3.4 m high, which indicates the presence of a second story. Additional evidence of a second story exists in the lower half of the fill in this room, which includes two collapsed roofs, and dozens of building blocks that have one heavily sooted face.

The upper rooffall is interpreted to have been the roof of an upper story room (designated Structure 1222), the lower rooffall was the floor of Structure 1222, which also served as the roof of Structure 1214. The lower layer of rooffall contained a concentration of charcoal, and burned rocks, burned corn and burned nonhuman bone that appeared to be the collapsed remains of a hearth that would have been in the floor of the upper story room. This interpretation is supported by the presence of the building stones with one heavily-sooted face, which are interpreted to be from the upper story walls, sooted by smoke from the hearth. Several partly reconstructible vessels and numerous other tools were also recovered from that layer of rooffall; these items are thought to have been on the floor of the upper story room. The upper story room would have opened onto the roof of the Great Tower kiva if the kiva was only one story tall.

Segment 6: Segment 6 is a 2-x-1-m excavation unit adjacent to Segment 4. After Segment 4 failed to enounter midden, this pit was designed to replace that pit to test intact midden deposits from this architectural block. This unit ranges from 55 cm to 1.28 m deep (on a slope), and ends on a bedrock use surface. The lowermost 15 to 20 cm of fill was undisturbed midden. This assemblage will lead to greater understanding of the use of this architectural block.

Segment 7: Segment 7 is a 1-x-2-m test pit 1 m east of Segment 2. It was designed to expose more of the west section of the dam wall. At a depth of 30 cm below modern ground surface no wall had been encountered. The unit was too saturated during the 1997 season to continue excavation.

Segments 8, 9 and 10: Segment 8 is a 2x2-m excavation unit southwest of the Great Tower that was designed to define and expose a north-south oriented wall that appeared from modern ground surface to enclose an extramural use area. The wall as preserved is 39 cm high, is semi-coursed, and is double-stone-with-core in cross-section. The amount of rubble removed from the excavation unit suggests that this wall was originally approximately 1 m tall.

Segment 9 is the portion of the excavation unit east of the wall, and Segment 10 is west of the wall. Below the use surface that the wall rests on, a constructed surface was defined. This surface was formed of 15 to 20 cm of construction fill that served to level the stepped and sloping bedrock surface in this area. The west edge of a large firepit was encountered on this surface in the southeast corner of the 2x2. Thus, although the firepit predates the wall, the presence of these two features confirms that this was an outdoor use area.

Segment 11: This segment is west of and adjacent to Segment 5. It was designed to expose the portion of the west wall (biwall) of Structure 1214 that was outside Segment 5, and to expose and define the area of bedrock adjacent to Structure 1214. The pit was a maximum of 1.6 m deep, and contained abundant wall fall from the west wall of Structure 1214. A thin layer of refuse was resting on the bedrock surface. One small pit had been pecked into this bedrock surface. Approximately 1 m west of this unit, the northern section of the same wall exposed in Segment 8 encloses this area of bedrock. Thus, this area was probably also used for a variety of outdoor activities.

Structure 1201 (includes a 1 x 2, a 1-x-1, and a Segment 1 trench): Structure 1201 is the Great Tower. The three excavation units in this structure form a 1 m wide, east-west trench through the center of the structure. This trench continues west of Structure 1201 through biwall Structure 1214, and Segment 11. The trench continues east through biwall Structure 1213. This structure is actually an oversized tower that contains an oversized kiva. The tower measures 7.8 m, outside wall face to outside wall face. The portion of the tower wall exposed is preserved at 2.4 m tall, 50 cm thick, and is double-stone-wide-with-core in cross-section. The tower walls rest on bedrock. The "tower" is a necessary component of constructing a kiva on bedrock. The tower served the same purpose for this kiva that the rectangular or square rooms did for the normal-sized kivas elsewhere in this architectural block. Because kivas are usually masonry-lined holes in the ground, some sort of containing wall or structure is necessary when kivas are constructed aboveground.

The kiva measures 5.16 m in diameter, bench face to bench face at floor level. It is assumed to be circular, although the two sections of bench face are small enough and straight enough that this could be the large, hexagonal kiva referred to by Hurst and Lotrich (1932:195). The floor is constructed on 40 cm of construction fill that was placed inside the tower. The construction fill resulted in a more level floor, and allowed for the construction of the subfloor features. The masonry-lined floor vault and hearth are both 30 to35 cm deep. A third floor feature east of the hearth is slightly shallower, and consists of a vertical pit with a horizontal tunnel approaching the hearth. The feature appears to be some sort of ventilation arrangement to feed air into the base of the hearth. An east and a west pilaster were also exposed during excavation. The west pilaster occupies the entire width of the trench. Two niches were present in the east bench face.

Although most of the original fill and artifacts in this structure were disturbed during the previous excavation, a discontinuous layer of undisturbed sediment was recorded on the floor at the east and west ends of the test trench, and the fill in the floor features was also undisturbed. In these undisturbed areas a number of unusual artifacts were recovered, including a large fossil shell.

