News From The Field

May 28, 2010

May was a busy month at the Goodman Point Unit, as we continued excavations at Trail Terrace and began work at two new sites: Midway House and Windy Knob. Both new sites are located in the northern part of the Unit and were probably part of the larger Shields Pueblo community. We were fortunate to have middle and high school groups from across the country working with us, including American Academy, Ricks Center, and Steamboat Springs from Colorado; Montessori of Anderson from South Carolina; and Sierra Canyon and Old Orchard from California. May also saw our first college group of the year, Goshen College from Indiana.

Crow Canyon field intern screens sediment removed during excavation.

We have now completed most of the testing slated for Trail Terrace, and initial impressions of the data suggest that the site was occupied most extensively during the early to middle Pueblo III period, likely from about A.D. 1150 to 1240. Excavation in several of the midden areas yielded McElmo and Mesa Verde black-on-white pottery, types which are consistent with a Pueblo III occupation. In addition, there is an L-shaped roomblock rubble mound, which is a style commonly seen during this time period.

Although the primary occupation of Trail Terrace was during the Pueblo III period, there is also evidence of a less-intensive Pueblo II use of the site. In an excavation unit along the north wall of one roomblock in the north-central part of the site, we uncovered a single-coursed masonry wall foundation beneath a layer of Pueblo III refuse. Single-coursed masonry preceded double-coursed masonry as a roomblock building style in the Goodman Point area, so it's likely that this roomblock was built and used during Pueblo II times. Later, the collapsed—and perhaps partly dismantled—roomblock appears to have been used as a midden area by the Pueblo III residents. The recovery of Pueblo II pottery from a nearby midden also reinforces the interpretation that there was an earlier occupation in this portion of the site.

Student from Goshen College uncovers a Mesa Verde Black-on-white bowl sherd (inset) in a midden at Midway House.

So far, our excavations at Midway House suggest a Pueblo III occupation of this habitation site. Midden deposits have yielded McElmo and Mesa Verde black-on-white pottery, and other excavations have exposed part of a double-coursed masonry roomblock wall. Double-coursed masonry was common in the Goodman Point area after A.D. 1150. Thus, both artifact and architectural evidence indicate a late A.D. 1100s or early A.D. 1200s occupation of the site—a time when nearby Shields Pueblo was a community center.

We have just started excavations at Windy Knob, so it's a little early to form firm impressions, although the pottery collected so far seems to be similar to that recovered at Midway House and Trail Terrace.

We're looking forward to our first 2010 Archaeology Research Program in June—the help of participants in these week-long programs has proven to be invaluable over the years. And the next few months promise to be busy ones, as we expand our testing to more sites and prepare to bring this six-year project to a close. Come join us!

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