Goodman Point Research Design

Crow Canyon’s research at the Goodman Point Unit is guided by a number of specific questions originally put forth in a detailed proposal submitted to the National Park Service in 2004. The questions fall into three broad categories: (1) those that address the history of the Goodman Point community, (2) those that address anthropological issues related to the development of early farming societies, and (3) those that address topics of interest to American Indians, including descendants of the ancestral Pueblo (Anasazi) people of the Mesa Verde region.

The following is abridged and edited text excerpted from the original proposal.

Historical Questions

What was the occupational history of the Goodman Point community?

Survey evidence suggests that most sites in the Goodman Point Unit date from the Basketmaker III (A.D. 500–750), Pueblo II (A.D. 900–1150), and Pueblo III (A.D. 1150–1300) periods. Through our research, we hope to (1) more precisely date individual sites and (2) estimate how many people lived in the community during each period.

What were the nature and extent of Chaco influence in the Goodman Point community?

Between about A.D. 1080 and 1140, Chaco Canyon in northern New Mexico was the center of a vast network that extended south into Mexico and north into the Pueblo communities of the Mesa Verde region. Some of the pottery and architecture visible on the ground surface at the Goodman Point Unit are of styles that suggest a Chaco influence—an intriguing possibility that our excavations should allow us to explore more fully.

How and when did an aggregated community form at Goodman Point?

Architectural remains on the ground surface suggest that the population of the Goodman Point community grew and aggregated over time. Testing at the large village of Goodman Point Pueblo and selected smaller sites in the unit will allow us to better understand the chronological and social relationships among the sites that make up the community.

How did patterns of exchange and interaction change over time?

We still have much to learn about the distribution of exotic (imported) goods within ancient Pueblo communities and how those distributions related to sociopolitical organization. We will rely on artifact analyses and an evaluation of the ancient roads and trails at the Goodman Point Unit to reconstruct patterns of exchange and interaction at both the inter- and intraregional levels.

How did the Goodman Point community come to an end?

The characteristics of some of the architecture observable on the ground surface at Goodman Point Pueblo suggest that the village was occupied until the A.D. 1280s, about the time that Pueblo peoples migrated from the Mesa Verde region as a whole. Our excavations at the Goodman Point Unit will allow us to reconstruct the events and processes that led to the depopulation of the unit, information which in turn will help us reconstruct the circumstances surrounding the broader migration.

Anthropological Questions

What was the settlement ecology of Pueblo farmers in the Mesa Verde region? How sustainable was the Pueblo adaptation to the local environment, and how did long-term occupation affect the environment?

Crow Canyon’s research at the Goodman Point Unit will examine long-term use of the landscape by Pueblo people. We hope to (1) identify factors that enabled the population to occupy the area for so many years and (2) determine whether, by the time of the final migrations, people had developed a sustainable adaptation.

What is the relationship between public architecture and political organization in ancient Pueblo society in the Mesa Verde region?

The distribution of public architecture—for example, plazas, great kivas, and great houses—may provide clues to political organization within and between Pueblo communities. Test excavations of public architecture at the Goodman Point Unit will allow us to clarify the nature of the political relationship between the Goodman Point community and the neighboring Sand Canyon community.

What factors promote aggregation in subsistence-farming societies, and how does aggregation affect the internal organization of communities?

Crow Canyon’s research at the Goodman Point Unit will contribute to a broader discussion of the social, ecological, economic, and ideological factors that cause early farming peoples to aggregate—and of the practical consequences of that aggregation.

Questions that Address American Indian Interests

We at Crow Canyon do not pretend to know the full range of archaeological issues of potential interest to American Indians. Over the years, however, we have worked closely with members of Crow Canyon’s Native American Advisory Group, and we and the National Park Service consulted with affiliated Pueblo groups at the beginning of this project. Our focus on historical, community-scale studies has been developed largely in collaboration with these individuals. We hope, therefore, that the answers to many of the historical and anthropological questions listed above will be of interest to a wide range of native peoples. In addition, several questions that members of the advisory group have identified as being of particular interest to them are listed below:

What are appropriate methods for studying relationships between archaeological cultures and modern groups?

Understanding the relationships between modern American Indian groups and the cultures we study archaeologically has long been of interest—and long been a challenge. As part of the Goodman Point Archaeological Project, Crow Canyon researchers will examine the utility of linguistic studies in addressing the question of cultural affinity.

What processes characterize migration from the Mesa Verde region?

Preliminary evidence suggests that the Goodman Point Unit was occupied throughout the Pueblo III period, probably up to and including the time of the migrations from the Mesa Verde region. Crow Canyon’s test excavations therefore provide an ideal opportunity for archaeologists and American Indians alike to examine both the circumstances that led to the depopulation of the region and the processes by which this depopulation occurred.