It was not possible to determine the original height of this structure, since it had been previously excavated and the number of rooffall strata and the amount of original wall rubble could not be documented. Excavation in Structure 1214, the west biwall room, indicates that that structure was two stories tall, so the wall the two structures shared, i.e. the tower wall, must have been two stories. The large, deep, heavily used hearth in this kiva indicates that a significant amount of smoke would have been passing through the hatchway of the kiva roof, making it unlikely that the second story above the kiva was roofed. If the second story was roofed, the features and use of that structure are unknown. It is more likely that this kiva was one story, and that the second-story biwall rooms opened out onto its roof.

This structure is thought to have had special use or significance, based on the unusual artifacts on the floor, the floor vault, the large diameter of the kiva, its location on bedrock (which required special construction), and the two-story biwall rooms encircling the kiva. This was probably the first structure, or among the first structures, to be constructed in this architectural block.

Structure 1209: This very small kiva was tested with one 1-x-2-m test pit, which exposed the northeast walls of the kiva. The structure measures approximately 2 m in diameter, and is located near the east end of the architectural block. The exposed portion of the kiva consists of a section of straight cell wall, a section of curved bench face, a portion of a pilaster, and an area of floor surface. The preserved height of the cell wall, which also served as the upper lining wall, rises 2.06 m above bedrock. The floor surface was slightly above bedrock, and had been damaged during the previous excavation. A few of the bench surface artifacts (including a grooved axe) that subsided below the original level of the bench surface are thought to be in situ. This section of roomblock was added to a structure that already existed to the east. That structure was probably a tower, and is within a few meters of the spring that this roomblock encloses.

Structure 1210: Structure 1210 was tested with a 1-x-2-m excavation unit that exposed the west walls of the kiva. This is the northeasternmost structure in this section of the architectural block. This structure is a blocked-in kiva in which the cell walls also serve as upper lining walls. The kiva is approximately 3.5 m in diameter, and the preserved height of the cell wall is 1.57 m. In the excavation unit, a section of straight cell wall, a section of curved bench face, a portion of a pilaster, and an area of floor was exposed. The constructed floor surface was just above bedrock.

Arbitrary Unit 1221: This excavation unit was a small, irregular, linear area that traced a section of extramural wall. The unit is a few meters south of the Segment 8 2x2-m unit. This wall tracing was to define the course of the southern end of the extramural wall exposed in Segment 8. At modern ground surface, it appeared that the section of wall in Segment 8 and the section of this same wall as it resurfaces further south were not aligned. The wall tracing confirmed that this is the same wall, but that the wall contais two dramatic turns in the area where the wall was not observable at modern ground surface.

Architectural Block 2400

Architectural Block 2400 is located in the southern portion of the site, south of the main reservoir (Figure 4). This block is approximately 50 m long, and contains 6 kivas and an estimated 17 rooms. An extramural enclosing wall extends from the southwest corner of the architectural block to the northwest corner of the 2500 Roomblock. Four excavation units tested this architectural block. Architectural data and preliminary artifactual assessment suggest that this block dates from the middle or late Pueblo III period, but evidence of Pueblo II use was also documented in this area.

Roomblock 2400 (2-x-1 936N 884E): The exposed section of the north wall of this roomblock is 1.10 m tall, 26 cm wide, and rests on undisturbed native sediment. The quantity of rubble removed from the excavation unit indicates a wall originally less than 2 m tall, which would have been a one-story structure. The exposed section of wall is described as semi-coursed, and double-stone-wide in cross-section. The test pit was a maximum of 1.2 m deep, and contained wind-and-water deposited sediments, wall collapse, some burned structural material, and the use surface that the roomblock wall was constructed on.

Midden (1-x-1 915N 888E): This excavation unit south of the roomblock reached a depth of 58 cm below modern ground surface before undisturbed native sediment was exposed. The stratigraphy included postoccupational deposits above a layer of midden 20 to 30 cm thick.

Midden (1-x-1 916N 886E): Undisturbed native sediment was encountered at a depth of 50 cm below modern ground surface in this unit south of the roomblock. The fill consisted of postoccupational deposits, redeposited native sediments (probably from construction of a subterranean structure nearby), and 10 to 15 cm of midden deposits.

Midden (1-x-1 941N 880E): This unit north of the roomblock reached a depth of 32 cm below modern ground surface before undisturbed native deposits were encountered. Natural, postoccupational deposits and a sparse amount of midden was recorded.

Architectural Block 2600

Architectural Block 2600 is near the southwest edge of the point. The roomblock is 50 m long and contains six kivas and approximately 31 rooms. Extramural walls extend from the northwest corner of the roomblock toward Roomblock 2500, and from the southeast edge of the roomblock toward Roomblock 100. Also associated with this architectural block are monoliths that have been interpreted as solstice alignments (Malville and Putnam 1989). The midden units that tested this architectural block were reported previously (Glowacki 1997).

Roomblock 2600 (2-x-1 871N 911E and extension 1-x-1 873N 911E): These adjacent excavation units contained several features and use surfaces, and portions of three masonry walls in addition to the north roomblock wall. The exposed section of the Roomblock 2600 north wall is 1.27 m tall, 53 cm wide, and rests partly on undisturbed native sediment and partly on cultural fill. The wall is associated with a prepared surface (Nonstructure 2604). Also associated with this surface is a section of curved masonry wall 32 cm high that continues outside the excavation unit to the east. The function of this wall is not known.

