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News From The Field

August 31, 2008

August was an exciting and informative month at the Goodman Point Unit of Hovenweep National Monument. Adults from across the country and middle school students from the Central Bucks School District in Pennsylvania helped the field crew gather new information at two ancient pueblos near the Harlan Great Kiva site. Retired schoolteacher Jerry Lomas has been bringing Central Bucks students to Crow Canyon for years—our summer wouldn’t be complete without them!

Photo by Wendy Mimiaga.
Middle school students from Central Bucks School District in Pennsylvania excavating at the Goodman Point Unit.
Photo by Jonathan Walker.
Crow Canyon archaeologist Steve Copeland helps student take a depth measurement.
Photo by Grant Coffey.
Bill Volf of the National Resource Conservation Service uses remote-sensing equipment to locate the boundaries and trajectory of an ancient road near the Harlan great kiva.

Monsoon House

At Monsoon House, we made great progress in excavation units in the kiva, midden, and roomblocks. In the kiva, we uncovered a pilaster (masonry roof support) and part of the west wall of the structure. The discovery of these architectural elements suggests that our placement of the excavation unit was ideal—that is, as we dig deeper, we expect to uncover the hearth and expose the floor in the southern part of the kiva. The contents of the hearth will be sampled for clues about diet.

Excavations in the midden at Monsoon House have yielded abundant pottery dating from the A.D. 1200s, or the Pueblo III period. In addition, pottery dating from the Pueblo II period has been found near the bottom of some of the midden units, suggesting that the site may have been used as early as A.D. 1000.

Finally, excavations in the roomblock just north of the kiva revealed an interesting feature constructed along a room wall. The feature appears to be a bin framed by two low masonry walls; however, determining its exact nature and function will require additional research in the weeks ahead.

Pinyon Place

Excavations at another pueblo, Pinyon Place, began in earnest in August. So far, most of our work has focused on the southernmost of three roomblocks, where several excavation units in the associated midden have yielded numerous painted (black-on-white) Pueblo III pottery sherds. The pottery types suggest that this portion of the site was occupied during the early to mid–A.D. 1200s, perhaps immediately before the main building episodes at nearby Goodman Point Pueblo. Evidence visible on the modern ground surface at Pinyon Place suggests that the two other roomblocks, located just up the ridge to the north, might be slightly earlier than the southernmost roomblock. The presence of earlier pottery types, as well as evidence that rooms in the two northern roomblocks may have been dismantled, could indicate that Pinyon Place, like Monsoon House, was occupied during both the Pueblo II and Pueblo III periods. Further fieldwork and lab analysis should help us confirm or refute this hypothesis.

Remote Sensing

In addition to excavating in August, we also completed several remote-sensing projects. The primary tools used in this effort were an electricity-resistance meter and a device called a magnetometer. These high-tech instruments help us locate subsurface archaeological remains by shooting a low-voltage electrical current through the ground (with the electricity-resistance meter) and looking for magnetic anomalies that could indicate the presence of buried structures and features (using the magnetometer). Bill Volf, from the Natural Resource Conservation Service, provided and operated the equipment as part of a technical outreach and partnership program. Transects made with these instruments across the Harlan great kiva and a nearby segment of ancient road seem to have been particularly beneficial—potentially helping us better define and record these large and rather amorphous features.

Heading Into the Fall Season

Our field research programs for adults continue through the month of September—typically a great time to be outdoors and a great time to be at Crow Canyon, when all the summer's work is yielding important insights into the lives of the people who lived at Goodman Point so many centuries ago. As the 2008 field season begins to wind down, a clearer picture of Pueblo life is emerging, as are new questions for future investigations.

Grant Coffey, Supervisory Archaeologist, Director of Goodman Point Archaeological Project Phase II