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Site Overview
Site Number
5MT5
History of the Site Name
Site is named for one of the canyons that bound the site. The canyon was named for the yellow jacket wasps that frequent its springs.
Other Names
| Name | Comment |
| Sourouaro | Prudden 1900*1:3 |
| Square Mug House | Hurst and Lotrich 1932*1:195; this name referred only to the architectural block that Crow Canyon called the "great tower compex." |
| Surouara | Holmes 1981*1:401 |
| Surouaro | Newberry 1876*1:88-89 |
| Yellow Jacket Ruin | Lange et al. 1986*1:14-15 |
| Yellow Jacket Ruins | Prudden 1900*1:3 |
| Yellow Jacket Spring Ruin | Fewkes 1919*1:16-17 |
| Yellowjacket Pueblo | The Archaeological Conservancy The Archaeological Conservancy |
| Yellowjacket Ruin | Wheat 1984*1:61 |
Site Type
Habitation (with public architecture)
Site Boundary Description
The east boundary is the bottom of an adjacent canyon. The west boundary is formed by the bottom of a separate drainage. The south boundary is formed by the confluence of the creeks in those two drainages. The north boundary is formed by a concentration of cultural material that was originally recorded as Site 5MT5771. The northeast boundary is formed by a line between the great tower complex and Site 5MT5771.
Site Size
Approximately 100 acres
Site Composition and Layout
Site is composed of one- and two-story rubble mounds, kiva depressions, a great kiva depression, midden areas, dams, canyon-rim features, a possible Chacoan great house and roads, and petroglyphs. Mapping and testing of the site resulted in the following minimum estimates of the cultural features at the site: 42 roomblocks, 195 kivas, many midden areas, one great kiva, 18 towers, one biwall tower kiva, five dams, one large reservoir, three petroglyphs, two monoliths (one of which is still standing), and numerous extramural walls and features. Much of the site is on an upland promontory of land shaped by two converging drainages. Roomblocks are generally oriented east-west, although two large roomblocks that border a large reservoir near the south end of the promontory are oriented northeast-southwest. The great kiva and the possible Chacoan great house associated with it are near the north end of the site. A generally north-south trending swale through the center of the site could indicate a road associated with the great house and kiva. A late, canyon-rim great house is situated near the east edge of the site. Rubble mounds, rubble scatter, and artifacts are also present on the talus slopes below the canyon rim on the east, south, and west sides of the promontory. Also included in this site is architecture within an overhang below the east canyon rim originally recorded as Site 5MT7.
Cultural Affiliation and Date Range of Occupation
General Location
14 miles northwest of Cortez, along Colorado Highway 491 (formerly Highway 666), Montezuma County
Ownership, Stewardship
Large portion owned by The Archaeological Conservancy; remainder owned by other private landowners}
Years of Crow Canyon Excavation
April 1995 through October 1997
Percent Excavated by Crow Canyon
.04 percent.
Permits
State of Colorado Archaeological Permits were obtained to conduct archaeological excavations
| Permits | Comment |
| 95-42 | State of Colorado Permit to conduct archaeological excavations |
| 96-1 | State of Colorado Permit to conduct archaeological excavations |
| 97-20 | State of Colorado Permit to conduct archaeological excavations |