Another surface (Nonstructure 2605) was defined just below the first surface. A large, shallow firepit had been excavated into this use surface. Beneath this surface was surface Nonstructure 2606, which is thought to be the prehistoric ground surface at the beginning of site occupation. Two pit features, a complete vessel, and the southeast corner of a masonry structure were associated with this surface. The masonry is double-stone-wide, and the preserved height is 10 cm. The vessel is a Pueblo II Mancos Black-on-white bowl, but all masonry in this excavation unit appears to be Pueblo III, so the vessel might have been an heirloom.

Architectural Block 3200

Architectural Block 3200 is located on the talus slope just below the canyon rim, and is bisected by a north-south fenceline. The roomblock is approximately 60 m long, includes five kivas, an estimated 20 rooms, and a low cliff overhang that has been referred to as the "ash cave." Three test pits were excavated into this architectural block (2-x-1 771N 975E, 1-x-1 769N 942E, 1-x-1 771N 954E). Artifacts dating from the Pueblo II and the Pueblo III periods were recovered from this architectural block; a larger quantity of Pueblo II sherds than expected were recovered.

Roomblock 3200 (2-x-1 771N 975E): This roomblock excavation unit differed from the other roomblock units in that it was not located along the north wall of the roomblock. This unit was designed to expose architecture that from modern ground surface appeared to be a curved row of rooms encircling two kiva depressions. This unit was thus to gather more data on whether this was a biwall structure.

This test pit reached 1.2 m deep before undisturbed native sediment was exposed. Excavation exposed two poorly preserved masonry walls. What has been interpreted as the remains of the south end of a north-south dividing wall between two masonry structures was exposed in the north end of the unit. The remnants of a possible retaining wall were exposed in the south end of the unit. The upper fill in the test pit included postoccupational deposits, and the lower fill, which filled the area between the two walls, was a mixture of midden deposits and intentional construction fill.

The north masonry wall is 80 cm tall and 30 cm wide as preserved, and rests on construction fill. This wall is poorly preserved, but appears to have been double-stone-wide-with-core in cross-section. The south wall was much more roughly constructed, and even more poorly preserved than the north wall. This wall is 50 cm high and 40 cm wide as preserved, and rests on undisturbed native sediment. The construction style could not be assessed.

Excavation of this test pit did not provide a definitive answer to the question of whether this is a biwall structure. It does indicate that there are masonry rooms surrounding at least the western of the two associated kivas, and that these rooms are supported by a downslope retaining wall. The association of this architecture to the ash cave could indicate special significance or use of this block.

Midden 3200 (1-x-1 769N 942E): This test pit is west of the roomblock. Six to ten centimeters of slopewash was excavated before sterile deposits were reached.

Midden 3200 (1-x-1 771N 945E): In this excavation unit, undisturbed native sediment was encountered at a depth of 45 cm below modern ground surface. The deposits consisted of slope wash and culturally deposited refuse.

Architectural Block 3300

Architectural Block 3300 is located at the base of the talus slope south of Architectural Block 3200, and is bisected by the same fenceline that bisects that block. Roomblock 3300 is approximately 35 m long and contains an estimated 12 rooms and 8 kivas. This block was tested by the excavation of four 1-x-1-m test units in order to determine where this block fits into the site chronology. The first two test pits excavated (687N 950E and 705N 936E) contained such shallow cultural deposits that two additional pits were excavated. Material from the Pueblo II and Pueblo III periods was recovered.

Midden 3300 (1-x-1 694N 957E): A total of 30 cm of slopewash and cultural deposits was present above undisturbed native sediment in this test pit.

Midden 3300 (1-x-1 694N 961E): This unit reached a depth of aproximately 40 cm below modern ground surface before undisturbed native sediment was exposed. Slopewash and refuse was encountered during excavation.

Architectural Block 3400

Architectural Block 3400 is on the talus slope just below the canyon rim, west of Architectural Block 3200. It is a very large, amorphous rubble scatter approximately 140 m long and 35 m wide. The original size of the roomblock could not be determined. One kiva depression was detected. Four 1-x-1-m test pits were excavated in this area in order to determine where this block fits into the site chronology. Unfortunately, only shallow slopewash deposits containing limited quantities of artifacts were encountered in these units.

Midden 3400 (1-x-1 765N 908E): A total of 30 cm of slopewash was excavated before reaching undisturbed sediment in this test pit.

Midden 3400 (1-x-1 768 900E): This unit reached a depth of 10 to 15 cm below modern ground surface before undisturbed native sediment was exposed. The atifacts recovered were in slopewash sediment.

Midden 3400 (1-x-1 793N 865E): Sparse artifacts were recovered from ten centimeters of slopewash in this excavation unit. The slopewash rested on undisturbed native sediment.

Midden 3400 (1-x-1 805N 854E): This test pit contained 10 to 15 cm of slopewash containing very few artifacts, that rested on sterile sediment.