News From The Field

September 30, 2008

Sandstone effigy found in the collapsed wall debris of a kiva at Monsoon House.

Excavation in the roomblocks at Pinyon Place has revealed evidence of intentional dismantling. Here, all that remains of a room's walls is a single course of horizontal masonry on top of upright slabs that extend below the room floor.

Participant in Adult Research Week excavates in the midden at Pinyon Place.

September was a very busy month in the field, as we worked toward completing this season’s excavations at the Goodman Point Unit of Hovenweep National Monument. Among those who helped us in our efforts were numerous participants in our adult research programs, as well as a group of students from Lake Country School, a Montessori school near Minneapolis, Minnesota. The last two weeks we were joined by Crow Canyon alumni, many of whom have been participating in Crow Canyon research programs for years. Throughout September, excavations continued at Monsoon House and Pinyon Place, where a more complete picture of ancient Pueblo communities is beginning to emerge.

Monsoon House

In addition to continuing excavation in the kiva mentioned in last month’s field update, we also began work in a second kiva at Monsoon House. In both structures, excavations have progressed to near the depth of the strata containing remnant roofing material, and increased charcoal and other evidence of burning may indicate that at least parts of the roofs of these kivas had burned. We hope to collect pieces of burned roof beams as tree-ring samples, which will help us date the construction of not only the kivas but also their associated roomblocks. A particularly exciting development during September was the discovery, in one of the kivas, of a sandstone effigy in the form of an animal's head. This unusual artifact was recovered from collapsed wall debris and likely was once part of the interior architecture of the kiva. It is almost identical to a stone effigy found in architectural rubble at Escalante Ruin, a Chacoan outlier located several miles to the northeast and excavated by the University of Colorado in the mid-1970s.

Work in the midden associated with the roomblock located in the central part of the site has revealed two relatively deep refuse deposits separated by what appears to be a naturally deposited layer of sediment. The stratigraphic details suggest there were at least two distinct periods of site use, separated by an occupational hiatus during which wind-deposited sediment accumulated on top of the earlier midden material. Artifact analysis in the lab will help us determine more precisely the timing of the periods of occupation, which in turn will help us flesh out the history of this interesting and complicated site.

Pinyon Place

At Pinyon Place, some interesting evidence of raw material reuse was uncovered in September. Three test units placed along the north walls of the three roomblocks have revealed very few large building stones and no discernable roof-fall strata. In fact, in all the units, the room floors that were uncovered are only about 20 to 30 cm below the modern ground surface. This evidence seems to indicate that earlier, likely Pueblo II, structures were virtually completely dismantled, probably so that the stone and wood could be reused in the construction of later Pueblo III roomblocks nearby. Some of the structures at Goodman Point Pueblo itself could very well have been constructed of these recycled materials. Evidence of this kind will help us examine community persistence and movement of people on the landscape through time.

Work also continued this month in the midden areas of Pinyon Place. In general, the midden deposits we have excavated have been relatively shallow but dense with artifacts—perhaps suggesting short-term occupations of the associated roomblocks. Artifacts recovered from these contexts include Pueblo II and Pueblo III pottery and an abundance of stone flakes. A cursory field examination of the materials seems to reinforce the notion that the southern roomblock may have been occupied during the Pueblo III period and that the two roomblocks to the north may be slightly earlier—perhaps dating from the Pueblo II period.

Wrapping Up the Program Season

September 28 marked the beginning of the final week of participant excavation for the 2008 season, and what a productive season it has been! In all, with the help of participants in our various research and education programs, we worked at six sites located throughout the 142 acres of the Goodman Point Unit, including several small habitation sites and a large great kiva. For the next month or two, the field crew will be going out to complete the documentation of excavated units and prepare the sites for winter.  Once we’ve wrapped it up, I’ll report back with my final update of the 2008 season.

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